How many companies in liquidation or administration have a charge?

About a third of private limited companies in liquidation have a charge on record: 33.2%, or 35,096 of 105,726, on the Companies House register at 1 November 2026. For companies with the status "In Administration" it is 85.8% (3,070 of 3,577), and for companies in a voluntary arrangement 65.0% (370 of 569). Among active companies it is 15.6%. Source: our count from the Companies House register file (method).

Data as of: Companies House register at 1 November 2026, private limited companies only · Source: our analysis of the Companies House register of charges (how we did it) · Register file: the Companies House free company data product, a monthly snapshot. Companies House says on its download page: "The latest snapshot will be updated within 5 working days of the previous month end."

Charges on record, by company status

A charge on record means the register shows at least one charge registered against the company, at any date and held by anyone. A charge not recorded as satisfied means at least one of them has not been marked as ended. The Companies Act 2006 does not require a company to file that a charge has ended (section 859L only covers what happens if a statement is delivered), so some of these will already be paid off.

A proposal to strike off is not an insolvency. It is shown so you can compare. Companies in receivership are left out of this comparison.

What this means if you are a director

This matters because the charge holder (the party the charge is registered to, such as a lender holding a debenture) is a secured creditor and ranks ahead of most other creditors. In a liquidation:

• A fixed charge holder is paid first from the asset its charge covers. The law gives preferential debts priority over floating charges only, not fixed charges (Insolvency Act 1986 s175(2)(b)).
• The costs of the liquidation come next (Insolvency Rules 2016 r6.42 for a voluntary liquidation, r7.108 for a court one). They can be paid out of floating charge assets if the other assets are not enough (s176ZA).
• Preferential creditors are paid before the floating charge holder (s175).
• A prescribed part of the floating charge assets is kept back for unsecured creditors and cannot go to the floating charge holder (s176A).
• The floating charge holder is paid next, and unsecured creditors after that.

So most companies in administration (75.7%), and about a quarter of companies in liquidation (24.2%), have a charge not recorded as ended. If that charge is still live, its holder ranks ahead of trade suppliers and other unsecured creditors. A holder of a qualifying floating charge can also appoint an administrator itself; see our qualifying floating charge page. The full order is on our fixed and floating charges guide.

You can see your own company's charges, and whether each is shown as outstanding or satisfied, free on the Companies House register. If a charge was paid off but still shows as outstanding, the company can file form MR04 to record that it has ended. Before you speak to an insolvency practitioner, write down what each outstanding charge covers and add it to a creditor list or statement of affairs worksheet.

What these figures do not show

• Whether money is still owed. A charge not recorded as satisfied does not mean the debt is unpaid, or that anything can be recovered from the assets.
• Who holds the charge. The count includes any charge holder, including holders that are not lenders.
• Solvent or insolvent liquidation. The register does not separate solvent members' voluntary liquidations from insolvent liquidations, and a liquidation status can be old.
• Dissolved companies. Companies already removed from the register are not in the file, so these are companies still on the register, not every company that has failed.
• Cause and effect. These figures say nothing about whether having a charge makes a company more or less likely to fail.

Definitions

Private limited companies only (register category "Private Limited Company"). Each row counts the status values below and nothing else.

The administration row uses the status "In Administration" alone. The register has three other administration spellings ("In Administration/Administrative Receiver", "In Administration/Receiver Manager" and "ADMINISTRATION ORDER"). With all four together, 86.0% have a charge on record (3,541 of 4,118).