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ARTICLE · 27 APRIL 2015

What A Wind Up!

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Does Companies House owe a duty of care to a company, where a winding up petition has been incorrectly registered against its name?

United KingdomCorporate/Commercial Law
Carlton Durrant
Carlton Durrant
Julian Grant
Julian Grant

Does Companies House owe a duty of care to a company, where a winding up petition has been incorrectly registered against its name?  The High Court has recently heard a case (Serby v Companies House and the Registrar of Companies) regarding a winding up order which Companies House incorrectly registered against a company which was not actually subject to any insolvency proceedings.

The court found that a duty of care at common law was owed to the company in these circumstances. The amount of damages payable by Companies House will be assessed at a later hearing, but it has been reported that the claim will be for approximately £9 million.

Facts

On the 28th of January 2009 the High Court made a winding up order against Taylor and Son Limited. The winding up order was submitted to Companies House by the Official Receiver without a company number and was incorrectly entered against Taylor and Sons Limited (the Company), which was not subject to any

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