Overview

You can apply to the court to 'wind up' a company if it can't pay its debts of more than £750.

Your application to the court is known as a 'winding up petition'. If successful, the company will be put into liquidation.

You may not get all or any of the money you're owed - a debt specialist (eg a solicitor) can help you work out the best way to recover a debt and send your petition.

If you're owed less than £750

You have a number of options if a company owes you less than £750 and has bounced one of your cheques or has admitted in writing that they are liable for the debt.

You should seek advice from a solicitor on which of these options is available to you:

• raise a court claim to try and recover the debt
• submit a winding up petition together with another creditor, if the total sums due are greater than £750

Members' voluntary liquidation

You can choose members' voluntary liquidation if you simply want to close your company and pay off the company's debts and its shareholders.