Insolvency Practitioner Help

[caledfwlch]

Hope someone can help.

 

My parents have been given appalling advice by an Insolvency Practioner which has led to their bankruptcy. Originally, to protect their business and sort out the debts the IP advised that they should go into an IVA. It now turns out, after their solicitor has done some digging that only one of them should have been put onto IVA in order to protect their business (a pub). Things came to a head in court, where the IP's representitive claimed 3 times, in a court to a judge's face that he had not received any payment for his services, £2000, and my parents were therefore lying about their financial standing, this totally destroyed their credibility in front of the judge who immediately ordered the bankruptcy, leaving my parents with no business and no money.

 

The thing is, they have checked with their bank who have confirmed that the payment cheque was paid in and cashed by the IP months ago!

 

So - their case was mismanaged from the start either willfully or through such incompetence the guy should not be allowed to practice anymore.

 

My question is, who exactly do they complain to, due to the lying in court and mismanagement is there anyway they can either reverse the bankruptcy (i wish) or make things easier, or get the bankruptcy term reduced, or do they have a good claim to get the money back from the IP (though presumably this money would then go to creditors) Also, is not knowingly lying in a Court Perjury, and a criminal offence? do they have recourse to that?

 

Matters were not helped by the fact that the judge whos name could possibly ressemble a past norman monarch is well known for having shall we say "sticky fingers"

[sequenci]

oh my god i'm really sorry to hear that..

 

you can certainly start right here >>

 

How to make a Complaint against an IP

[Gingerheid]

I'm interested in circumstances where only one person should go into an IVA when they have a joint business, and presumably therefore joint debts. I can't imagine what these could be. If I was a creditor I would think the information from the party in the VA would make me realise it was worthwhile bankrupting the person not. At the very least, I would hold the party not in the VA responsible for the proportion of the joint debts that the VA didn't cover.

 

In terms of the bankruptcy order; do you feel that your parents should not currently be bankrupt? An annullment application costs £65 per head, and would give the opportunity for the argument that the order ought not to have been made. If you believe you can show that the IVA proposal was viable and that the IP thought not in error, then this is a distinct option.

[caledfwlch]

Well if only 1 of them had gone into the IVA, then their business/jobs would have survived, and the debts paid off about 3 weeks later (loan from family in Ireland was coming through, with solicitors letter as proof)

 

The actual reason the Bankruptcy being granted was the Insolvency Practitioner claimed that he had not recieved his fees from them, therefore there was 3 or 4 thousand pounds missing, which the Judge assumed they were hiding from the court/proceedings and so bankrupted them, apparantly things like Bank Statements showing that their cheque had been cashed and cleared by the Practitioner held no merit as evidence to the Judge. The Judge, especially from when practising as a solicitor sadly is renowned throughout mid Wales of frankly being as bent as a 2 pound note, its possible he had something personal against them, as they knew each other outside court. (small town)

 

They didnt bother trying to get it annulled, firstly it would have probably gone up against the same Judge, and secondly it was too late to save their jobs, so they just left it, and while they still feel seriously embarressed about the bankruptcy (old school people who think its totally a bad thing, I think they are a lot less stressed not having something like £70,000 hanging over their heads! It always seemed strange, as if the creditor had held off a few weeks longer, they would have got ALL the money, and yet bankrupted 2 people who had no assets and lived in council accomodation.. Go figure

 

Plus they were headhunted by a company in a similar business soon after and have been travelling around a fair bit.

[Gingerheid]

Make sure the Official Receiver knows that the IP is holding these funds.

[caledfwlch]

Make sure the Official Receiver knows that the IP is holding these funds.

 

I expect he does by now - they are due to be discharged in 3 weeks! It was August last year they went. Stupidly they never went and put in a formal complaint against the IP, I dont remember all the details, but there was some serious mismanagement, malpractice and bad advice, going on there. If I had been living near to my parents at the time, the *(&* would have hit the fan over him, i would have MADE them do something

[Gingerheid]

Ah. Didn't appreciate that the horse had bolted!

 

There is a problem here in that when things are to do with bankruptcy courts feel you ought to act sort of sharpish (sort of "yesterday = good, within 7 days = acceptable, longer = please tell me why..." kinna thing).

 

I'm not understanding why an IVA was ever appropriate though, especially if there was money for payment in full on the way.