We have mentioned this before, HMRC are to be given the powers to dip into the bank accounts of debtors, individuals as well as companies and help themselves. Individuals and businesses need only owe more than £1,000 to the tax man and he can, without a court order, help himself to their cash as long […]

The European Commission has approved insolvency changes across Europe which includes US style Chapter 11 proceedings. The proposals include a US style regime which offers struggling companies’ time, from three months up to 12, to put a restructuring plan in place before their creditors can take any action. In addition the proposed changes suggest that […]

Piercing the ‘corporate veil’ is a term used in company law to  describe investigations into the shareholders behind the legal entity of a limited company. In the matter of Prest v Petrodel Resources Limited and Others [2013] UKSC 34, the wife claimed that certain properties which were owned by companies controlled by her ex-husband, should […]

Directors who decide not to take a salary in order to help their company through tough times may be  able to claim their unpaid salary from the Government. In a recent case, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v Knight UKEA/0073/13/RN, Mrs Knight, who was the sole shareholder and director of her company, […]

The debt charity Stepchange has reported that there are still some 15 million people falling behind with their household bills and using their credit card to pay for essentials. In addition, almost 13 million people do not have enough savings to keep themselves for a month should their income suddenly drop. It seems that despite […]

HMRC are to be given the powers to dip into debtors’ bank accounts and help themselves to tax which they believe they are owed. Everybody should pay the correct amount of tax, but HMRC have a poor history of knowing what the correct amount of tax is that people owe!! HMRC will be acting as […]

The Insolvency Service has recently published the insolvency statistics for the first quarter of 2014. Corporate Insolvency Procedures There has been an increase in the number of company liquidations.  There have been 3,721 in the first quarter compared to 3,552 in the last quarter of 2013.  Of the 3,721, 1,072 were compulsory liquidations and 2,649 […]

With the demise of legal aid and the rising cost of professional indemnity insurance, it is a fact of life that some legal firms are going to struggle. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued some guidelines for such firms if they are facing formal insolvency proceedings. Although the SRA does not state how a […]

From 6 April 2014, some of the deposits and fees for insolvency proceedings have increased as follows: Deposits Bankruptcy – debtors petition – £525 Bankruptcy – creditors petition – £750 Company compulsory winding up – £1,250 Company winding up on grounds of public interest – £5,000 Fees Bankruptcy – official receiver’s administration fee – £1,850 […]

On the 6 April 2014 the limits which apply to payments under the Employment Rights legislation were increased. In respect of redundancy payments the limit has increased from £450 per week to £464 per week. This information is useful not just for employees when working out what they may be entitled to, but also for […]