Dissolved Company / Bona Vacantia Pickle

[Jenni]

My ltd company was recently dissolved by my accountant as it had ceased trading some months before. There were funds remaining in my business bank account for paying my final tax bill.

The funds were seized by the treasury and I have since had to borrow money from a family member to pay my tax bill. The company now has no debt outstanding with HMRC (Tax, NI and VAT).

I am hoping the process for applying for a "discretionary" grant from the treasury is straight forward, even though the legal jargon on the BV website leaves me slightly confused.

Can anyone offer me any advice?

[Clare@InTouch]

It's actually a lot easier than it used to be as the Companies Act 2006 introduced Administrative Restoration. This would restore your company entirely, cash included (less an admin fee to the Treasury) for a £100 fee.

You could then pay the tax bill, file final accounts and apply for dissolution properly. This is assuming that it was CH who struck off the company and not your accountant prematurely filing a DS01 application.

Administrative Restoration

[Jenni]

It was my accountant that dissolved my company under my instruction and they failed to inform me that my cash would go to the treasury one month after dissolution. I guess it is my fault ultimately but I really had no idea that this could happen. You can imagine my terror when going to the bank to pay my tax bill and being told there was no evidence of my account, let alone any money in it.

Is the administrative restoration route via CH easier and cheaper than applying to BV for a discretionary grant? Or do I not have the first option as the company was dissolved with my say-so?

I know I can only be awarded £3k in a grant but luckily there was little more than that in my account at the time it was seized. BV's standard fees are £200 which isn't unreasonable but I'm not happy about the treasury taking 5% off the money awarded.