After a company has been placed into administration, the administrator must, when seeking approval from the creditors for the administrator's proposals, invite the creditors to establish a creditors’ committee under Part 17 (Creditors' and liquidation committees) of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (SI 2016/1024) (IR 2016), consisting of at least three and no more than five elected creditors of the company.

If a creditors' committee is not established then the administrator must, at any other time when they seek a decision from creditors and a creditors' committee has not already been established, invite creditors to form a creditors' committee (rule 3.39(4), IR 2016).

A creditors' committee can also be set up in an administrative receivership and in a bankruptcy. The same rules under Part 17 of the IR 2016 apply.

The purpose of the creditors’ committee is to assist the administrator in the discharge of their functions and to determine the administrator’s remuneration. The creditors' committee can require the administrator to attend on the committee at any reasonable time upon giving the requisite notice and to provide the committee with information about the exercise of their functions.

The administrator will call the creditors’ committee’s first meeting within six weeks of its establishment and thereafter it will meet regularly. Alternatively, the administrator can seek the agreement of the creditors' committee other than at a meeting under the procedure set out in rules 17.19 (Resolution by correspondence) or 17.20 (Remote attendance at meetings of committee) of the IR 2016.

A creditors' committee should not be confused with a credit committee.

A similar type of committee can be set up in the context of liquidation, where it is known as a liquidation committee.