What is an administration?

An administration is an insolvency process designed to encourage, if possible, the rescue of financially distressed companies (or at least their businesses) and to avoid the necessity of liquidation if at all possible.

Originally introduced in 1986, administrators (a type of insolvency practitioner) have powers to oversee administrations. The scope of administration was widened in 2003 to further promote the ‘rescue culture’. Changes included the introduction of an automatic moratorium preventing the enforcement of security and certain other action by creditors without the administrator’s consent or leave of the court.

From a pensions perspective, an important point to note is that the appointment