[from edge2edge]

Just had a lovely phone call from the company i do most of my subbie work for.They say they have gone into receivership and i may or may not get the 8k they owe me.Its just me working for myself so i am sure you can imagine i am up the river without a paddle.If anyone can give me some tips as regards this matter i would be very grateful as i think i will lose the lot.Regards Alan Turner (Swindon)

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Alan

Sorry to hear your news, I fear more of this will be occuring.

In my experience you have little chance of getting any money but I would suggest you find out who the receivers are and make sure your details, how much owed etc are clearly logged with them.

Cheers

Doug

[stevegunn]

I fear the worst for a company that owes me money too,been fobbed off for 3 weeks now speaking to one of their employees they are struggling and have finished a few lads over recent weeks.He seems to think none of them will have jobs by the end of the month.

[jasonl]

I have had this happen to me a few times, I suggest you ask for the name of the reciever, as they are legally bound to give you this .
The next thing to do is to speak to the owner or employees of the company , and try and get contacts to work more directly than as a subbie, though caution is needed, as you may find that thier customers are struggling too.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Hi Alan

Really sorry to hear your bad news. Whilst it doesn't sound good al least others may be able to learn from your misfortune.

Did this debt build up over just one month or was it over a longer period?

Often there are signs (and it can be as unscientific as a "feeling in your water") that things have changed and as that time you need to have a plan of action to stop matters deteriorating.

Simple things you can do are credit checks/status enquiries and talking to other suppliers. Also find out who it is who pays the bills and talk to them-not the person who commissions your work.

BE positive and don't let the b*****ds grind you down.

[Paul Kettless]

Not that I have any idea of the answer to this, but will Alan not be able to claim some of the money back at the end of his tax year as unpaid debts?

[from edge2edge]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys andthing else most appreciated.

[*paul_moss]

Al sorry to hear your bad news, same thing happened to my Dad about 13 years ago,a company took him for 15k and it was in his 2nd year which rocked him quite a bit.
The bad news is as the guys have said your not likely to get it back.
The good news is that it is big learning curve that wont happen again to you, you can be sure of that as once bitten and all that.

Head down and you will recover.

I know ive been there 

[garyj]

The receivers will write to you in due course anyway. The most likely cause for bankruptcy is unpaid VAT, and that is the first thing that will be paid. Secondly it will be the staff wages and then the outstanding debts.

Doubt you'll see much of the 8k, if anything at all 

It has happened to me a few times now, doesn't get any easier and I always feel I've been taken for a mug.

There are no tax concessions for unpaid debts, if you have paid the VAT in advance you can claim that, but that is it.

[carpet guy]

As mentioned already, this debt is " recoverable " against any due income tax, but make sure you have all the relevent documentation, your accountant will process your claim.
We lost £24 k in our first year in another business, when the debtor died, leaving virtually nothing, but our accountant had it set against the following two years profits.
If there is a sale of their estate, it might give you some satisfaction, buying some of their goods and selling for a profit.

[Karl Wildey]

Had this a couple of times in past too.

You are in a queue, so taxman comes first, then the  bank, then accountacys etc, and finally those like you, by now they is no money left, you need to assume the money will not come. Speak to your accountant, and/or start working out how you can recover from this.

This is a warning to all, the cre3dit crunch is biting and people will delay paying you, never stretch beyond what you can cope with, but that is always impossible to do

[from edge2edge]

Karl the strange thing is i have just started getting away from the all you eggs in one basket position and have got some sweet stuff locally.The only positive that might come out of this is the fact that they should lose confidence with the people i have worked for if they try to reinvent themselves as a new company.I have called at least 40 people already this morning to find out if i can secure the work for myself so maybe some light at the end of the tunnel coz i aint betting i will get a bean.

[carpet guy]

Don't be shy, Alan, get in there before someone else does and you will, hopefully end up better off.....................but, why has the other business having trouble, it might be your potential clients, not paying on time, tread carefully.

rob

[Karl Wildey]

great attitude edge2edge get in and get on with it, the brown stuff hits the fan and you need to get back in the saddle and kick ass.
learn from this and I hope others will, you need a limit on credit, or invoices paid within a set limit.

[carpet guy]

Ditto

[spencer davies]

We had a similar situation a month ago, we received a letter from a liquidation company saying one of our regular customers had gone into receivership, we had also been given excuses for several weeks.

I angrily marched into the kitchen showroom (which was still trading) and informed the owner not to expect our invoice to be lumped in with the VAT, Banks and secured creditors, he wrote out a cheque on the spot, explaining he only wanted to get rid of his larger liabilities and not turn us over, although he didn't let us know.

I agree with the other posts, get in there and put the pressure on...... you never know your luck.


Regards



S

[from edge2edge]

Thanks again for the posts guys .I know the people i have subbied for have paid their bills because i have known them for 10 years and i rang them to ask them.They were less than impressed but as they are national companies,ie clarks shoes,blockbuster video ,h samuel,ernest jones and the military houses and bases so the decisions get taken higher up the food chain.Luckily everybody i have spoken to so far has been understanding(even  the x wifes)so at least i am not getting the grief some people seem to give you when something has got xxxx up.

[richie]

Some years ago i was the Sole supplier to a company that had 5 night clubs.  I was cleaning each club on a 5 weekly basis.  I had a Bacs payment run set up with them on a 5 weekly basis.  Luckily for me,  i got on really well with 1 of the girls in the accounts department & she gave me a call informing me that things were looking very grim.  She said that she had managed to get a Bacs payment to me 2 weeks early as she feared i would not get it otherwise.  So i got £2785 paid early which left just 1 club outstanding (£640) before they went into recievership.

I had a letter through my door from a company telling me that the Group had gone into recievership & any further dealings & or querries had to go through them.  Boy was i glad i got on well with that Girl in accounts.  I sent her a cheque for £100.00 just to say   THANK YOU.

Richie.

[martin19842]

hi there

the enterprise act that came into affect a feew years ago has made it a whole lot easier for people to just turn away from there creditors and walk away.  this applies for bothe individuals and companies.

hmrc, have also now lost their preferential creditor status, which means they are now in the same queue as trade creditors.  you will find less cases, of hmrc forcing the situation, they more and more want to make arrangements to secure monies over a longer period.

cause if so many individuals, and companies just walk away from their situation, then the government will need to make sure that they get as much money in as possible.

keep an eye on your customers at all times.

regards

martin