Director's questionnaire: a preparation worksheet
Shortly after a company goes into insolvent liquidation or administration, the liquidator, administrator or official receiver will send each director a questionnaire, and often ask for an interview. It is not optional paperwork: section 235 of the Insolvency Act 1986 obliges officers to give the office-holder the information they reasonably require, and the answers feed the conduct report that section 7A of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 requires on every director of the last three years, due with the Secretary of State within three months. Every firm uses its own form, so there is no single official version to copy. What the questions cover is predictable, though: how the company was run and financed, money put in and taken out by directors, the records, and why it failed. The worksheet below takes you through those topics before the form arrives, so your answers are accurate, consistent and backed by documents. General information, not legal advice. Insolvency Act 1986, s.235
The preparation worksheet
Fill this in for yourself, with the records in front of you. It is not the questionnaire and you should not send it instead of one: use it to make sure the real answers are complete and match the documents.
DIRECTOR'S QUESTIONNAIRE PREPARATION: [COMPANY NAME] LIMITED ([company number])
Prepared by: [your name] Date: [date]
1. The company and the people
Date of incorporation: [ ] Any predecessor business: [ ]
Directors and company secretary, with dates of appointment and resignation: [ ]
Who actually did what: finance, sales, operations, payroll, dealings with HMRC: [ ]
Anyone who gave instructions to the board without being a director: [ ]
2. How the business was financed
Bank facilities, loans, overdraft, asset finance, invoice finance, with lender and amount: [ ]
Security given (debentures, charges) and personal guarantees signed: [ ]
Money put in by directors or shareholders, with dates and amounts: [ ]
3. Money taken out by directors
Salary and dividends in the last [3] years: [ ]
Director loan account balance at each year end and today: [ ]
Any repayments to you, or to a loan you guaranteed, in the last 2 years: [date, amount, reason]
4. Connected companies and people
Other companies you are or were a director or shareholder of: [ ]
Trading or transfers between this company and any of them, and why: [ ]
5. Books and records
Accounting system and who kept it up to date: [ ]
Last filed accounts (period end): [ ] Management accounts prepared? How often? [ ]
Where every record is now, including software logins: [ ]
6. When things went wrong
When losses began, and the main cause: [ ]
What the board did about it, with dates (minutes, advice taken, cost cuts): [ ]
When you first thought the company might not be able to pay its debts: [date and what prompted it]
How trading was funded after that date: [ ]
7. Creditors
HMRC arrears by tax and how long outstanding: [ ]
Creditors paid in full in the last 6 months while others were not, and why: [ ]
Any statutory demands, CCJs or winding-up petitions: [ ]
8. Assets
Vehicles, equipment, stock and property, and where they are: [ ]
Anything sold, transferred or written off in the last 2 years: [to whom, date, price, how the price was set]
9. Why the company stopped trading
Date trading stopped: [ ] Reason: [ ]
Why these topics
They are not guesses. The official receiver's published technical guidance lists what a director's narrative statement may cover in a company case: the formation of the company and any predecessor business, the roles of each officer, how the business operated and how trading was financed (including loans to and from officers), transactions with associated companies, what records were kept and by whom, when and why losses were sustained and what was done about them, and why the business failed. The same guidance says it is important to establish the amount, dates and circumstances of money put into and taken out of the company by its officers. Insolvency practitioners work to SIP 2, which tells them to make enquiries of directors "by sending questionnaires and/or interviewing them" and to assess whether anything could lead to a recovery, including claims against the directors.
How to answer well
- Answer from the records, not memory. Where you are unsure of a date or figure, say so and say where it can be checked.
- Volunteer the awkward transactions: a loan account repayment, a sale to a connected company, a creditor paid ahead of others. Found later, they look far worse. Our note on repaying a director loan before liquidation explains why.
- Keep a copy of everything you send. In a compulsory liquidation the official receiver's guidance says you should be given one free copy of the completed questionnaire on request.
- If a question is unclear, ask what it means rather than guess. The official receiver's questionnaire carries a Perjury Act 1911 warning, and every answer may later be read by a court.
- Hand over records when asked, and tell the office-holder if someone else holds company assets or records.
- If you are worried about personal liability, take your own advice before you submit, not after. The wrongful trading checker and wrongful trading guide show what an office-holder looks for.
For what happens to you as a director more broadly, read what happens to a director of a company in liquidation and the director disqualification figures. The paperwork your practitioner needs for the company itself is in the CVL documents checklist.
Sources, all accessed 23 September 2026: Insolvency Act 1986, s.235; Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, s.7A; gov.uk, co-operate with the official receiver; Technical guidance for official receivers, chapter 17 (interviews and statements); SIP 2, England and Wales (effective 6 April 2016), R3. General information, not legal advice.
Director's questionnaires: common questions
Do I have to fill in the questionnaire?
You have to co-operate. Section 235 of the Insolvency Act 1986 requires current and former officers to give the office-holder the information about the company's business, dealings, affairs or property that they reasonably require, and to attend on them when reasonably required; failing to comply without reasonable excuse can lead to a fine. The questionnaire is simply how most practitioners ask. In a compulsory liquidation, gov.uk says the official receiver will send you a questionnaire and ask you to attend an interview, and that not co-operating can lead to prosecution, disqualification or a warrant for your arrest.
Is the questionnaire the start of a disqualification case?
No, but it feeds the report that decides whether one is considered. Section 7A of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 requires the liquidator, administrator or official receiver of an insolvent company to send the Secretary of State a conduct report on everyone who was a director in the three years before the insolvency, within three months of the insolvency date. A conduct report is a description of what happened, not an accusation. What usually matters is whether they kept trading when they knew the company could not pay its debts, whether creditors such as HMRC were treated worse than others, and whether records were kept.
Will what I write be shared?
Expect it to be. In compulsory liquidations the official receiver's own guidance says the preliminary information questionnaire tells you it will be disclosed to any liquidator later appointed. SIP 2 tells practitioners not to disclose conduct reports to third parties, but says the report will usually be made available to the director if disqualification proceedings are brought. Write every answer on the basis that a court may read it.
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