Once a winding-up petition against your company is advertised in The Gazette, banks will normally freeze the company’s bank account as a precaution.
This is to protect themselves against the legislation stated in the Insolvency Act, Section 127. If the company is wound up on that petition, any disposition of the company’s property made after the petition was presented is void unless the court orders otherwise.
When this happens, you will need a validation order from the courts in order to access the account.
If you have had a winding up petition served against the company, a validation order may help improve the company’s position.
How to Get a Validation Order
If you need to apply for a validation order, the first stage in the process is to give notice of the application. Save in exceptional circumstances, notice should go to the petitioning creditor, anyone entitled to a copy of the petition, any creditor who has given notice that they will appear at the petition hearing, and any creditor substituted as petitioner. Leave any of them out and the court is likely to adjourn or dismiss the application. In practice, send each of them a copy of the application and the hearing date once the court has set it.
Application to the Courts
The second stage is to make the application to the court. It has two parts: an insolvency application notice, and a witness statement explaining why the payments should be allowed. Attach a draft of the order you are asking for. The application notice is Form IAA (rule 1.35), gov.uk’s template for this kind of insolvency application and the document courts expect, even though the Rules prescribe the content required rather than a specific numbered form as they once did with Form 7.1A.
As at 7 September 2026 the court fee is £115 for an application on notice within existing proceedings, or £31 where it is made without notice or by consent. Fees are reviewed regularly, so check the civil court fees schedule (EX50) before you file.
The Court Hearing
After you’ve made the application, the courts will assign a date and time for a court hearing. This hearing only relates to the validation order, not to the winding up petition as a whole.
The hearing (along with the witness statement you’ve filed) is your chance to be able to make your case to the courts for why the company’s bank account should be unfrozen. You will need to have information about the circumstances that contributed to the winding-up petition being served, the financial position of the company and why the courts should grant the validation order. The court will need credible evidence either that the company is solvent and can pay its debts as they fall due, or that the payments you ask it to allow will benefit, or at least not prejudice, the unsecured creditors as a whole.
If the person who filed the winding-up petition objects to the company’s accounts being unfrozen, they will need to attend the hearing and make their case to the courts as to why the application should not be granted.
The courts will either make a decision at the end of the hearing, or set out any further information they require in order to make their decision – it’s likely that you will need to present this information at a follow-up hearing.
The Decision to Unfreeze the Bank Accounts
If the courts make the validation order, you’ll receive a copy or the order. You need to present this to the bank to enable the bank account to be unfrozen.
If the courts do not grant the order, it may be that you can appeal the decision. This is a difficult position as the court hearing for the winding up petition is likely to be quite soon and time is of the essence.
What will the Validation Order Cover?
It’s important to understand that validation orders very rarely will unfreeze the company’s accounts without any restrictions. It’s unlikely that the company will be able to trade freely – rather the order will specify that the company can undertake certain transactions that will be beneficial to its creditors.
Want to Talk?
If a winding up petition has been served on your company, the company is in a very serious position and time is of the essence. We are happy to help you with this process, or to advise in situations where a validation order may be an appropriate option – simply call on 0208 444 3400.