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Reasons for Business Failure

The main reasons behind insolvency are poor management and financial constraints. Although loss of market has been overtaken by them this time, it remains one of the top three reasons.

• Older or larger companies tend to be easier to rescue.
• The main reasons behind insolvency are once again primarily poor management and financial constraints. This is much more prevalent in smaller companies, indeed the larger the company, the better the chance of survival and of receiving remedial treatment and of paying creditors.
• Market loss is important, but is generally a lower priority than other management and financial reasons.
• Specific investigation of the strong pound and the Asian crisis showed that these were major contributory factors in causing insolvency. Whilst not considered significant as primary reasons, these may well have been the final straw for many companies, particularly in manufacturing, retailing and transport and communication.

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We aim to achieve the following:

• Stop harassment by creditors
• Stop demands and letters
• Accept one reduced affordable regular payment
• Eliminate interest charges
• Prevent your debts from increasing
• Stop all legal actions
• Halt bankruptcy proceedings
• Halt bailiffs
• Eliminate late charges
• Reduce total monthly expenditure by up to 75%
• Restore credit
• Stop angry creditors
• Stop the demands and phone calls

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The actions we carry out ...

• We approach your creditors and arrange for you to enter into a formal arrangement whereby you pay a percentage of your overall debt in full and final payment. This payment can either be a one off or spread over the course of 1 – 5 years.
• We make them understand there is no benefit to them if they continually demand money, which the individual clearly does not have.
• We make your creditors realise that your payments can simply not be made and make it clear that they have two alternatives:
  
  

make our client bankrupt and receive nothing - which is in nobody's interest.
Or

agree to a formal arrangement where they will receive a percentage of monies due.

The return for creditors in an arrangement such as this is far more beneficial than would be achieved in a bankruptcy procedure

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About IVA's

If you have mounting debts in the form of a high mortgage and/or high credit card repayments then a procedure called an Individual Voluntary Arrangement(IVA) may be what you need.

An IVA means that you can reduce the credit card repayments from 100p in the £ to as little as 35p in the £ as long as your creditors agree. This arrangement is binding on your creditors and can be for a period of 3 to 5 years but at the end of the period your debts are written off.

For more information on IVA's click here

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5 Point Debt Action Plan

Follow a five point action plan:

1. How much do you owe?
   List your debts. Work out when payments fall. Identify the priority debts.
2. How much do you earn?
   Work out how much money you have coming in. Are you claiming all the benefits you are entitled to? Are you paying too much tax?
3. What do you spend?
   List your essential and less essential spending. Compare it with your incomings. What do you have left over to offer to creditors?
4. Nothing left over?
   Are there any areas in which you can cut down your spending? Is there any way in which you could earn extra money?
5. Talk to your creditors.
   Send them a financial statement showing your income and outgoings. Explain your offer to pay off your debt.

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Ways of helping yourself...

The sooner you face any debt problem, the easier it will be to solve it. Don't ignore it and hope it will go away. If you do, you could end up in court, lose the goods you've bought or find it difficult to get credit in future. You might even lose your home. Even if you aren't up to your neck in debt, it's suprising how quickly it can build up and how long it takes to pay back.

Work out exactly how much you owe, who you owe it to and what you can pay back. This will help sort things out in your mind, and help your creditors to see where you stand. Contact the creditor(s) as soon as possible to explain the problem and try to come to some agreement about repayments.

Your debt won't be written off but you might be able to pay it back in smaller payments over a longer period of time. This will probably cost you more in interest payments in the long term but may be more manageable now.

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Non-dischargeable Debts

Non-dischargeable debts include child support and fines

Although most debts can be discharged in a bankruptcy or an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, certain debts are not dischargeable by individuals. Other debts that are normally dischargeable may be denied a discharge, generally because of the actions of the debtor.
Debts that are non-dischargeable generally fall into the following categories:

• Any fine or penalties imposed for an offence
• Any liabilities arising under an order made in a family or domestic court action such CSA claims for child support
• Any liabilities arising under a confiscation order made under S.1 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1986 0r S.71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988
• If a claim is not provable it follows that although the creditor will not be able to receive a dividend in respect of it, the debt will at least survive the discharge of the bankruptcy
• Certain claims under the Financial Services Act 1986 and the 1987 Banking Acts are not provable once all creditors have been paid in full
• Most educational loans cannot be discharged as they fall outside of the Insolvency Act 1986

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How do you qualify?

• You must have mounting debts of several thousand pounds or more.
• The bulk of your debts must be unsecured
• You must have a regular income
• You are presently employed
• You can supply verification of income
• You have unsecured debts such as the following:-
  • Inland revenue
  • Vat
  • Credit cards
  • Hospital or medical bills
  • Charge cards
  • Mail-Order debts
  • Banks
  • Overdrafts
  • Finance companies
  • Personal loans