• Allow an insolvency office-holder to pay costs and expenses incurred before his appointment as an expense. This would, for example, allow an administrator to recover the costs incurred in negotiating a pre-pack sale of the assets of an insolvent company;
• Allow for the remuneration of insolvency practitioners on a fixed fee basis;
• Allow for electronic communication between insolvency office-holders and the creditors of an insolvent company or individual;
• Dispense with the need for a court to endorse a notice of disclaimer before it is valid; and
• Bring insolvency court proceedings more into line with the Civil Procedure Rules.

The Rules are set to come into force on 6 April 2010. A revised and consolidated set of Rules, which will replace the Insolvency Rules 1986, is expected to come into force in April 2011.