Vol 19 (2022) - Issue 6

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Karapetian v Duffy and Another [2022] EWHC 1053 (Ch)

Synopsis
A creditor's debt was admitted to voting for an IVA for less than the full amount he claimed was due. The creditor had been informed of the wrong time for the creditors' meeting, but in any event had failed to provide sufficient details to evidence his claimed debt to the meeting's chair. The IVA subsequently failed to meet the statutory threshold for approval.
The creditor sought to review the failure of the IVA on grounds of material irregularity as, had his full debt been admitted for voting purposes, the IVA would have been approved. The Court determined that a creditor must prove their debt to the meeting convener, who is only required to adjudicate claims based on the information provided to them. The creditor here had failed to demonstrate the existence of the additional debt he claimed to be owed, but even if the Court was incorrect on this finding, the creditor would have failed to provide evidence to the chair of the amount of any such debt and so the maximum it would have been able to be admitted for was £1 as an unliquidated or unascertained debt.