Can I ask what kind of accountants this firm were? Are they Licensed Insolvency Practitioners? Rather naughty to be offering those kind of services if they arent. As an accountant myself, I have seen some unscrupulous firms try it on with directors when they know their fees arent going to be covered. In my opinion however it would be highly unusual for any accountant to undertake £4500 of work for an insolvent company without any guarantee of getting paid. Ive seen many a director agree to pay fees personally becauise they simply wouldnt get the service otherwise. Ive also seen people try to wriggle out of guarantees once the work is completed (no offence intended to you). Might I also suggest that you ask for detailed time costing records in respect of the invoices. They should at least be able to tell you who worked on your case, for how long and at what hourly rate.

Thanks for the heads up on Mortimer Clarke.....seems they were the subject of an undercover investigation by Dispatches a few years back who proved the 'firm' was just some phones on desks in Marlin's office. I dont know if links to other sites are allowed, but I did find one that is part of an online campaign to get MC stripped of their licence. Think I better be ready to expect the unexpected

Its okay....im up to speed on that case, and mentioned it in my letter to Marlin I just have little faith that they will take any notice lol. Thank you for the heads-up though.

Very swift response from Marlin confirming they dont hold any information on me and are writing to the original creditor for the documentation. Here we go again, they will send me the same stuff about the old chargecard, and I will write back with the same dispute. Amazing how they can make all their debt collection threats without any actual hard evidence of the debt. Ho hum....await developments I guess

sfu Hi...yes Ive already sent a letter along those lines a while back. Ive also sent the UTCCR letter separately and await their response... Im really not fussed about them threatening a debt collection visit, or even if one turns up - i was just surprised at the wording of their letter. Guess I was seeing things that werent there.

Just a quick update and question.... I received the latest threatogram from Marlin recently and was interested in their potential use of an unlicensed debt collection agency (see attached link) http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz90/Still_surviving/IMG.jpg Is this supposed to be some kind of veiled threat, and are they allowed to use such people?

CIS subbies are a nice easy job for accountants to do ( I do dozens ) - the trick is to find an advisor that doesnt charge the earth and gives a friendly personal service. (and no Im not touting for work as you really must meet an accountant face to face.....you need to develop a good working relationship in the same way you can trust your doctor or solicitor). The trick is knowing exactly what you can LEGALLY claim in expenses. Quite honestly you can put any old nonsense down on a return and chances are it will get processed, HOWEVER god help you if you are then investigated 1,2 or 3 years down the line as you will be clobbered for tax, penalties and interest. Dont let an accountant kid you that the job they are going to do is massively complicated....it wont be. However try to meet them half way and get your expenses receipts for things such as tools, motoring costs, mobile phone etc into some kind of sorted order. If you dump a bag of crap on an accountant, dont be surprised when you get a hefty bill. Also if you cant settle your accountancy bill when the job is completed, you may be asked to sign your refund over to the accountant, who will then receive it, deduct his fee then send the balance to you. MAKE SURE you get a written quote for the work (so you know your refund wont magically shrink), and make sure they are reputable so you know they will forward your money. A decent accountant will take your bank details, so that they can BACS your money very quickly after receipt. Hope this helps

Assuming you will be preparing your first accounts from the date you became self employed to 05.04.13, this return can be submitted online at any date up to 31.01.14. Paper returns can be submitted up to 31.10.13. If by 'tax rebate form' you mean self-assessment return of course. Im not being funny, but if you dont know this kind of stuff, try and find yourself a small acccountant who will charge you around £100 for the return, or £250 for return and accounts. Any half decent accountant will save you more than their fee, and you have the knowledge it will be done properly. Online filing means rebates come out quite quickly these days - as long as there are no obvious errors on the forms.

Hi all Just a quick update to mention that I had in the post today a Notice of Assignment saying that my debt had been sold to "Marlin Europe 1 Ltd" Anyone had dealings with these people? A quick google search throws up cases where theyve issued court claims. Perhaps a quick hello letter might be in order, if only to highlight M&S's failure to supply a CCA for my Chargecard etc etc...

Im an accountant who has seen a couple of his self-employed clients go bankrupt in these dark times.... First of all you must lose any notion of social or moral stigma attached to bankruptcy. You presumably owe the money to large financial institutions who will be looking at your account from a pure business perspective. They wont be lying awake at night thinking about your debt, and by the sounds of it they didnt even freeze your interest when you got into hardship. You havent willingly set out to stiff anyone so its time to try and take control of your life again. Or do you want to pay £1 a month for the next 17,500 months? Things that spring to mind in are (and this is by no means exhaustive) 1. You are allowed to keep tools and equipment that are essential to your trade/employment, but what is the approx value of your kit? 2. Check that your housing association tenancy wont be affected by bankruptcy. Some are but not many. 3. Find out what your bank's policy is toward bankruptcy....would they remove your current account? 4. Do you do any work for clients where bankruptcy might be an issue? Ie firms that might security vet you Your adviser at StepChange will know your case better than anyone here, so if you have a good rapport with them, try to listen to what they have to say. Above all - try to clear your mind and think about perhaps getting your life back in 12 months or so. Im not saying bankruptcy is definitely right for you - but it shouldnt be your 'worst nightmare' All the best PS - One of the client's i mentioned before went bankrupt for just shy of £1.9million and he was discharged in a year. Credit is a total no go afterwards, and banking was difficult, but hes got his life back.

Erm...good question. Ive reported your last post (using the triangular icon) together with a comment, so hopefully a mod will sort this if they think its appropriate

You say they "have admitted it in their opening gambit to the court office" Saying they knew the loan was for business purposes is not the same as admitting it was their intent to lend to a limited company. However the wording of the claim form is important imho. Might i suggest you flag a moderator, and get this thread moved to the 'legal issues' section where perhaps you will get some more finite advice if you upload the form N1

Okay...but prove it. "Follow the money" is often a phrase used in times of litigation. From what you have said the money went to you first, so that imho could be your undoing. I dont want to get your hopes up, so perhaps Im being pessimistic - but if the claimant has a half decent legal brain/solicitor they will go down the lines I have stated.

marmaris With respect, a loan made for 'business purposes' does not show it was intended to go into the company. The guy could have thought he was self-employed

The problem you have is this.... He/she could say "Mr.Gomzales told me he was going into business and I thought it was a good prospect so agreed to lend him £3000. I then found he put the money into a limited company and is trying to avoid repayment as the company has gone bust". I think on that scenario, you would lose, in the absence of any paperwork showing intent to lend to the company direct....however as I said - find a better legal brain than mine

If they have said this on their claim form, then the waters are getting a little murkier. However, 'business purposes' is not a definite knowledge that they intended to lend to a limited company, and its the 'limited' bit that is so important. I would suggest trying to find a legal brain on this site who could perhaps look at their claim form, or failing that, see a solicitor. At the moment, I stand by my original post, but thats as an accountant, not a solicitor.

My point is/was - can you prove this with an agreement bearing the company's name? If you cant ie no paperwork, or paperwork in your name, it will be down to the judge lottery if it gets to court, and I still think the odds would be against you.

If the money was loaned to you and you then introduced the money into the company I would say (as an accountant) that the loan was a private transaction, not a company one. It was your choice to then put the money into the company via your directors loan account. If you have any paperwork to the contrary proving they lent the money to the company, then that would negate my argument, otherwise you would have to prove to a judge that the claimant knew exactly where the money was going and why. Even then, I think you are on a sticky wicket if you dont have paperwork with the company's name on it.

Are you definitely dealing with HMRC or with one of their band of cockroaches (sorry approved debt collecting agencies). A lot of debt collection has been farmed out to the same firms that collect credit card debts etc, and from my experience they are economical with the truth and have no ethics whatsoever. Telling you to borrow the money, and that they can bankrupt you within a week doesnt sound like an HMRC office - no one likes taxmen but they do tend to follow the rules.

Can I ask how the bill for £1996 was arrived at? Presumably HMRC discovered what you were doing....then what? Did you get an accountant to do some proper accounts or did the taxman just say heres the bill? I ask because Im an accountant and so many times I see cases like this where HMRC conveniently omit to tell the taxpayer what expenses they are entitled to claim....something that any accountant would spot.

Thought I would give an update on how things stand with my M&S affairs currently. Firstly I actually WON my battle to get my PPI rebate sent to me directly, by no means other than sending them a copy of my self-assessment tax bill that was due in January. This apparently counts as a priority debt and they were obliged to issue the refund to me Secondly, M&S 'have now asked Credit Security Ltd to take responsibility for your account' and I had a couple of the usual threatograms. Today I received the enclosed letter which has lots of nice upper case, bold type emphasis, which I shall also use when composing my reply to them. http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz90/Still_surviving/CreditSec230312.jpg As far as Im concerned, nothing has changed insofar as they have only ever sent me an application form copy relating to a priior chargecard, and not the paperwork relating to the mastercard they are claiming is due. Owing to the fact they mention possible legal action, I will also be sending a formal CPUTR 2008 letter. I did Google the recent Santander v Mayhew judgement and it does make interesting reading. SS

Hi there Last Saturday evening I went to visit my brother at the flats where he lives and parked in one of the designated visitor bays marked with a V. I did so because he knew I was coming to visit and he told me not to park in any other bay. I came down later in the evening to find my car had been ticketed. I wrote to OPC straight away together with a letter from my brother saying I was parked with his permission - however they have completely ignored this and replied that because no permit was displayed the ticket stands. Having read their sign it says that a permit must be displayed, but how this is possible when you are a visitor using a visitors bay? My brother is really upset as this effectively no one can visit safely, but they ignore him completely. Ive read the threads here that suggest OPC cant really enforce this, but Im concerned because I was driving my company car (for which I have full private use allowed) and if the brown stuff hits the fan my employer will get dragged into this. OPC are also threatening to add all manner of collection and legal fees on top of the fine itself. What should I do? Im concerned because money is really tight at the moment. Just as a point of interest, whilst the registration on the ticket is correct, the make and model is completely illegible.

Well domestic hoo-hahs and generally being too busy at work meant this sat on the back burner for a while. However back in late November we sent MBNA a LBA regarding our claim (basically waking them up). Today we received basically a re-hash of the previous correspondence ie : 1) Heres the offer we made you previously - take it or leave it. 2) They dont agree with the OFTs assessment in 2006 and stand by their £12 charges. 3) Wont enter into any more correspondence. Have sued other cards with success, but before I commence with MBNA, does anyone have recent experience about their attitude to court cases? ie do they fold, defend to the hilt etc? With Thanks

mp Glad you came out even - as I think I mentioned to you before, you certainly need to be wary of the possiibility of costs being awarded. It does seem that Cap One used the same tactic as they did against me...ie try to get the case closed at the earliest opportunity by getting the charges declared statute barred asap. Looks like your judge was prepared to bypass that line of thinking a bit more than mine was. Much of the problem is, as Im sure you are no aware, is that in these small claims cases, the judges just cant/wont spend enough time actually reading the nitty gritty of our cases. Im almost certain that whilst they may compliment us on our wonderful court bundles, they barely skim read them and are content to be guided by the barrister in the room. Just out of curiosity, was the barrister they sent from Henderson Chambers? they are the ones who were engaged in my case to get the kleinwort benson argument thrown out. Anyway...glad you didnt lose

Well...needless to say they are refusing to send me a cheque - saying it is 'their policy' to offset any refunds against other debts. Quite honestly I dont care what their policy is, I need to know what my legal position is. They have admitted to mis-selling and now want to choose how they refund me the money. Slick...were you hinting there was something in the FOS guidelines i should look for? Just wondered about the smiley....