Money gone to Company House

[Tilamok]

Hi All

Please can you advise

I voluntarily dissolved my company but left around £5000 in the business a/c.
What has happened is that the business a/c has sent the balance to the companies house and now I need to restore the company to claim the money back.


Any help/comments would be appreciated

<mod>Moved to Accounting/Legal where you have a better chance of getting a sensible reply</mod>

[Clare@InTouch]

You need to look into an Administrative Restoration, see Chapter 4 here:

Guidance - strike off, dissolution and restoration (GP4)

An accountant should be able to help you out with the process, but it's really quite simple.

[Tilamok]

Hi Thanks for the reply

I've been told I need to go to court to get it restored by "companies house"

Do you why I need to get a court order ?

Thanks

[sbakoola]

This happened to me many years ago, I had alot more than £5K in my bank account.

A company named UKData sorted it out for me, the money in my business account actually went to HMRC Treasury Solicitor. I had to get UKData to re-open the Company for one/two days only so I could have the company bank account 'unfrozen' and have money transferred out to my personal bank account. I remember UK Data made an application to the 'High Court' in London to have the dissolved company re-opened temporarily. The whole process took about 5 weeks from start to finish, really easy cost me about £150, which is not bad considering what I would have lost. I don't know if its the same procedure these days. .. this was like 9 years ago. I think UKData may be still around, ring them and see if they still do it and get a quote.

[Tilamok]

This happened to me many years ago, I had alot more than £5K in my bank account.

A company named UKData sorted it out for me, the money in my business account actually went to HMRC Treasury Solicitor. I had to get UKData to re-open the Company for one/two days only so I could have the company bank account 'unfrozen' and have money transferred out to my personal bank account. I remember UK Data made an application to the 'High Court' in London to have the dissolved company re-opened temporarily. The whole process took about 5 weeks from start to finish, really easy cost me about £150, which is not bad considering what I would have lost. I don't know if its the same procedure these days. .. this was like 9 years ago. I think UKData may be still around, ring them and see if they still do it and get a quote.

Thanks
I don't mind losing £150 considering that "companies house" seems to suggest that if the balance is less than £3k then ot's not worth the hassle,
I'll try to contact UKdata

My old accountant is also giving me the impression that it's gonna be costly especially if solicitors are going to be involved

[Clare@InTouch]

It's not that complicated anymore, the rules changed when the Companies Act 2006 came into force.

The downside may be if you had outstanding accounts for which a penalty would be due if you restored it - depends on whether you struck it off properly in the first place.

All you need to do is:

4. How do I apply for administrative restoration?

You must send an ‘Application for administrative restoration’ (Form RT01) to the registrar which includes a statement of compliance confirming that the applicant is legally entitled to make the application (see question 1) and that the conditions for restoration are met (see question 2).

The registrar’s fee for processing the application is £100. Please make cheques payable to ‘Companies House’ and write the company number on the reverse.

Guidance - strike off, dissolution and restoration (GP4)

[Tilamok]

Clare

Many Thanks for your reply
It looks as if RT01 is used where the company is dissolved involuntarily. However I dissolved mine voluntarily.

I dissolved the company with everything paid, all accounts and reports done to the best of my accountant's knowledge

I think I need solicitors because I dissolved it voluntarily

[Clare@InTouch]

Clare

Many Thanks for your reply
It looks as if RT01 is used where the company is dissolved involuntarily. However I dissolved mine voluntarily.

I dissolved the company with everything paid, all accounts and reports done to the best of my accountant's knowledge

I think I need solicitors because I dissolved it voluntarily

Sorry, I missed the voluntary bit in your first post - have a look at the Bona Vacantia procdeures then. The Crown will often make discretionary payments when assets are passed to them in error. You need to jump through a few hoops, but it's easy enough:

FAQs > Companies > Bona Vacantia

[Tilamok]

Sorry, I missed the voluntary bit in your first post - have a look at the Bona Vacantia procdeures then. The Crown will often make discretionary payments when assets are passed to them in error. You need to jump through a few hoops, but it's easy enough:

FAQs > Companies > Bona Vacantia

Clare

Many thanks again for the link and very valuable details
Bona Vacantia seems to refund up to £3000 only

[Clare@InTouch]

Clare

Many thanks again for the link and very valuable details
Bona Vacantia seems to refund up to £3000 only

It depends on how much getting the company restored by Court Order would cost though - it might be a case of taking the view that £3,000 is better than £5,000 less £2,500 in costs. It's worth getting quotes from various solicitors or accountants to see how much it would cost.

Did your accountant warn you to close the bank account before the striking off application was submitted? Did he ask for bank statements to ensure it was done? If not, perhaps that's a good bargaining tool to use against any fees he would charge for handling the restoration process.