Updates to Insolvency Guidance Papers
Changes to three Insolvency Guidance Papers have been announced and will come into effect on 1 August 2024.
Under the Joint Insolvency Committee’s (JIC’s) strategic work plan, Insolvency Guidance Papers (IGPs) are subject to periodic review to ensure they remain relevant to changing legislation and market conditions. In 2024 all the IGPs are being reviewed with JIC announcing changes that have been approved so far.
Withdrawal of IGPs
Two IGPs will be withdrawn on 1 August 2024. These are IGP 3 – Bankruptcy: The Family Home and IGP 6 - Retention of Title. These IGPs were introduced in October 2005 and November 2014 respectively but the appropriate approach to both topics is now so widely accepted that guidance papers are no longer required.
Revised IGP
A revised IGP 2 - Succession planning, has been issued today by each of the Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs) following approval by the JIC and each of the RPBs.
IGP 2 was issued in 2025 and since then the insolvency market and profession have significantly changed. The principal revisions to IGP 2 emphasise the importance of contingency planning and documentation to ensure the continuity of case management in the event that an insolvency practitioner is unable to act for one or more reasons including retirement, incapacity, death, loss of licence and the sale of a practice.
The revised IGP 2 covers scenarios for sole practitioners, firms who have multiple insolvency practitioners and firms where there are other principals but no other insolvency practitioners.
New sections on putting succession agreements or arrangements in place and guidance for alternates and potential alternates have been included.
The style and language used has also been modernised to make it clearer and easier to apply.
The revised IGP 2 comes into effect on 1 August 2024.
