You cannot appoint an administrator as a qualifying floating charge holder if you do not have security

The individual died in 2018 and the borrower was restored to the register in 2019 by a creditor. The borrower owned a property, over which the security was granted and it appears that the deceased and his representatives had been residing in the property and that the sole director and shareholder of the borrower had restored the borrower to the register in an effort to secure possession of the property and that the representatives had appointed administrators to avoid that outcome. The borrower, once restored, had granted security to a connected company in respect of a £50K loan.

The executors first asked for an adjournment of this application pending the outcome of their application to set aside the restoration order, which the Judge refused.  As for the challenge application, unfortunately, the executors were unable to adduce sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the deceased had the benefit of the 1998 charge.  In addition, the application to appoint administrators had been made in the name of the estate, not the names of the representatives. It also transpired that no grant of representation had been made such that the deceased estate had not vested in the executors.

For those and other reasons, the Judge held that the appointment of the administrator was void.

Secure Mortgage Corporation Limited and another v Harold and others [2020 EWHC 1364 (Ch)]