ltd company wound up...£13k cheque we cant cash????

mrskpickles

Hi,

My friends husband had a ltd company, contracting roadworks etc, however he wound it up as it stop making profit etc when the councils that he did work for stopped contracting out....longer story than that, but in essence thats what happened.

He did not go bankrupt, the business account was shut etc. However he was due an amount of money, and after everything was finalised, his aco!!!!ant wrote a cheque to the company for around £13k, issue is it cant be cashed because the business account was shut and the business closed.

The accountant says that the cheque cannotbe made out to him personally.....has to be in ltd company name.....

what can be done??? there is a cheque (although 2 years old now) uncashed and money still with the accountant....

thank you for your time

k

ILW

Where their any creditors?

Owain_Moneysaver

If the Ltd Co has been dissolved then it no longer exists and can no longer claim the money.

Why the Ltd Co was closed while there was still money owing to it is a question that might be asked of the accountant.

xylophone

If the money is actually owed to the defunct company rather than to your husband I imagine that there might be tax considerations here.

I am wondering whether a call to the defunct company's tax office might throw some light or perhaps someone at the insolvency service might have a clue? http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/contact-us

paddyrg

If a company has current liabilities, can you position that it cannot be closed? At least not without administration and liquidation of all the assets etc. Even if you take the payment in diggers and stationery, or whatever??

bouncydog1

I thought ( possibly incorrectly) that once a company had met all of it's liabilities and was wound up that any proceeds remaining were returned to the shareholders. Was the accountant appointed to advise and oversee matters or did the OP do things himself. Would it be worth taking an hour's legal advice as it all seems a bit of a mess tbh.

olly300

bouncydog1 wrote: »

I thought ( possibly incorrectly) that once a company had met all of it's liabilities and was wound up that any proceeds remaining were returned to the shareholders. Was the accountant appointed to advise and oversee matters or did the OP do things himself. Would it be worth taking an hour's legal advice as it all seems a bit of a mess tbh.

It is.

However if funds aren't returned to the shareholders in time then the money in the company's bank accounts and other assets belong to the Crown. If the Crown gets it then there is a simple procedure where the shareholders can reclaim the assets.

Also any accountant that is any good does not touch clients' money if they can help it due to the amount of regulation around it.

OP does the accountant have a client account? This is a separate account that accountants, solicitors and others need if they want to keep clients' money.

Secondly why did the accountancy firm have the company's money?

I would:
1. Phone the accountant up and ask them their complaints procedure.
2. Write them a Complaint Letter (make sure the letter states it's a complaint letter on it) sent by registered post asking them appropriate questions giving them 28 days to reply.
3. Take legal advise on how the shareholders should get the funds from the accountant.
4. If the accountant doesn't give a plausible written reply within 28 days I would:
a. Report them to their professional body - google them, phone up and confirm the accountant is on their register and ask how to put in the complaint explaining that you have already but in a complaint to the accountant in writing.
b. Report them to the police - I've met a minority of business people who have been ripped of by their accountants over the years. One of the accountants is now in gaol.
c. If the accountant has any assets see if you can legal action against them.

OP next time something like this happens don't take 2 years to try and resolve it. It will not get resolved if you just sit around and it gets harder to sort out the longer you leave it.

mrskpickles

Thank you so much for the replies.....

It is my friends husband and I cannot get a great deal of sense from him as to why the accountant has the money! I will try harder!

He did however ask me today if???

He can re-register his old company name, as it wasn't declared bankrupt, it is on companies house website as 'dissolved' and if he can do this, he can then set up a new business account in that company name and then bank the cheque???

The accountant says that he cant just re-write the cheque in my friends husbands name, it has to be written to the company??? Is this true???

Also, he now has very bad credit, mortgage arrears, council tax arrears etc etc......so will he not be able to set up a business bank account.

He asked me if I can register a company with companies house in the name of the old business, or re-register the old company with me as the secretary, then I can open the business account in the company name and bank the cheque....??

I am not a business person, I am a nurse...this is all foreign to me, but I want to try to help them!

Thank you

K

ILW

Do not put your name to anything. Something is not right here.

opinions4u

I am not a business person, I am a nurse...this is all foreign to me, but I want to try to help them

Stick to nursing.

If there's a legal way for this individual to obtain these funds he can find out from a solicitor.

Don't allow your good nature to inadvertently make you party to a fraud.

Annisele

I agree with the others; I don't think your friend is telling you the whole truth (and possibly none of the truth).

If he got into this mess with his accountant, then he either needs to get the original accountant or a new accountant to get him out of it.