How to recover money from bust company?

Hi Guys.,

Hopefully some of you may be able to guide/advise:


We are a small firm in business 2 yrs; Service Supplier.

Recently, one of our clients just closed up owing us nearly 10K for
services rendered. And alot of other suppliers are affected too, who dont
know what happened the company; some are owed big time too!


Now, problem is that they wont reply to letters or answer
calls and there is no business being carried out at the premises now.


How do I find out if a receiver has come in, or if infact they have just
legged it with our money. Do they have to file something with CRO?
or Revenue?


Also, we know that this Company took orders from their clients
right up untill the last day of trading and took their deposits, then
closed up and f'ked off. Is this even legal?


Any help/guidance on how to assertain the status of this company
would be advised.



S.

Hi there.The company will have to announce what's happening via two national papers. Generally these will be the Star and the Examiner as they are the least popular and cheaper too. Have you checked if there are receiver/liquidator details at the premises?What type of business is it? (without naming it as this would not be allowed)

Thanks John,

They closed the doors a few weeks ago so they
may have put the notice in the papers already in which case I
may have missed it, if so is there any other way of knowing
if they are technically 'closed' ?

Company name would relate to Industry and so would give it away.

S

Have you googled their name (I mean their company name rather than trading name)Perhaps you'll see notice of a creditors meeting or liquidation/receivership?If it's a liquidation you will be contacted by the company and notified of the creditors meeting to formally elect the liquidator. However, the chances of getting paid are usually slim as the Revenue usually have priority. Some liquidators recognise retention of title although this is no good to you as you are a service supplier. You'll just have to investigate.

Thanks John

yep, googled their grannies at this stage.

Also, I have a cheque from them for their last
payment, and its a bouncer. Frustrating!

S

If a receiver or liquidator has been appointed, they are obliged to give the details to the CRO. You can check the status of the company here:

[broken link removed]

Ask your bank manager to check what the story is with their bank. They might give you the word on confidentially.

You should also report them to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

You should contact a business journalist who would investigate it and report it.

You could also contact some of the insolvency practices around town. They proactively look for work and would be delighted to get leads on a company which might be worth liquidating. There might still be debtors paying cash into their bank account.

Unless the Court finds that the directors traded irresponsibly, you can forget about your money. And it will take the courts a few years to decide this. Even then, the directors may have no money.

Are you sure it's a limited company? If they are sole traders or a partnership, they would be liable in their personal capacity.

Please don't name them publicly on Askaboutmoney, but if you want to send me a PM or an email with the name and address of the company, I might know about them. I have a similar situation in my business at the moment. burgess7@eircom.net


Brendan

Hi John & Brendan,

Unfortunately the company just send papers notifying us
of the liquidator on board so there gone.

They are technically gone now I suppose.

They surely did trade fraudulently. They were taking deposits from
clients as they were shutting down the company. I know one of the clients who lost their deposit and he's a guard!

From a reporting point of view, they have been in the media lately and got a slating by the general public, but were not apparently avaliable for comment.

I think I can say good bye to my money now as I know from other suppliers to this firm that 2 others are owed over 100k, and the company have little or no assests. All i'l left with now is large bills to pay, a bouncy cheque from them and happy christmas prospects... ho ho ho!

Thanks for the advise guys.

S