Why our client needed help
The client was facing potential disqualification proceedings brought by the Insolvency Services. Our client was the director of a travel insurance company, which suffered a huge hit during COVID when the travel industry was ground to a halt.
- The Secretary of State alleged that our client had misused the Bounce Back Loan scheme by overstating the company’s turnover to obtain a £50,000 loan, when our client had formed a genuine mistaken belief that he was entitled to use estimated turnover figures to make the application.
- Our client was facing a potential 10-year director disqualification, a severe penalty normally reserved for the most serious cases involving wilful misconduct and fraud.
How did FWJ help?
We carefully reviewed the evidence and the allegations to identify the main weaknesses in the case, and obtained an extension for our client to prepare a thorough case strategy and response. This enabled us to send a reasoned and comprehensive letter of response to the Insolvency Service, supported by an opinion from counsel to reinforce our client’s defence that he had reasonably formed a mistaken belief from the loan application’s ambiguous wording. Additionally, we clearly set out why the proposed disqualification was disproportionate and would not be in the public interest.
After defending our client in a meeting with the Insolvency Service and making structured, logical submissions, we followed-up with a succinct and precise summary of our client’s position.
What was the outcome?
We successfully defended our client against the proposed director disqualification proceedings. The Insolvency Service dropped its proposed proceedings as a result of our representations, allowing our client to resolve the matter without costly legal proceedings and within six months of instruction – an effective resolution given the severity of the allegations and potential outcome.
This represented a highly successful outcome for our client, who could continue operating his businesses and was spared from the professional, financial, and personal consequences of threatened legal action and potential disqualification.
