What is the Official Receiver?

The Official Receiver is the government's version of an insolvency practitioner and will oversee some insolvency procedures. The Official Receiver office is part of the Insolvency Service.

The Official Receiver is involved in two types of insolvency: compulsory liquidations and bankruptcies. The Official Receiver is automatically appointed in these cases, but it can be replaced by an insolvency practitioner if creditors ask for this to happen, or if the Official Receiver itself feels that the skills and experience of an insolvency practitioner are required in a particular case. Typically, insolvency practitioners will be asked to work on larger or more complex cases.

When working on a very large case, the Official Receiver might be supported by an insolvency practitioner working as a 'special manager'.

Official Receivers are not regulated in the same way as insolvency practitioners and they do not have to pass the Joint Insolvency Examination Board exams. The Official Receiver's fees are set by statute and are not agreed by creditors. The Official Receiver's reports on cases are not publicly available.