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Directors liability after company has been liquidated

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    Directors liability after company has been liquidated

    A limited company went into liquidation in the previous year and was wound up by a liquidator and closed once all debts and liabilities were paid. Over 6 months later, a creditor has made a claim for overpayment to the company to the tune of approx £10k. Unfortunately, all rights to the bank account and company details were taken over by the liquidator. So, what liabilities, if any, does the director have over this claim from the creditor? There were no personal guarantees given by the director to any creditors. The creditor has threatened to go to court to reclaim their supposed overpayment. What should the ex-director of the company do in such a situation? What are his rights? Should he be concerned. He has acted wholly in accordance with UK company law by employing a liquidator and there were no issues encountered in the liquidation.

    #2
    Best thing to do is consult with a lawyer.

    But from a non legal background, I believe that the director should have nothing to worry about but a lawyer would be able to confirm.

    Comment


      #3
      The whole point of advertising a closure in the London Gazette is so that any creditors can come forward to object to dissolution. If they didn't, and there was no fraud involved on the directors part, I'd say the creditor has no claim.

      Call your liquidator and ask them.

      Assuming you were honest and provided full disclosure to them, and there was indeed no fraud.....?
      ContractorUK Best Forum Adviser 2013

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        #4
        "I have no debt to you, please route all further communication through the liquidators at (address)"

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by craig1 View Post
          "I have no debt to you, please route all further communication through the liquidators at (address)"
          It would be safer to drop the first 6 words. Acknowledge the existence of the correspondence but not the content in any way.

          if the 10k is a simple oversight from the creditor then prospects of recovery from the director are slim indeed.

          if it is becoming a contractual dispute, eg non performance, then transfer of liability is likely to depend on terms of the underlying contract.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by IsThisForReal View Post
            A limited company went into liquidation in the previous year and was wound up by a liquidator and closed once all debts and liabilities were paid. Over 6 months later, a creditor has made a claim for overpayment to the company to the tune of approx £10k.
            If all liabilities were paid, how was this not picked up? If they were owed money, and this was reflected in your accounting records, they should have been written to before the liquidation was concluded.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by craig1 View Post
              "I have no debt to you, please route all further communication through the liquidators at (address)"
              FTFY
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                #8
                WTS. It's probably illegal for you to do anything other than direct them to the liquidators. It's their company now.
                Will work inside IR35. Or for food.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Martin at NixonWilliams View Post
                  If all liabilities were paid, how was this not picked up? If they were owed money, and this was reflected in your accounting records, they should have been written to before the liquidation was concluded.
                  We wondered the same, but given our experience of liquidators over the years it wouldn't surprised us if they missed it...

                  OP as others have said, once the company is in formal liquidation everything needs to go through the liquidators.

                  We would suggest you reply and provide the details for Insolvency Practitioner, as far as any personal liability goes as long as you complied with your obligations under the Companies Act you should be fine.
                  The only debt collection & credit control company recommended by Contractor UK.

                  Read our articles on ContractorUK here and get in touch here.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Safe Collections View Post
                    We wondered the same, but given our experience of liquidators over the years it wouldn't surprised us if they missed it...

                    OP as others have said, once the company is in formal liquidation everything needs to go through the liquidators.

                    We would suggest you reply and provide the details for Insolvency Practitioner, as far as any personal liability goes as long as you complied with your obligations under the Companies Act you should be fine.
                    Liquidators will typically only know what they're told. As others have mentioned above, that's why adverts are placed in the gazette, so if a questionable client "forgets" to tell the liquidator about hefty company debts, the liquidation is made public for all to see and creditors can object. Granted, not many SMEs will bother to look at the gazette...but that's not the liquidator or company owner's fault.

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