Insolvent company – unlawful preference payments and misfeasance

The Client

The liquidators of an insolvent company.

Value of Dispute

£1 million

The Commercial Dispute

This case involved instances of unlawful preference payments, misfeasance, and undervalued transactions. The former directors of an insolvent company were being pursued for the repayment of sums which they had personally received from the company, at a time when the company was insolvent.  

The directors had also allowed the principal asset of the business (a sister company within the group) to be sold for a negligible amount – some £1 million less than its true value.

How Escalate Resolved – Serviced Used

The former directors refused to engage with the liquidators other than to tell them that they would have to issue a claim to recover any money from them. There were no funds in the company to pursue the directors, and no creditor was in a position to fund the litigation. The principal creditor was aware of the Escalate service having benefitted from it previously, and encouraged the liquidator to engage the Escalate team.

Escalate issued the application and pursued the case to a mediation. Eventually we made a recovery for the insolvent estate, which produced a significant return to all its creditors.