Debt and Insolvency Claims

Debt and Insolvency Claims

At Cunningtons we understand that it is extremely frustrating when you or your business is owed money. This is particularly the case when a debtor admits that they owe the money but is saying that they cannot afford to pay.

We can assist businesses and private individuals in collecting or defending disputed debts or advising on options in respect of undisputed debts.

We act for office holders who are appointed pursuant to corporate and individual insolvency processes, including liquidators, administrators, supervisors and trustees in bankruptcy.

Debt Collection and Recovery

We can assist you in recovering sums that may be owed to you and offer cost effective, practical and sensible advice in respect of what can be done.

We can also assist if the debt is disputed but you are being pursued for payment, including advising on possible defences and counterclaims.

What can you do? It’ll only cost more money

We are fully aware that no client wants to throw good money after bad. As every client and every case is different, we are flexible in terms of what we charge. We will discuss charges with you and agree them from the outset.

We will often be able to offer creative and discounted fee structures if a business or insolvency practitioner is seeking to instruct us to recover a portfolio of debt, such as acting on a conditional fee agreement or retainer which is based on what we physically recover for you.

Likewise, if you have been accused of failing to pay an invoice or a sum of money and you dispute that it is payable, we can assist you in defending any claim.

Our debt recovery services

Among other things, we can assist:

• Businesses and individuals who are seeking to recover a single debt;
• Businesses and individuals who are seeking to recover sums from multiple debtors;
• Insolvency Practitioners who have taken up office and are seeking to recover sums from debtors or defend claims from creditors; and
• Opposing and presenting winding up and bankruptcy petitions and other related insolvency processes and applications.

Insolvency Litigation Practitioners

Cunningtons act for office holders who are appointed pursuant to corporate and individual insolvency processes, including liquidators, administrators, supervisors and trustees in bankruptcy.

We can assist insolvency practitioners, creditors, debtors, directors and individuals in defending and opposing applications and claims within an insolvency context.

For example, Cunningtons can assist in retention of title claims, claw-back claims (e.g. preferences, transactions at undervalue and transactions intended to defraud creditors) and director’s disqualification proceedings.

Conditional fee arrangements, no win, no fee agreements, damage-based agreements and other funding arrangements may be available depending on the circumstances of the case and we will discuss with you the possible options available.

Enforcement of Judgments

Often, people who do not instruct solicitors to handle their dispute from the outset do not realise that successfully winning a claim might not be the end of the matter.

The losing party in any litigation will have a High Court or County Court judgment against them, ordering them to pay the winner a certain sum or take certain steps to remedy the matter.

However, what happens if a judgment debtor refuses or fails to pay, or to take the steps that they have been ordered to take?

Cunningtons can assist in the enforcement of High Court and County Court judgments

Enforcement options can include:

• instructing bailiffs or high court enforcement officers to recover sums owing to you, or goods to this value;
• applying for charging orders over property or shares that the judgment debtor owns to secure the debt;
• applying for a third party debt order against a debtor’s bank account or other monies that they are owed; or
• making an application for an attachment of earnings order, so that the debtor’s employer pays you in instalments directly from the judgment debtor’s salary.

It is also possible to apply to Court to force the judgment debtor to attend Court to answer questions under oath about their ability to pay the judgment debt, ultimately leading to their committal to prison if they fail to do this.

If all else fails, we can advise you in respect of issuing a winding up petition against a judgment debtor company or bankruptcy proceedings against an individual judgment debtor.

Assistance for Debtors

We can also assist individuals and companies who have had a judgment issued against them on how to oppose any of the above enforcement applications or insolvency process.

We may be able to assist in:

• negotiating with your creditors;
• applying to Court to vary the judgment debt;
• applying to Court to set it aside if that judgment was wrongly entered against you; or
• opposing bankruptcy or winding up petitions.

FURTHER INFORMATION