Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Statutory demand definition

What does Statutory demand mean? A statutory demand is a creditor’s formal written demand requiring payment of a liquidated, due and undisputed debt within a short period (typically 21 days). In practice it is used to evidence insolvency and to precede bankruptcy (individuals) or winding‑up (companies) proceedings if the debtor does not pay, secure or compound the debt. In England & Wales and Northern Ireland, statutory demands are prescribed by insolvency legislation and rules (including the Insolvency Act 1986/NI Order and procedural rules). For companies, non‑compliance within 21 days is a ground to deem inability to pay debts (section 123). For individuals, service of a statutory...

Challenging Statutory Demands: Good Petition Debts, Set Aside Applications and Injunctions (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Restructuring & Insolvency expert

Practice notes

When a Company or an individual is served with a Statutory demand, alarm bells should ring, because not dealing with that demand within 21 days (for Debtors situated within the jurisdiction of England and Wales) can trigger winding-up and bankruptcy proceedings being brought against the company or the individual, respectively. Where a debt is genuinely owed by the debtor to the creditor, steps ought to be taken to pay the liability, or to reach arrangements with the creditor to settle it, failing which insolvency proceedings might be commenced. However, there are occasions when a statutory demand is served on a debtor when it should not have been—for instance, where the debt is not due, or the debtor has a counter or cross-claim that equals or exceeds the creditor’s claims, or there is some other substantial reason. When that situation arises, the debtor must swiftly take urgent steps to ensure that insolvency proceedings are not set in motion...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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