We were a small family run business, now in liquidation, since mid 2012, due to a number of factors. Only 2 directors, husband and wife (still together!) but bank now looking to call on personal guarantees. Bank borrowings, including OD, company loan and company Credit Cards total c. 150K.
Liquidation process not yet complete there may be some funds available to unsecured creditors after liquidator and revenue cleared (no employee liabilities) but this I know will be negligible.
Can we stall the bank until liquidation actually closed out in c. 6 months (according to the liquidator) or are we obliged to engage with them now?
We have advised them that we have currently very limited income and are struggling to meet our day to day family expenses (4 children) with only one of us working full time and myself only part-time.
The bank also has security of some land value of which is no where close to amount outstanding, shortfall of c. 120K, only good as agricultural land now, no prospect of developing on the site.
In all our years of doing business with the bank the company has paid in excess of 50K in fees and charges, do they ever take this into consideration. We did not draw huge salaries from the company, each taking home less then 25K/ea per annum, at the peak of our business we employed 10 people. Last year of business we took home 15K/ea, enough to keep food on the table, while we struggled to keep the business afloat.
We have been asked to complete a statement of affairs; we need to convey that we as individuals really have nothing more to give. All our savings were invested back into the business as well as 12 years of our lives…
I see a lot of discussion around mortgage debt and I appreciate that we are not at risk of losing our house, not linked into business finance at all, but we do want to move on from the skeletons of a failed business that at one stage was thriving.
How can we best deal with the personal guarantee noose?
Liquidation process not yet complete there may be some funds available to unsecured creditors after liquidator and revenue cleared (no employee liabilities) but this I know will be negligible.
Can we stall the bank until liquidation actually closed out in c. 6 months (according to the liquidator) or are we obliged to engage with them now?
We have advised them that we have currently very limited income and are struggling to meet our day to day family expenses (4 children) with only one of us working full time and myself only part-time.
The bank also has security of some land value of which is no where close to amount outstanding, shortfall of c. 120K, only good as agricultural land now, no prospect of developing on the site.
In all our years of doing business with the bank the company has paid in excess of 50K in fees and charges, do they ever take this into consideration. We did not draw huge salaries from the company, each taking home less then 25K/ea per annum, at the peak of our business we employed 10 people. Last year of business we took home 15K/ea, enough to keep food on the table, while we struggled to keep the business afloat.
We have been asked to complete a statement of affairs; we need to convey that we as individuals really have nothing more to give. All our savings were invested back into the business as well as 12 years of our lives…
I see a lot of discussion around mortgage debt and I appreciate that we are not at risk of losing our house, not linked into business finance at all, but we do want to move on from the skeletons of a failed business that at one stage was thriving.
How can we best deal with the personal guarantee noose?