Employment Law
Employment Lawyers Can Answer Your Employment Law Questions
Hello, my name is XXXXX XXXXX it is my pleasure to assist you with your question today. Was this a limited company?
yes
has a new company taken over the running of the business as a going concern?
no, he may have put the new business in his wifes name
If an employer becomes insolvent, an employee can issue and pursue legal proceedings against them for any money owed. Whether it is worthwhile suing an insolvent employer is another matter and very much depends on the status of the company and what, if any, money and assets they have left. In most cases, pursuing legal action against the company would be pointless as they are unlikely to be able to satisfy any court judgment against them.
The first step would be to contact the company’s insolvency practitioners (administrator, liquidator, etc.) to check if it is likely for any money or assets to become available for distribution amongst the company's creditors, including their employees.
If it appears unlikely that the company will be able to cover these payments, employees will also have additional rights to claim through the National Insurance Fund (NIF). The following debts, if owed to employees by an insolvent employer, can be recovered from the NIF:
Any claims in excess of the above limits should be claimed from the insolvent employer in the usual way, such as through the insolvency practitioner or through court.
To be able to claim from the NIF, the following conditions must be met:
Assuming the above criteria have been met, the procedure for claiming requires the application to be made to the Redundancy Payment Office responsible for the employer’s area, by using form RP1. To get a copy of the form and for further details, you can contact the Redundancy Payments Helpline on 0845(NNN) NNN-NNNN
I have spoken with the insolvency service and he has not registered the company insolvent . i have also asked him for the name of the administrators and not received a reply. employees are being issued their P45s and the amount stated paid is no where near the monies they have received. We are dealing with a very dishonest and deceitful person here. He has been receiving monies from customers for orders under the name of Lewis Print Ltd and paying the money into an account named Fresh Twist. He now on his Lewis print website is promoting a company called PIFT.
if he has not made the company insolvent then you can petition for this to be done and once that happens you can try with the Insolvency Service again
What is the financial implication for me in doing this
if you were to petition for the winding up of the company, the application would cost between £300-800 and there is also a deposit required of around £1,200
Therefore it appears that i will be the loser as this man is going to get away with dishonestly and possibly fraud as i cannot afford the above.
if he has company debts to others, like customers or suppliers, then they may oursue this anyway so the company could still be made insolvent and you can then pursue your rights
What would be the implication if I spoke to one or some of his customers/suppliers ?
None really, you can approach them if necessary
I assume telling them that i have received this letter from him (possibly a scam or at least bogus) I would not be telling a lie or be accused of slander etc
No, you have the letter and you genuinely believe it is true, you are not making anything up, you are relying on a document in your possession
Thank you for your advice it just seems so unfair that staff that have supported him over the last 6 months are being treated in such a disrespectful and dishonest way. i will survive the amount that he owes me, but some guys are in danger of not being able to pay their mortgage. He is incapable of telling the truth.
I understand. You do have rights as discussed but sometimes it may take a bit more effort or money than usual to apply them. Hopefully someone with the needed resources will pursue him, making him insolvent and that would pave the way for you to take it further without having to pay any large costs in the process
Please let me know if this has answered your original question or if you need me to clarify anything else for you in relation to this? Thanks