Combined IPA membership and licence application

Eligibility – Requirements to hold an IPA insolvency licence

To become an IPA licensed Insolvency Practitioner and carry out insolvency work under the Insolvency Act 1986, you must:

Be a member or apply for membership at the time of applying for a licence
Have passed the Joint Insolvency Exam (JIE) (or one of the JIE papers if applying for a partial licence)
Meet the minimum experience requirements (600 hours of higher insolvency experience over the three to five years prior to applying)
Have completed 25 hours of structured Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in the preceding 12 months
Have two referees: one referee must be an IP, but does not need to be a member of, or authorised by, the IPA. The second referee may also be an IP, or, if not, should work professionally in insolvency or a related field, for example law, accountancy, finance, insurance or creditor representation. If you are currently an Ordinary/Fellow Member and have previously supplied a reference, only provide one further reference from an IP to certify your experience.

Have paid the appropriate fee

How to apply for a membership and licence

Please ensure that you complete the form correctly and include information that is necessary for the IPA Regulation and Conduct Committee (R&CC) to consider your application.

Once accepted, Appointment Takers must:

Hold a current enabling bond
Have professional indemnity insurance (PII)
Comply with the Insolvency Licensing Regulations and Guidance Notes
Provide a Regulation 18 MLR 2017 firm wide risk assessment

If you are transferring your licence from another RPB to the IPA, please forward your latest monitoring report together with any outcomes of findings, if appropriate, when submitting your application.

Period of licence

Licences are issued for twelve months ending on 31 December. Renewals can take place each year.

An applicant may specify a forward date on which he/she wishes his/her licence to be effective; but he/she may not act as an Insolvency Practitioner until his/her application has been granted.

A licence cannot be backdated.

Apply here

Application process

Please take into consideration the following timeframe when applying for your licence.

Applications are considered by our Regulation and Conduct Committee, which usually meets every 4-6 weeks. Applications are submitted to the Committee a week prior to the meeting (if the application is all in order). If issues are disclosed this will need to be 2-3 weeks in advance of a meeting. Once the meeting has been held and the minutes have been approved by the Chair and confirmed to the Membership team, we will write to you to confirm the outcome of your application.

Process:

Application received and checked with other regulatory professional bodies – 2 weeks
Application considered by Regulation and Conduct Committee – a week prior to the meeting, meetings are held every 4-6 weeks
Minutes approved and outcome confirmed to Membership team – usual timeframe is 15 business days