Failure to repay legacy debt following a business takeover

The Client

A speech and language therapy company

Value of Dispute

£50,000

The Commercial Dispute

Our client (a speech and language therapy business) had lent a pharmacy business money in 2019 under a settlement agreement, however, the pharmacy business failed to repay the money. The client had spent several years trying to pursue the company and received numerous promises of payment, but when the pharmacy changed hands, the new owner refused to make payment of the legacy debt. 

How Escalate Resolved – Serviced Used

Escalate established that the legacy debt was valid and that no viable dispute could be raised that would see our client be unable to pursue the pharmacy for full payment. We made the pharmacy aware of this in pre-action correspondence, but were ignored. 

We issued the pharmacy with a Statutory Demand, followed by a Winding-Up Petition which got their attention. Prior to the Winding-Up Petition Hearing, the pharmacy entered into a settlement agreement to pay the full balance, plus the client’s costs over three monthly installments from August-October 2024.