Small Claims Threat

[marscarsmaggie]

Our ex-accoutant is pushing for some money that we owe him; the old limited company that owes this money is down for winding-up by Companies House.
We now run another similar company which he has mentioned in his corospondence to us and has threatened us we small claims court and his solicitor if he doesnt receive payment.
Do we offer him a payment plan that we can afford, even though the old company has no money or assets, or let him do his worst as the old company owes the money not our new Co. or us personally?

 

[Esk247]

If the debt is with the old Ltd Company and outstanding invoices etc were not personally guaranteed then he can only chase the company that is being wound up, not the new Ltd Company.

Others will know better than I though

 

[Super Simon]

If the debt is with the old Ltd Company and outstanding invoices etc were not personally guaranteed then he can only chase the company that is being wound up, not the new Ltd Company.

Others will know better than I though

As above. If the debt wasn't personally guaranteed and it was owned by the old company that no longer trades, the debt dies with the company.

As an accountant, he'll probably know this but he's trying his luck... (and who can blame him?).

 

[MikeJ]

and who can blame him?

Well, actually I can. He's a member of a professional body, and should act accordingly. If he's trying to bully you into paying with the threat of legal action, he should be reported to either ICAEW or ICAS (whichever one he's a member of).

 

[marscarsmaggie]

A bit more info guys, we now run another company which is virtually identical but obviously registered as a new company, the accountant says the following,
"Yours comments leave us and potentially yourself in a bit of a difficult decision.

If we accept the proposal and we do not object to the striking off then when the company gets struck off we are in a position where we have no leg to stand on to chase the remaining debt at that point.

Therefore if we do accept the proposal then we would still have to object to the striking off proposal which would potentially leave you to file annual returns accounts,etc as our only way forward of guaranteeing the debt would be to apply to the court to claim the money and then accept your proposal (albeit with charges and interest also added on). This would prove to Companies House that the company is still active and stop the strike off.

The only option we are prepared to look at is accepting a one off payment and writing off the difference, so if you are prepared to pay us £1500.00 now we would write the remainder off and leave the company free to strike off".
In an earlier email he said, "we are also prepared to take the matter further via our solicitors as we are aware of your new co. trading under blah blah Limited company without blah blah old co. Limited been properly closed down".
What do you think we should do? there is no way we could afford such a large 1-off payment to get this cleared up.
Any ideas as we are starting to get a bit worried and he has given us a time limit of 1500 on Friday.

 

[UKcentric]

"Our ex-accoutant is pushing for some money that we owe him;"

Why are you trying to get out of paying your accountant what you owe him?

Sorry to be harsh but it's a common theme on this forum - how can I get out of paying a debt that I have incurred?

Just lend some money out of your own pocket to the company that owes it to him, and pay him.

 

[Steve Sellers]

"Our ex-accoutant is pushing for some money that we owe him;"

Why are you trying to get out of paying your accountant what you owe him?

Sorry to be harsh but it's a common theme on this forum - how can I get out of paying a debt that I have incurred?

Just lend some money out of your own pocket to the company that owes it to him, and pay him.

Limited liability is essential in every economy. The company owes the accountant money, not the OP. So long as they haven't acted unlawfully by incurring debts when they knew they were insolvent then there is no problem.

 

[Super Simon]

Well, actually I can. He's a member of a professional body, and should act accordingly. If he's trying to bully you into paying with the threat of legal action, he should be reported to either ICAEW or ICAS (whichever one he's a member of).

To be fair, if the shoe was on the other foot, I think you'd be trying to reclaim your losses too.

Yes, he is part of a professional body, but that doesn't mean he's worth any less as a profit-seeking business.

 

[The Resolver]

Don't answer this in an open Forum but you need to think (don't tell us!) whether your accountant feels there are assets/business in the new company that can be traced back to the old company and to whom less than fair value has been transferred (ie some breaches of company insolvency laws) . Does he feel you have essentially pulled a fast one with your creditors? That may not be true of course if you have acted carefully and acted under advice and are effecting a lawful pre-pack liquidation of oldco.

None of us here can truly answer you because we do not have the full facts (and do not post them) . I see it that he needs some security but its a Catch 22 to give it and still protect yourself against allegations over oldco (ie if nothing done wrong how do you explain why a separate company is paying the debts of the old company? Imagine what other creditors might think). So its all down to what problems he can give you if he is left unpaid. If none - then he could be in breach of professional ethics in making the threat backed demand.

You need independent advice on whether you have done anything wrong. Fresh phoenix companies start up all the time (and HMG even encourages lawfully set up pre-packs as they help to retain employment levels) but its a very grey area.

 

[ShadPad]

Well, actually I can. He's a member of a professional body, and should act accordingly. If he's trying to bully you into paying with the threat of legal action, he should be reported to either ICAEW or ICAS (whichever one he's a member of).

This sounds like a good plan.