Home » Answers Hub » Statutory demand personal service
For an individual debtor, personal service is required wherever practicable: the Insolvency Rules oblige the creditor to do all that is reasonable to bring the demand to the debtor's attention, and to serve personally if it can be done. Other methods, such as letterbox delivery or post, are acceptable only after genuine, documented attempts at personal service. For a company, personal service on any individual is not the test: the demand is delivered to the registered office.
The honest answer is nuanced: personal service is not an absolute rule for statutory demands in the way it is for bankruptcy petitions, but the practice built around the Insolvency Rules makes it the required starting point for individuals, and creditors who skip it usually regret it.
The rules frame the duty in two layers: do everything reasonable to bring the demand to the debtor's attention, and effect personal service if practicable. The established practice for satisfying the second layer when the debtor cannot be pinned down: several attendance attempts at verified addresses, at different times of day, followed by a first class letter offering a specific appointment for service and warning that, failing attendance, the demand will be served by other means, typically insertion through the letterbox or post. Only that documented sequence makes substituted service safe, because when the bankruptcy petition is later presented, the court will scrutinise the service history, and a demand that was simply posted invites both a set aside application and judicial reluctance at the petition stage.
A demand under section 123 of the Insolvency Act is served by delivery to the company's registered office, so the question of personal service on a director does not strictly arise. Hand delivery, with the receiving employee's details recorded, remains best practice purely for evidential strength; posting is the fallback that leaves most room for argument.
Treat personal service as mandatory for individuals unless and until a professional attempt history proves it impracticable, and treat the paper trail as the product being purchased: the demand's whole function is to found a petition, and the petition stands on the service evidence. Tremark serves demands to exactly this standard nationwide, with the appointment letter procedure handled where debtors evade and every step certified.
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This page provides general information about the law and practice in England and Wales and is not legal advice. Rules change and individual circumstances vary; always take advice from a solicitor on your specific situation. Prices shown are indicative, exclusive of VAT and confirmed in writing before any work begins.