Case set up guidance for insolvency practitioners
Source: gov.uk (2025-06-30)

This page provides guidance for insolvency practitioners who need to set up a case with the Redundancy Payments Service.

Case set up guidance for insolvency practitioners

This page provides guidance for insolvency practitioners who need to set up a case with the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) which is part of a government agency called the Insolvency Service.

For businesses with employees in Northern Ireland, contact the Northern Ireland Insolvency Service (https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/topics/insolvency-service). There is guidance for employees who have been made redundant in Northern Ireland (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/redundancy-and-leaving-your-job/redundancy).

If the employer has not submitted advance notification of redundancies, please check if an HR1 form (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/redundancy-payments-form-hr1-advance-notification-of-redundancies) is required.

Completing the template – new case set up request

Complete the template if you require a case to be set up (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/redundancy-payments-template-for-setting-up-a-new-case).

NOTE
- Please ensure you complete the correct version of the template to avoid delays in setting up a case.
- Requests for a new case to be set up should not be made more than 7 days before your appointment.
- Use the subject line: Case Set Up Request – Number of redundancies.
- Completing Part 1 of the Case Set Up Template
It is important that you tell us whether the business has had previous insolvency proceedings. Examples of this may be:
- a failed/defaulted CVA leading to another type of insolvency (e.g. WUO, CVL)
- a completed CVA followed by another type of insolvency (e.g. the business completes the CVA but is still not in a solvent position, so leading to another insolvency proceeding)
- an administration/admin receivership followed by a WUO
- a WUO followed by a receiver/manager appointment followed by a WUO
The relevant caselaw applied is Employment Cases Update: Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills v McDonagh & Anor UKEAT/0287/12/LA; Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills v Pengelly & Anor UKEAT/0312/12/LA (https://employmentcasesupdate.co.uk/content/secretary-of-state-for-business-innovation-skills-v-mcdonagh-anor-ukeat-0287-12-la-secretary-of-state-for-business-innovation-skills-v-pengelly-anor-ukeat-0312-12-la.9ab23bf27cb0472f97a725ab0f4296d8.htm).

The ‘relevant date’ is the date of the first insolvency event.
- If there are any questions about what is the ‘relevant date’ please email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) for advice or provide us with information about the history of the business.
- If there is no previous insolvency event, please move onto the rest of the template.
- Once completed, send the completed template to xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).
You will receive an email with the case reference number (CN) once your request has been processed.

If your request is urgent due to imminent redundancies, you should provide specific information about the expected or actual date of dismissal. Your request can not be prioritised without this information.

Providing information to employees

It is your responsibility to give the case reference number and the RP1 factsheet (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/redundancy-payments-rp1-fact-sheet) to all employees that are eligible to apply to us for a payment.

Employees need the case reference number to submit a claim. This should not be issued to dismissed employees until the date of your appointment.

Direct any other queries to xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

The RP1 factsheet (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/redundancy-payments-rp1-fact-sheet) explains what employees of insolvent businesses can claim for and how to claim.

We appreciate any help you can provide to claimants when completing their claims.

Providing employee information to the Insolvency Service

Provide us with an RP14 and RP14A once we have given you the case reference number. Do not submit an RP14 and RP14a without the case reference number. This will reduce the risk of duplicating a case.

We cannot process any claims until these forms have been received.

You can get details on calculating holiday pay for workers without fixed hours or pay Calculating holiday pay for workers without fixed hours or pay - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/calculating-holiday-pay-for-workers-without-fixed-hours-or-pay/calculating-holiday-pay-for-workers-without-fixed-hours-or-pay--2).

We will contact you separately to collect this information. Do not include the 52-week rate of pay data in the RP14A.

Complex cases or large number of expected redundancies

Complete part four of the case set up template (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/redundancy-payments-template-for-setting-up-a-new-case) if you’re dealing with large numbers of redundancies or a complex case. Provide us with as much information as you can that may be relevant to the case. This will help us to prioritise and deal with this type of case more efficiently and quickly.

If the case is complex or you expect many redundancies, you can request a bespoke factsheet (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

You can ask us to review any employee communications that you, or the insolvent employer have drafted.

Therefore, contact xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx). to tell us if there are any significant information on the case such as:
- TUPE transfers
- multiple insolvency events for the same company (* see point 4 above)
- new sale negotiations
- further rounds of insolvencies
- significant updates to RP14/RP14A information
If there is a sale of all or part of the business after the RP14 has been submitted, contact us immediately to let us know if any of the employees will transfer to the new owner.

This will enable us to make payments quickly, and accurately, and ensures that employees receive good quality communications throughout.

Direct any other queries to our stakeholder relations team (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).