finance-law.info

Our customer is in administration: can the administrator sell our goods?

 In certain circumstances, an administrator has the right to sell goods subject to a lease or hire-purchase agreement.  In other situations, the administrator may be personally liable where they have been sold.

Right to sell under the Insolvency Act 1986

 Under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986), the court may make an order enabling the administrator to dispose of goods which are in the possession of the company under a hire-purchase or lease agreement as if the company had all the rights of the owner under the agreement.  

An order of this kind may only be made on the administrator’s application and where the court thinks that disposal of the goods would be likely to promote the purpose of administration (paragraph 72, Sch B1, IA 1986).  Any such order is subject to the condition that: 

Company law changes: starting 2007 with a bang or a dull fizz?

The New Year began with a flying start as far as changes to companies’ legislation were concerned. 

Changes to e-mails and websites

Under Regulations that came into effect on 1 January 2007¹, the requirement for companies to show various particulars on their business letters and order forms was extended to websites and also to certain electronic communications. 

Companies must now also state their full company name, place of registration, registered number and registered office address on their websites and also on all of their electronic forms of business letters and order forms.  It is an offence for a company incorporated under the Companies Acts not to include this information.  Since e-mail messages will frequently be business letters, companies should, by now, have altered the standard information on their e-mails to include this.

The Companies Act 2006:  reforms relating to directors' duties

The Companies Act 2006 received Royal Assent in November 2006.  On 28 February this year, the Industry and Regions Minister, Margaret Hodge, announced the full implementation timetable for this legislation. The entire Act is expected to be in force by October 2008, with many parts in place earlier.