Company Insolvency

A party will commence proceedings usually in either the Magistrates Court of Victoria or the County Court of Victoria. Which court is chosen will depend upon the amount of the debt. The magistrates Court’s hears claims of up to $100,000 and the County Court hears claims above $100,000.

A statutory demand is usually used as a debt collection device and if the company does not satisfy or defend (or set aside) a demand the company will be deemed insolvent. The creditor can then take additional steps to wind the company up, which is done by appointing a liquidator.

A Statutory Demand need not be preceded by a letter of demand. If the company owes $2000 or more, the creditor can issue a Statutory Demand for Payment of Debt on the company who owns the money. If the debt is not paid, or there is otherwise a settlement of the matter, typically within 21 days of the date of deemed service of the Statutory demand, the creditor can apply to the Supreme Court of Victoria or the Federal Court of Australia to wind up the company.

The law around Statutory Demands is complex. We act for parties who are both issuing the demands and for clients who have received them.

If you have been served with a Statutory Demand, it is imperative that you seek urgent legal advice. The rules and the timelines are quite specific. They can often be defended successfully, and we are experienced in defending and issuing statutory demands or the party issuing the demand will often need to withdraw it based on technicalities. We have often been able to successfully pressure a party to withdraw the demand against our clients who are alleged to that party money.

If directors breach their duties and trade whilst insolvent that person can be at risk of civil penalties, criminal charges and compensation proceedings.

Seeking legal advice early can also provide some protection against allegations of breach of directors’ duties under safe harbour provisions. If you consider your company to be financial difficulty it is best to face the situation head on rather than taking the “head in the sand approach” there are more options available to you than what you might think.

Experienced insolvency lawyers will be able to advise you and can help navigate the insolvency process or associated legal processes. Liquidators and administrators do NOT act for the directors and ultimately have a duty to recover for the creditors, so it is important that you have the right advice to protect you if you are considering appointing a liquidator. Read more on Directors Duties here. LINK

Early action and the right advice can possibly save your business from liquidation – and the directors from personal bankruptcy – so obtain advice from skilled and experienced accountants and insolvency lawyers so that you are best equipped to weigh your options.

Sometimes a restructure is possible and sometimes the appointment of an administrator, receiver or liquidator is the answer.

This may include redundancies, for a start. Administration can be a way through, which will generally enable a party to exit leases.

Quite often an administrator will be appointed to companies that may be able to trade out of financial difficulty but need to have their debts partially forgiven or contracts and leases amended or renegotiated.

Placing your company into administration is effectively handing over control to the Administrator and they will attempt to restructure the company to make it profitable. If this cannot be done the Administrator will place the company into liquidation.

A DOCA can be a final go at preventing liquidation. This is when creditors vote on whether to accept “cents in the dollar”, rather than the whole debt.

If the company cannot possibly trade out of its financial dilemma and other avenues are not available the company must be placed into liquidation.

This process is done by the appointment of a liquidator, whether voluntarily by the directors, or forcefully by a court order following an application to the court by a petitioning creditor.

If your company is in financial trouble, this is should not be the first thing you should think of – it should be the last and, as we have noted above, there are other options that may prevent the end of the company.

If a liquidator is appointed, the company assets will be frozen – and sold off so as ot pay the liquidator’s fees and to return anything left over to the creditors.

The liquidator or administrator does not act for the directors and is independent. They must report their findings to ASIC and if ASIC or the liquidator considers there to be breaches of the law the matter can be referred to ASIC for further investigation.

More commonly, there are director (or other related party) loans from the company and it is usual for the liquidator to pursue these things. They can commence proceedings against the directors. We are experienced in dealing with these types of claims. We do not recommend that you try to deal with these matters without legal advice.

The directors should be careful with all their correspondence with the liquidator other regulatory bodies and ensure that their responses to correspondence are correct and carefully worded.

Legal advice should promptly be obtained if:

• you are in financial difficulty and are concerned about insolvency; or
• you are in dispute arises with a liquidator or administrator then you should seek legal advice. There is potential for fines and penalties both civil and criminal.

Furthermore, if obtained at the right time legal advice is also considered an ingredient for being able to rely on the safe harbour provisions,  offering directors protection against trading whilst insolvent charges and potential personal legal proceedings in the event that a liquidator is ultimately liquidated.

Issues often arise and here are some common problems that occur we can assist with:

• Disputes with the liquidator
• Production of Documents and Records (that may be overreaching the scope of the liquidation)
• Dispute with ASIC
• Allegations of Phoenixing
• Removing a Liquidator
• Examinations
• Allegations of Breach of Directors Duties
• Proof of debt Issues

Our insolvency lawyers are well-experienced and we also take a commercial approach to how we practice law. Our practitioners have the ability to negotiate difficult and complex insolvency related matters.

See our main insolvency page for all of the areas in which we provide advice and also for answers to various frequently asked questions.