Homebase Administration

Money_Grabber13579

A_Geordie said:

born_again said:

The fact they are in Administration. They are only still open as Administrator is selling off stock to pay creditors.

Even if the range buy some stores the current version of HB has gone, even if someone buys the name. As per how Mike Ashley continues to build his empire. There is no claim again the old Homebase. 

Read the other thread linked to & how it effects them.

A company in administration does not mean the company has ceased trading or that are only there to sell off stock to pay creditors. An administrator has statutory objectives and the first objective is to try to keep the company running, failing that, achieve the best results for creditors e.g. cash injection from investors or a creditors voluntary agreement and worst case, they cease trading and move from administration to liquidation (another type of insolvency) to sell off assets and other stock to pay off its creditors. It is not unusual for the same individual(s) who was the administrator to then become the liquidator.

Also, I'm not sure why you suggest the current version of HB is gone because that is not true. HB still exists in its current form, it is still an active company in the eyes of the law until the company has dissolved at which point it ceases to exist. I think you may be talking about an asset sale where a company purchases the name and assets of a company and typically leaves behind the bad debt, but that hasn't happened yet as far as we know. Until then, the company continues to trade.

So, claims can still be made albeit with some limitations. Returns and refund policies have already been updated on the HB website but the point I wanted people to be aware of is that you can't just start legal proceedings without the permission of the court or the administrator as you will be wasting your time in money and costs, unless the claim relates to good already assigned to you then you might have a more successful opportunity to sue.

Personally I wouldn't be buying from a company in administration unless I physically purchase from their stores or have the added protection by ordering online such as credit card. Many companies have a slim chance of surviving when put into administration. 

 

This is correct, The Range have only bought around 70 stores so that leaves the remaining 49 (I think was the number) as being operated by the company/companies which originally operated all of the Homebase stores. If any of those 49 stores are still open and operating broadly as normal, which they are, the company is continuing to trade. It might be trading from less stores than it was previously, but it is still trading.

The part I’m unclear on is how Homebase can limit the rights of people who bought something pre administration. They will have purchased goods on the basis that they could be returned in line with the refund policy as it then stood but that now seems to have been retrospectively taken away, even though the legal entity they purchased from is still in existence and trading. Maybe that is just one of the powers which administrators can exercise (in the same way they can stop accepting gift cards).

user1977

Money_Grabber13579 said:

A_Geordie said:

born_again said:

The fact they are in Administration. They are only still open as Administrator is selling off stock to pay creditors.

Even if the range buy some stores the current version of HB has gone, even if someone buys the name. As per how Mike Ashley continues to build his empire. There is no claim again the old Homebase. 

Read the other thread linked to & how it effects them.

A company in administration does not mean the company has ceased trading or that are only there to sell off stock to pay creditors. An administrator has statutory objectives and the first objective is to try to keep the company running, failing that, achieve the best results for creditors e.g. cash injection from investors or a creditors voluntary agreement and worst case, they cease trading and move from administration to liquidation (another type of insolvency) to sell off assets and other stock to pay off its creditors. It is not unusual for the same individual(s) who was the administrator to then become the liquidator.

Also, I'm not sure why you suggest the current version of HB is gone because that is not true. HB still exists in its current form, it is still an active company in the eyes of the law until the company has dissolved at which point it ceases to exist. I think you may be talking about an asset sale where a company purchases the name and assets of a company and typically leaves behind the bad debt, but that hasn't happened yet as far as we know. Until then, the company continues to trade.

So, claims can still be made albeit with some limitations. Returns and refund policies have already been updated on the HB website but the point I wanted people to be aware of is that you can't just start legal proceedings without the permission of the court or the administrator as you will be wasting your time in money and costs, unless the claim relates to good already assigned to you then you might have a more successful opportunity to sue.

Personally I wouldn't be buying from a company in administration unless I physically purchase from their stores or have the added protection by ordering online such as credit card. Many companies have a slim chance of surviving when put into administration. 

 

This is correct, The Range have only bought around 70 stores so that leaves the remaining 49 (I think was the number) as being operated by the company/companies which originally operated all of the Homebase stores. If any of those 49 stores are still open and operating broadly as normal, which they are, the company is continuing to trade. It might be trading from less stores than it was previously, but it is still trading.

The part I’m unclear on is how Homebase can limit the rights of people who bought something pre administration. They will have purchased goods on the basis that they could be returned in line with the refund policy as it then stood but that now seems to have been retrospectively taken away, even though the legal entity they purchased from is still in existence and trading. Maybe that is just one of the powers which administrators can exercise (in the same way they can stop accepting gift cards).

Their rights haven’t been taken away, but they rank as unsecured creditors in the administration in respect of anything which Homebase owes them. Which in practice probably means they’ll get nothing.

A_Geordie

Money_Grabber13579 said:

The part I’m unclear on is how Homebase can limit the rights of people who bought something pre administration. They will have purchased goods on the basis that they could be returned in line with the refund policy as it then stood but that now seems to have been retrospectively taken away, even though the legal entity they purchased from is still in existence and trading. Maybe that is just one of the powers which administrators can exercise (in the same way they can stop accepting gift cards).

Put simply, because they can. Administrators effectively have full control over the company to make decisions, fulfill contracts or accept returns and offer refunds. Refund policies are almost always revoked when an administrator steps in because they are there to look in the best interests of the company and its creditors and refunding customers diverts money away from that objective. Exceptions for refunds will usually relate to faulty goods. 

Your contractual rights on refunds or reliance on any rights under the Consumer Rights Act are not lost per se, but rather they are suspended during this period of administration. If in the unlikely event the Administrators are released and HB continues trading as normal, your suspended rights will be lifted. The clock however doesn't stop in relation to these rights so if the refund policy is 30 days then you may be out of time. Same applies to rights under the CRA unless the CRA states otherwise (I'm thinking exercising a repair or replacement during the short term rejection window where the short term right to reject is paused). Exceptions to this rule would be section 75 claims or other credit claims.

The only other option to pursue these rights during the company's administration would be to initiate legal proceedings for a money claim but per my previous comment, that requires permission from either the administrator (always going to be a no) or the court. Courts are very reluctant to grant permission for money claims for various reasons but it could be seen as you trying to leapfrog other creditors who rank higher in heir interest as a creditor or that the claim could be handled via the administration process or as User1977 has mentioned, as an unsecured creditor should the administrator move HB to liquidation, without the need for the company to incur additional expense of defending claims. 

Edited: additional info.