The Insolvency (England and Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2026 were made on 27 May 2026, laid before Parliament on 28 May 2026 and come into force on 22 June 2026. According to the statutory instrument, the Rules apply only in England and Wales and amend the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016. The Explanatory Note says the amendments follow a review of how the 2016 Rules have operated since they were introduced. The instrument was made by the Lord Chancellor after consultation under section 413 of the Insolvency Act 1986, with concurrence from the Chancellor of the High Court on court procedure matters and from the Secretary of State.
A large part of the amendment package removes references to fax. The Rules now state expressly that electronic delivery does not include delivery by fax, and the Explanatory Note records that fax is no longer available as a method of delivery to the courts and the Insolvency Service. That change is carried through the out-of-hours administrator appointment provisions and related filing rules. Rule 1.46 is also amended so that where a document is delivered electronically, only one copy is required. For practitioners and court users, the practical result is straightforward: filing directions now reflect digital working methods already used in practice, and duplicated electronic submissions are no longer required by the text of the Rules.
The instrument also updates court terminology. Rule 1.2 replaces the definition of 'judge' so that it refers to an appropriate judge in accordance with any relevant Practice Direction, expands the definition of 'Practice Direction' to include any practice direction on insolvency proceedings, and removes the obsolete definition of 'registrar'. Consequential amendments then replace references to 'registrar' or 'District Judge' with 'judge' across provisions dealing with court functions, transfers, block transfer orders, office copies and persons acting on the official receiver's behalf. The effect is mainly administrative, but it matters for certainty: the procedural text now matches current judicial terminology more closely and reduces the risk of parties relying on outdated court labels.
One of the more material operational changes appears in rule 10.11. The financial limit for presenting bankruptcy petitions in the London Insolvency District rises from £50,000 to £500,000. The Explanatory Note identifies this as a direct increase to the existing threshold. For creditors, debt advisers and insolvency solicitors, that means forum selection will need a fresh check on any petition below £500,000 before issue. The amendment does not change the law on bankruptcy grounds, but it does alter an important procedural gateway for cases that might previously have been routed to London.
Several amendments are technical, but they are not trivial. Rule 8.24 updates the wording used for cross-border proceedings, replacing 'main, territorial or non-EU proceedings' with 'COMI proceedings, establishment proceedings or proceedings to which the EU Regulation as it has effect in the law of the United Kingdom does not apply'. The Explanatory Note says this brings rule 8.24 into line with rules 8.3 and 8.19 after the 2019 EU Exit amendments. Rule 10.87 also corrects the completion procedure for bankruptcy. Where a bankruptcy began on a debtor's application to an adjudicator, the trustee's notice after notifying creditors must be delivered to the official receiver rather than filed with the court. That correction closes a drafting inconsistency in the current rules and gives trustees a clearer completion route.
The amendment to rule 18.30 is likely to matter to office-holders and creditor bodies. It clarifies who must approve a request to exceed a fees estimate for remuneration. Under the new wording, approval goes to the court where the court fixed the basis, to the committee where there is one and the court did not fix the basis, or otherwise to the creditors or class of creditors that fixed the basis. According to the Explanatory Note, the purpose is clarification rather than a change in charging policy. Even so, the revision is operationally important because disputes over authority can delay remuneration decisions. The new text sets out the approval route more clearly and should reduce avoidable procedural argument.
Elsewhere, the instrument removes selected obsolete provisions, including paragraph 4 of rule 9.4 and paragraph 5 of rule 10.36, and makes a small correction to rule 14.1(6). Taken together, the package is a maintenance exercise on insolvency procedure rather than a wider reform of insolvency law. The Explanatory Note states that no full impact assessment has been prepared because no, or no significant, effect on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. Even so, insolvency practitioners, court teams and professional advisers will need to update precedents, filing checklists and internal guidance before 22 June 2026, when the amended Rules begin to apply.