insolvency

(for Scotland)

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If you have sent money in advance for mail order goods and later find the telephone disconnected, or if you have put down a deposit in the shop, or gone back to complain about faulty goods or services, only to find the premises closed and locked, you may be dealing with a company which has ceased trading because it is insolvent; that is, it has no money to carry on business.

The law in Scotland and Northern Ireland is different to that in England and Wales. In Scotland, the Accountant in Bankruptcy, 1 Pennyburn Road, Kilwinning, Ayrshire KA13 6SA should be your first point of contact. They are responsible for registering all personal bankruptcies and corporate insolvencies in Scotland. Generally there are two separate categories of insolvent businesses that you may have to deal with:

• individuals running a business as a sole trader, who become bankrupt or, in Scotland, sequestrated.
• companies that go into liquidation.

If the trader is a sole trader and is to be made bankrupt/sequestrated, the official receiver, or AiB in Scotland, will deal with it. With companies that go into liquidation, your claim is against the limited company not against the individual directors, so you will get no money if the company has no assets. If the business you have been dealing with operates in other parts of the United Kingdom you may well need to contact the authorities that are listed as being outwith Scotland.

It could well be that the business is a mail order company or Christmas hamper company that is based in England. In this case the organisation that you may need to contact will most likely be English based. Consumer Direct (new website), a UK wide organisation, may also be able to help.