They've been threatened for a long time and now they have arrived - today. The Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016. But before you get carried away by excitement, I have to tell you that they will not be coming into force until 6 April 2017.
To be turned on by the new rules, you really need to be a lawyer, insolvency practitioner, official receiver, planning to go down the financial pan, very boring or devoid of a television set. They consolidate the Insolvency Rules 2016 and a cool set of 28 pieces of legislation which amended them. But they do much more. They restructure, take account of modern methods of communication and update language. One of my favourite changes - small but I love it - is to allow anyone owed less than £1,000 to be paid a dividend out of the assets of a liquidated company or a bankrupt individual without having to make a formal claim.
