Acting as a director whilst subject to a disqualification order is very serious indeed. The same is true of taking on management responsibilities akin to being a director. Our expert team has been dealing with claims like this since 2002 and have successfully defended many directors accused of breaching disqualification orders. Call us for help today.
If there was ever a star rating for law firms, Francis Wilks & Jones would score five stars plus. Professional and pro-active, they were able to understand my problem quickly, provide expert advice, outline a solution and put it into place with a successful outcome. I should have gone to them sooner
A client we successfully defended in director disqualification and insolvency related proceedings
If you are unaware of, or ignore, director disqualification order then you face considerable personal risk as follows:
- if your current company enters into insolvency, the legal position is that you will be personally responsible for all debts incurred by the new company (in insolvency) whilst you were acting whilst disqualified. You only need to be registered as a director or taking decisions that only a director can take to be liable under this provision.
- acting as a director whilst disqualified, even if not recorded as one (the law no longer differentiates between a director registered at Companies House and someone who directs the company without holding him/herself out as a director) is a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Although you may consider such punishment unlikely, we have experience of circumstances where individuals have been sent to prison for acting whilst disqualified.
We can assist you avoid these personal risks
If you act within a company but are unsure whether your role is breaching the disqualification, we can assist in the following ways:
- issue a director disqualification application (pursuant to Section 17 Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986) for formal court permission to act as a director despite the director disqualification; or
- issue a director disqualification application (pursuant to Section 17 Company Directors disqualification Act 1986) for formal court permission to act in the management, promotion or formation; or
- issue an application for a declaration by the court that your role does not breach the director disqualification order.
Please contact one of our expert director disqualification lawyers now for your consultation. At Francis Wilks & Jones, we have dealt with all manner of director disqualification claims over the last 20 years. Feel free to look at our website and the many different director disqualification examples of cases where we have successfully assisted our clients.
I was greatly impressed with the commercial, tactical and technical ability of the team at FWJ. They quickly got to grips with a complex set of facts and, through their hard work, had the proceedings against me dropped and a significant proportion of my legal fees repaid. I couldn’t recommend them highly enough
A director we defended against a disqualification claim and other claims brought by a liquidator
