Trying to pay a debt but company wont tell me how much!

SchminkyCat

This is a bit of an odd one, and i'm getting really irritated so am looking for advice on what to do next.

I owe my accountants a final bill. I was the director of a Ltd Co which we dissolved back in September 2012. In early Oct 2012 I asked the accountant to issue a final invoice as this was the last thing I had to do. The request was forwarded to the relevant dept and then nothing happened.

In February 2013 I again asked them to issue a final invoice so that I could pay this only outstanding bill. Again I was told it had been passed onto the relevant person, and again I have had nothing from them.

I'm irritated because I really don't know how much the bill will be, so have tried to overestimate and currently have a large amount of money set aside to cover this bill. I would very much like to pay them so that a) I can forget all about it, and b) I can free up any money that is currently set aside if their bill is lower than I have planned for.

Does anyone know, legally, where I stand? I have been researching and have discovered the Limitation Act 1980 (well, its Scottish equivalent anyway as the transaction would be governed by Scottish law), but this appears to apply to situations where a debtor has not/will not pay. I'm in the weird situation where the creditor will not allow me to pay!

Can I demand they raise a final invoice within 7 days or I will consider the account closed and no further monies owed? Or do I just have to sit it out and wait for them to decide they would actually like my money?

Thomas_Hardy

No, you cannot demand that, although it might help to make a polite request in writing, explaining your wish to wrap up affairs. It may also be worth escalating the matter to a managing partner. The Limitations Act does apply, they have up to five years to request the money from you.

SchminkyCat

Thank you for your reply.
How annoying. Will send them a letter first thing in the morning. I believe that the accountant whom has been dealing with this, is one of the partners.

You'd think that they would want my money...??

arcon5

Was this accountant instructed by the company to do the company accounts? If so if the company was dissolved and closed down then any debt would have died with it. If they wanted to chase the debt they would have to apply to have it restored. Even then it sounds like the company owns nothing so they would have to appoint somebody to investigate ditectors conduct to try make them personally liable - an expensive and high risk strategy.

You have though already tried chasing it, just leave it now and store away your records showing your attempts

bris

arcon5 wrote: »

Was this accountant instructed by the company to do the company accounts? If so if the company was dissolved and closed down then any debt would have died with it. If they wanted to chase the debt they would have to apply to have it liquidated. Even then it sounds like the company owns nothing so they would have to appoint somebody to investigate ditectors conduct to try make them personally liable - an expensive and high risk strategy.

You have though already tried chasing it, just leave it now and store away your records showing your attempts

Eh no, not even close, you can dissolve a company by asking the registrar to strike it off, which I assume has happened here, but any outstanding creditors can ask the registrar to restore it back to the register. The debt certainly does not die with the company when their are assets available to pay them.
The directors would only become personally liable is they strip the assets whilst ignoring any creditors, this is not the case here, the OP is doing all he can to pay the debt, a little patience and a few more calls may do the trick, but the company can still chase the debt.

arcon5

bris wrote: »

Eh no, not even close, you can dissolve a company by asking the registrar to strike it off, which I assume has happened here, but any outstanding creditors can ask the registrar to restore it back to the register. The debt certainly does not die with the company when their are assets available to pay them.
The directors would only become personally liable is they strip the assets whilst ignoring any creditors, this is not the case here, the OP is doing all he can to pay the debt, a little patience and a few more calls may do the trick, but the company can still chase the debt.

Erm, pretty much what I said! And none of it was way off.

Was this accountant instructed by the company to do the company accounts? If so if the company was dissolved and closed down then any debt would have died with it.

An important question establishing liability.

They cannot chase a debt owed by a non-existent company. To pursue it they would need to apply to have the company restored.

If they wanted to chase the debt they would have to apply to have it restored. Even then it sounds like the company owns nothing so they would have to appoint somebody to investigate ditectors conduct to try make them personally liable - an expensive and high risk strategy.

Since the company was liquidated it's a safe assumption all assets was disposed off. Thus no way for the company to pay. Then the only way they could recover the money was via the directors, if there was any kind of misconduct only. It's pretty clear this is what was being hinted at here.


So i'm not exactly sure what the point of this was since you've basically just said the same as me.

Not exactly sure who they are going to chase either, since op obviously cannot presently be the director of a company that doesn't exist. If there is any money left from the company (unlikely), it would now belong to the crown (although nobody is actually appointed by the crown to trace such).

So why op should go out of his way to pay the accountant money is beyond me.

CoolHotCold

Point is, without more information we can't give advice on the legal standpoint.

Just keep sending mail or email, You can even setup a email account to send the same message every x days, eventually the accountant will respond.

pmduk

It's already been suggested, but the managing partner is the best person to deal with this.

SchminkyCat

Thank you for all the replies - will try and answer everything.

I was the sole director for the company. The accountants were instructed by me initially as I was in the process of incorporating the company. The invoices that we have received previously have been addressed to the Ltd Co name. I am unsure, but would imagine that this means the contract was with the company rather than me as an individual.

On the advice of the accountants themselves, prior to applying to dissolve the company, we emptied and closed all bank accounts. These funds were accounted for as repayments to a directors loan (The company was originally incorporated as a "spin off" from a business that I was running as a sole trader. So as a director, I had effectively "loaned" several £K worth of stock and "good will"). So there is nothing at all left in the company name, the only thing that is outstanding is this bill from the accountants. I made absolutely sure that everything that could possible be paid off, was.

The company has no assets. As a director, my loan was never actually repaid in full, but i'm hardly going to chase myself for money!

Hope that clarifies things?

bris

arcon5 wrote: »

Erm, pretty much what I said! And none of it was way off.

An important question establishing liability.

They cannot chase a debt owed by a non-existent company. To pursue it they would need to apply to have the company restored.

Since the company was liquidated it's a safe assumption all assets was disposed off. Thus no way for the company to pay. Then the only way they could recover the money was via the directors, if there was any kind of misconduct only. It's pretty clear this is what was being hinted at here.


So i'm not exactly sure what the point of this was since you've basically just said the same as me.

Not exactly sure who they are going to chase either, since op obviously cannot presently be the director of a company that doesn't exist. If there is any money left from the company (unlikely), it would now belong to the crown (although nobody is actually appointed by the crown to trace such).

So why op should go out of his way to pay the accountant money is beyond me.

No, your making it up as you go now, you said the debt died with the company and firmly believed that, and nowhere does it say the company was liquidated, dissolved is not liquidated.
There is no point making up another post trying to correct your first one with information provided to you, just admit you got it wron instead of trying to cover your tracks.

arcon5

The company no longer exists. I suspect you've never even shut a company down. Our posts pretty much mimicked each other so not exactly sure what your point is, or whether your just nitpicking. Either way ops got the advise needed and can confirm its authenticity with a solicitor if necessary.

I said in my original post if they wanted to pursue it at a later date they would have to apply to have the company restored. Still correct