In DG Resources Ltd v HMRC the High Court provided important guidance on serving winding up petitions where a company’s registered office has been moved to the Companies House default address under the 2024 Registered Office Address Regulations. The decision will matter to creditors, insolvency practitioners and any business facing a petition.
The court held that service must comply with paragraph 2 of schedule 4 to the Insolvency Rules 2016. Simply sending documents to the registered office under Companies Act s.1139 does not count as valid service for a petition.
The judge confirmed that where a company’s registered office is a default address, the only proper method of service is depositing the petition in the Companies House drop box at Crown Way, Cardiff. Handing it to postal workers or Companies House staff (even if they say they can accept service) will not satisfy the rules.
In this case, the process server mistakenly handed the petition to a postal worker at a local post office, far from the Companies House site. HMRC ultimately accepted service was invalid.
Despite the company having no defence to the debt, the petition was struck out. The court stressed that irregular service of an originating process is a fundamental defect. Because HMRC had (unintentionally) put forward an incorrect account of service before the lower court, the High Court struck out the petition. HMRC must now start again.
The decision reaffirms that strict compliance with the insolvency rules is essential. Errors in service can invalidate a petition, even where the debt is undisputed. Even if served irregularly, awareness of a petition doesn’t cure defective service.
DG Resources Ltd v HMRC [2026] EWHC 201 (Ch)
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