Closing company down with bounce back loan (possible a mis selling scandal)

[zeus tiktak]

ok, ltd company has been closed and bbl written off. this is not advice, but this is what i did:

1. ensure business bank account has no money
2. <Mod: other dodgy steps so you can pinch the money>
8. wait a few weeks, westcot no londer chase and close file. lender will claim on gov guarantee.

my personal opinion is that the BB:L scheme is the biggest ever mis selling scandal. people being chased should keep all communications and make a note of the emotion distress this is causing once firms start challenging lenders and hmrc.

As i said this is not meant to be advice, but just a journey i've been on.

[cojak]

I have no idea what this post is about or what you are complaining about. The bounce back loan was a loan. Surely you expected to have to repay it?

Or does it mean how to take the loan and then do a runner?

[NowPermOutsideUK]

He’s done a runner and posted the steps for others to follow. If the company is really insolvent there is not much hmrc can do

[cojak]

Right you are. Edited it to remove the how to.

[zeus tiktak]

this *could* end up being a bigger mis selling scandal than PPI.
HMRC offering loans but marketing them as "grants" so businesses took them up easily. Now the business owners are suffering and should be compensated for being mis-sold these loans. HMRC either contest these and fight the mis selling, or just let them be written off. in my case they decided to write it off.

[cojak]

Bounce Back LOAN.

The clue’s in the name…

[DaveB]

this *could* end up being a bigger mis selling scandal than PPI.
HMRC offering loans but marketing them as "grants" so businesses took them up easily. Now the business owners are suffering and should be compensated for being mis-sold these loans. HMRC either contest these and fight the mis selling, or just let them be written off. in my case they decided to write it off.

HMRC didn't market anything to anybody.

The loans scheme was run by the Treasury. BBl's were billed as just that, loans. There were additional grants available for business suffering additional restrictions and for the self employed. These were billed as grants not loans.

All the material published by the govt. in regards to the loans and grants was clear including the amount time you had to reply the loans and the interest that would be changed and when.

The issue of business taking out the loans and then "going under" during the pandemic without ever repaying them has been highlighted from the start. The government announced a new bill that allows HMRC and The Insolvency Service to go after directors who dissolved their companies improperly leaving outstanding debts, including bounce back loans or tax. Despite having had your loan written off and closing your company you are still at risk of investigation and if there is a suspicion that you have acted fraudulently, prosecution.

The Ratings (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill will allow retrospective investigation and action to be taken against directors and can lead to disqualification and personal liability if they are found to have dissolved their company with outstanding debts.

Deliberately emptying the company coffers in order to appear insolvent and avoid loan or tax payments falls into that category.

[zeus tiktak]

if the clue was in the name, why did lenders, staff at the lenders, market these as "grants", 100% backed, only answer is to tempt businesses to take them out?
i'm just stating some people out there (millions) may feel they were misled and potentially mis sold.
we wont know until a company decides to contest hmrc, unless hmrc decides to just write them all off.

[DaveB]

if the clue was in the name, why did lenders, staff at the lenders, market these as "grants", 100% backed, only answer is to tempt businesses to take them out?
i'm just stating some people out there (millions) may feel they were misled and potentially mis sold.
we wont know until a company decides to contest hmrc, unless hmrc decides to just write them all off.

So have you got any of this "marketing material" to use in your defence? Can you link to any of it?

[zeus tiktak]

In my case, it was the customer service staff at the lender who sold it as 100% guaranteed and gov backed, without mentioning anything about debt collectors. you cant expect a person to read pages and pages of fine print which, hence i felt it was mis sold.

when faced with the debt collectors, i simply stated this along with the fact the company has no money. they accepted this, and then went back to the lender who claimed off the government. anyone else facing similar issues, please note these steps are all necessarily before the lender can make the claim with the gov.

none of us know if the government will simply write all these loans off hence effectively making them a grant. or if they challenge some, they face the proscpect of them being potentially chased by companies for mis selling them.

millions of people took out these loans, so i hope my experience helps someone out there.