I'm a contractor and have been paying myself

[emj]

I'm a contractor and have been paying myself through my own limited company. Last week I declared myself bankrupt as my partner is not working and I am unable to make payment on my credit cards and loan. As I cannot run my limited company anymore I was hoping that the Official Receiver would help me close the company down. As I hadn't heard from the OR yet, I gave him a call this morning and he didn't know what I should do and advised the CAB. I was wondering if you have any advice as to which process I should follow. I also owe money through my company for a business loan and to the Inland Revenue. I'm extremely concerned that I could get into trouble, I was hoping that by going bankrupt all these worries would go away.

[Viki.W]

Hi emj, welcome to the forum. I'm just going to bump your question up for one of the IPs or BR experts.

[Michael Peoples]

Hi emj.
I am curious that you declared yourself bankrupt when you were running a limited company which is not insolvent. Were you a director and shareholder or were you being paid by an umbrella company? Are you still working in any capacity at all?

[liberta]

Hi emj.

Like Michael, I am also curious why you declared yourself bankrupt, whilst you were a director of a limited company.

Were you the only shareholder in the company? If so those shares will have vested in your Trustee in Bankruptcy who will most likely by the Official Receiver. As you are now bankrupt you are unable to as as a director of the company and so should resign as such. I would imagine that you would need to tender your resignation to the new shareholder - your Trustee in Bankruptcy.

If you are a subcontractor it is unlikely that the company has any real value and the Official Receiver is likely to wind it up unless a buyer can be found. Do you know of anyone who may be interested? There would be no problem in you remaining an employee of the company as long as you did not take part in its management.

[emj]

I was working as a subcontractor for the company and it is of no value. I am now using an independant Umbrella Company and am still working full time.

Thank you for your advice regarding the Official Receiver being the Trustee in Bankruptcy. I'm slightly concerned about the OR as I haven't had an official interview with him yet and he keeps calling me at work with questions which I can't answer as I don't have my documentation with me and because I don't want people in my office to overhear my conversation. He doesn't seem to know the process of closing the company down and has referred me to Companies House. I'm finding this quite worrying and am not sure how to proceed. Any further advice on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated.

[liberta]

Hi emj

If the OR keeps calling you at work and it is not convenient to talk - give him a ring and arrange a convenient time for you to go through his or her questions. It never hurts to be proactive.

With regards to your company, I am surprised that the OR does not know what to do!!! You may have been speaking to one of the ORs staff who has no experience in these matters. I would ask to speak to the OR personally about this. My concern is that you are no longer a shareholder in the company as ownership has passed to the OR and you are unable to act as a director. Technically therefore you have no legal standing to deal with the Company.

It is possible for you to apply to Companies House to have the company struck off the register. This will probably be the cheapest way of dealing with it. As the company owes money you will need to write to all of the company's creditors and tell them the following

1/ That you have been adjudged bankrupt and therefore are unable to continue to act as a director of the company.

2/That the company has ceased trading and as it has no assets it is not able to repay any of its debts.

3/That you intend to apply for the company to be struck off.

Your creditors then have three months to reply to you to object - if they have not done so in this time then you can apply to Companies House for the company to be struck off.

I have posted the link to the relevant booklet about this from Companies House

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/pdf/gbw2.pdf

[emj]

Thank you so much for your reply. I will phone Companies House to see if they can help. Its such a relief to be given some helpful information.

I have indeed been proactive to resolve this situation having called the OR twice last week to find out what to do. Each time he didn't call back, when he said he would. At least I think he's the Official Receiver, when I asked him he said the office is and didn't give me a specific name. In case you are wondering, its a central London office, so they may be busier than elsewhere.

The first time he called me was today and not to answer my question, but to ask me about why I had become bankrupt etc etc, all of which was available on my petition. I did ask him a couple of times to reschedule, but he told me that he needed to get this done today. Is anybody else having this kind of experience?