advice - someone owes my family money

erewyn

they have been taken to court, and a bankruptcy order has been made, the insolvency practioner has been appointed, they claim their only asset is their home, they did not tell the practioner about the business they have been running for the last 3 years, nor have they told them about bank accounts/property abroad..

if there is anyone that can give us some advice on how to make sure they pay up??

fiveyearplan

How do you know what they told the official receiver and how do you know they were made bankrupt?

If they are bankrupt then your family will be treated just like any other creditor.

Without expanding on the situation it is hard to know the facts. Who are these people who owe your family money, in what context do they owe them money, how do you know what property etc they have.

fiveyearplan

We're not here to judge though and we only know a little snippet of the situation.

peachyprice

If an insolvency practitioner has been apppointed it's going to get expensive and there's likely to not be much left for distribution to creditors.

Did your family member petition for the bankruptcy? If so were they aware they wouldn't necessarily get their money back? Any money there is left after all fees and costs have been paid will be distibuted pro rata between all creditors, with no preference for the one who petitioned the bankruptcy.

If you truly believe, and have evidence, that the person is witholding information you will find contact details for the insolvency practitioner on the insolvency register

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/eiir/IIRMasterPage.asp

erewyn

they signed a contract / business property lease, duration of over 10 years, the lease ended in 2005, the property was returned in very bad state of repair, we have been trying to get them to repay monies needed to repair building.
we have taken them to court over the last 3-4 years, we took out the bankruptcy petiton as there was no other step to take, they would not accept fault.
they are from hong kong, china, highly likely there will be bank accounts, and property abroad.

i know its a difficult subject for those who are going through bankruptcy, but as it is a moneysaving website, i thought there is surely someone here that has gone through suing someone for money, ..

peachyprice

To be honest petitioning for bankruptcy is usually used to scare someone into paying up. Unfortunatley it can be more of a punishment to the debtor, than a way of getting your money back.

fiveyearplan

erewyn wrote: »

they signed a contract / business property lease, duration of over 10 years, the lease ended in 2005, the property was returned in very bad state of repair, we have been trying to get them to repay monies needed to repair building.
we have taken them to court over the last 3-4 years, we took out the bankruptcy petiton as there was no other step to take, they would not accept fault.
they are from hong kong, china, highly likely there will be bank accounts, and property abroad.

i know its a difficult subject for those who are going through bankruptcy, but as it is a moneysaving website, i thought there is surely someone here that has gone through suing someone for money, ..

So you are only going on a hunch. In that case I think it would be very nasty indeed to report things to the insolvency service because you don't know they own property abroad. Did they not have a deposit on the lease? That should cover you for anything you're out of pocket for.

Sorry - my shoes are on the other feet as I had to declare BR due to some nasty, thieving, dishonest commercial landlord who didn't play by fair rules and banked on the fact that I couldn't afford to take them to court.

maxmycardagain

id say your on a loser using normal channels

erewyn

fiveyearplan wrote: »

So you are only going on a hunch. In that case I think it would be very nasty indeed to report things to the insolvency service because you don't know they own property abroad. Did they not have a deposit on the lease? That should cover you for anything you're out of pocket for.

Sorry - my shoes are on the other feet as I had to declare BR due to some nasty, thieving, dishonest commercial landlord who didn't play by fair rules and banked on the fact that I couldn't afford to take them to court.

the property was a family business, my family leased out due to bad health,
it is a hunch, how can we know what bank or property they own? do we send out letters to banks to ask if mr x has an account with them? the insolvency service does not even go this far..
i am sorry about ur BR.

erewyn

maxmycardagain wrote: »

id say your on a loser using normal channels

i don't know what this means, but its not our fault that we have had to sue this person, they are the ones that have done wrong..

fiveyearplan

The insolvency service will do normal checks and if any alarm bells ring then they will delve deeper. I think you leave it to the insolvency service to do their investigation, only if you have some factual based evidence should you report it (this of course is my opinion). Did you not have a deposit? How bad is the state of the property?