Winding-Up Petition Injunctions

Injunction to restrain the presentation / advertisement of a winding-up petition

If your company has been served with a statutory demand and is being threatened with the presentation of a winding-up petition, you can apply to the court for an injunction to restrain the presentation of the petition. If you have already been served with a winding-up petition, you can apply to the court for an injunction to restrain the advertisement of that winding-up petition.

There is a cost for these applications and it is important to take advice on your likelihood of success. Before making the application, another option is to write to the other side in response to the statutory demand explaining the steps that will be taken if the winding-up petition is presented.

The court will only grant an injunction to restrain the presentation or advertisement of a winding-up petition if it is satisfied that there is a bona fide and substantial dispute over the debt. This means that you will need to demonstrate that you have a genuine reason to dispute the debt claimed.

An application is made by submitting a form and supporting witness statement to the High Court. This witness statement should set out clearly the grounds on which the debt is disputed; exhibit evidence and contain a summary of the financial affairs of the company.