Recent high profile business failures such as The Works, Dolcis and Stead & Simpson, along with warnings and statistics from the Bank of England and Experian, have highlighted the increasing threat of insolvency. This may have caused you to review the risk of your own debtor book.
In cases where the organisations you supply have become insolvent, you may receive Proof of Debt and Proxy Forms from Insolvency Practitioners. Whilst Proof of Debt Forms tend to be completed, Proxy Forms are often discarded. Forwarding these forms to us could be more beneficial to your organisation.
We can arrange for an Insolvency Practitioner to attend the creditors meeting on your behalf, usually at no cost to you. The Insolvency Practitioner can raise any of your concerns in respect of the proposed Insolvency Practitioner and/or the Directors.
With sufficient support, your choice of Insolvency Practitioner could replace the Insolvency Practitioner proposed by the Companys Directors. This would allow your organisation to be represented at the meeting by someone who has had no prior dealings with the Directors.
To keep you informed of proceedings, the Insolvency Practitioner would also be able to provide you with a free report of events at the meeting.
I should make it clear that any Insolvency Practitioner who assists in this way will not be a Partner or employee of Browne Jacobson LLP but an independent practitioner. We will be happy to operate as liaison or, if you prefer, you can deal directly with the suggested Insolvency Practitioner.
The proxy service is just one element of the cost effective debt recovery service that we offer at Browne Jacobson. Other areas where we can assist you include:
- Negotiating the return of goods
- Payment of their price if you have reserved title to goods supplied to a company that becomes insolvent
- Advising you on whether you can retain a customers goods until payment is made