What is an Administration Order?
When an individual or organisation owes money to more than one person, they can apply for an Administration Order (AO). An AO is a legally-binding agreement where an individual or organisation agrees to pay back their creditors over time via monthly repayments through the court.
To get an AO the defendant must have:
- Less than £5,000 in debt
- At least one unsatisfied CCJ or High Court judgment
- More than one debt
If the AO is granted, all debts listed in the order will be protected from further action by the creditor.
An AO also provides protection from other creditors not included in the order. Any further debts will automatically be added to the original AO if the creditors attempt to pursue the debt through the courts.
How Administration Orders display
An AO will appear on our Register as either
- Unsatisfied
- Satisfied
- Varied
- Revoked
The information appearing on the Register is as follows:
- Defendant details - name, address
- Court name
- Case number
- Amount
- Date of AO
- Date of satisfaction, if satisfied
Details of an AO will stay on our public register for six years unless set aside or cancelled by the court.
An AO can be made against a limited company (Insolvency Act 1986), but we do not hold these details on our public register. They are sent directly to Companies House.
How to satisfy an Administration Order
If an Administration Order (AO) is paid in full and the court has been notified, they will send us notification to update our register.
A County Court Judgment (CCJ) included in the order will only be marked as satisfied if the CCJ amount has been paid in full.
We do not hold partial settlement information for AOs or CCJs. If you require a certificate showing that your record has been updated, you can apply to the relevant court for a 'Certificate of Satisfaction or Cancellation'. You will need to fill out the N443 form for the certificate.
Removing an Administration Order
An Administration Order (AO) may be removed if it was set aside or paid within one calendar month from the date of the order.
If the AO was paid within one calendar month, you may wish to pay for a 'Certificate of Satisfaction or Cancellation' from the court for your own records. You will need to fill out the N443 form for the certificate.
Cancelling or setting aside an AO will not automatically cancel or set aside any County Court Judgments (CCJs) included in the AO.
You will need to have paid the CCJ in full from its judgment date for it to be removed, or alternatively have applied for the CCJ to be set aside.
Revoking, varying, or suspending an Administration Order
Failure to make regular payments under the court arrangement agreed to in your Administration Order (AO) may result in it being revoked.
Any restrictions on the creditors agreed to in the AO will no longer apply and they will be able to pursue further legal action to obtain the amounts owed.
When an AO is revoked, we will be notified by the court and this information will be reflected on our Register.
Varying an AO involves changing the amount of debt agreed to in the original order.
This may be due to the addition of new creditors or due to a composition order being made, reducing the debt to a percentage of money owed.
A varied AO will replace the original AO.
When an AO is varied, we will be notified by the court, and this information will be reflected on our Register.
If you are unable to continue regular payments for a period of time, the court may agree to suspend your AO for a set amount of time.
We do not receive details of suspended AOs.