Company in liquidation.
Discussion
A client of mine put himself into liquidation without telling me owing me the best part of £2000.
Liquidators have contacted me and asked me for information and if I can help them with payroll.
Do I have the right to say I'm not doing anything until I've been paid in full?
Currently have no governing body so have no duty to the liquidator.
Liquidators have contacted me and asked me for information and if I can help them with payroll.
Do I have the right to say I'm not doing anything until I've been paid in full?
Currently have no governing body so have no duty to the liquidator.
If the liquidator is asking you to do payroll then they are offering to pay you for your services.
You have little-to-no chance of getting your £2k, but you can charge a bit more for your services to work for the liquidator and try and recoup a bit that way.
To answer your question, you have the right to do and say whatever you want, but saying it will not get your £2k back. It would be against all the rules. As I said, just charge them a much higher amount for your time going forwards and do your best to recover a little that way
You have little-to-no chance of getting your £2k, but you can charge a bit more for your services to work for the liquidator and try and recoup a bit that way.
To answer your question, you have the right to do and say whatever you want, but saying it will not get your £2k back. It would be against all the rules. As I said, just charge them a much higher amount for your time going forwards and do your best to recover a little that way
Edited by blindswelledrat on Wednesday 8th April 12:38
maxmc2 said:
Would seem that he wants some information from me which relates to work I've already done, surely that warrants me saying my fees need paying before I can release that info?
He cannot pay you for past work under any circumstance (I don't think). You would be deemed to have been paid preferentially over other creditors which is illegal.So you can ask, but you won't get. Equally you are under no obligation to provide anything to anyone if you don't want to.
In my experience of being on the receiving end of 100+ liquidations of SME businesses pretty much every penny the liquidator manages to recover goes in fees to the liquidator. In my case the exception to this is about 5% of cases where we have been lucky enough to get as much as 5p in the pound back.
If they need your help then they will pay you whatever you require to give it.
If in this case your special consultancy fee is £2500 for this service then they can choose to pay you that for it, or not. Of course this is in no way related to what you might be owed separately for another unconnected piece of work.
This is perfectly normal practice, I have done it myself a couple of times, you need to get in early though when the liquidator is still keen and has money to pay for stuff.
If in this case your special consultancy fee is £2500 for this service then they can choose to pay you that for it, or not. Of course this is in no way related to what you might be owed separately for another unconnected piece of work.
This is perfectly normal practice, I have done it myself a couple of times, you need to get in early though when the liquidator is still keen and has money to pay for stuff.
blindswelledrat said:
He cannot pay you for past work under any circumstance (I don't think). You would be deemed to have been paid preferentially over other creditors which is illegal.
So you can ask, but you won't get. Equally you are under no obligation to provide anything to anyone if you don't want to.
In my experience of being on the receiving end of 100+ liquidations of SME businesses pretty much every penny the liquidator manages to recover goes in fees to the liquidator. In my case the exception to this is about 5% of cases where we have been lucky enough to get as much as 5p in the pound back.
Yes he can pay if it makes commercial sense. Let's say the OP has the information that could complete the work required at a cost of £500 but anyone else would have to 'take on' the company as a new client at a one off cost to the liquidation of £5,000 plus £500 for completing the work. In this case the liquidator can justify paying the OP as a ransom creditor - in reality this is frequently the case as although there may not be a 'take on' fee it would incur time (and therefore cost) for the liquidator to source an alternative.So you can ask, but you won't get. Equally you are under no obligation to provide anything to anyone if you don't want to.
In my experience of being on the receiving end of 100+ liquidations of SME businesses pretty much every penny the liquidator manages to recover goes in fees to the liquidator. In my case the exception to this is about 5% of cases where we have been lucky enough to get as much as 5p in the pound back.
A s239 preference is very different - this is a route a liquidator can take to void a transaction previously undertaken by the Directors. But even a Director could argue a payment was not a preference if there is a valid commercial reason for paying it (burden of proof mainly depends on whether the parties are connected or not and when the transaction took place)
As has been advised - you can state you'll only do the work after all the o/s has been paid, or a proportion of it - that is a commercial negotiation and only you can know the value of the information you have.
Unfortunately Mr Rat I have to agree with the distribution rates you quote though
must bear in mind that a liquidation is the last resort when there really isn't anything left - most companies of any decent size "should" go into Administration[Note the "" 's as there's no real should about it but generally it's only smaller companies that skip the Administration]
sleepezy said:
Unfortunately Mr Rat I have to agree with the distribution rates you quote though must bear in mind that a liquidation is the last resort when there really isn't anything left - most companies of any decent size "should" go into Administration
[Note the "" 's as there's no real should about it but generally it's only smaller companies that skip the Administration]
Id agree in at least 70 or 80% of cases that you are right that there simply is no money. must bear in mind that a liquidation is the last resort when there really isn't anything left - most companies of any decent size "should" go into Administration[Note the "" 's as there's no real should about it but generally it's only smaller companies that skip the Administration]
RIghtly or wrongly, I get the impression that liquidators milk the remaining 20% to subsidise the unprofitable ones, which I can understand but never ever sympathise with as a creditor.
I've seen more than one case where I cannot understand how the liquidator is not in prison and yet they never seem to be accountable for their actions.
The above may be comepletely incorrect but my opinion is formed over a relatively large number of anecdotes
maxmc2 said:
A client of mine put himself into liquidation without telling me owing me the best part of £2000.
Liquidators have contacted me and asked me for information and if I can help them with payroll.
Do I have the right to say I'm not doing anything until I've been paid in full?
Currently have no governing body so have no duty to the liquidator.
You don't have the right to withhold information. It doesn't matter if you don't have a governing body. If the liquidator believes you have information pertinent to the liquidation then they can ask for the information. If yo do not cooperate then the liquidator can apply to the court. The court has the power to have you arrested and held in custody if you refuse to divulge the information requested by the liquidator. The liquidator can also apply to the court for a costs order against you for the costs involved in applying to the the court. Liquidators have contacted me and asked me for information and if I can help them with payroll.
Do I have the right to say I'm not doing anything until I've been paid in full?
Currently have no governing body so have no duty to the liquidator.
plasticpig said:
You don't have the right to withhold information. It doesn't matter if you don't have a governing body. If the liquidator believes you have information pertinent to the liquidation then they can ask for the information. If yo do not cooperate then the liquidator can apply to the court. The court has the power to have you arrested and held in custody if you refuse to divulge the information requested by the liquidator. The liquidator can also apply to the court for a costs order against you for the costs involved in applying to the the court.
Then the liquidator would find you no longer have the information.Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff