Investing in property development projects is definitely not for the faint-hearted but, if things go wrong, professionals will help you to recoup as much of your money as possible. A case on point concerned about £7 million invested in a student flats development that never
Adjudication has since 1996 helped to preserve project cashflows by providing a cost-effective and swift means of resolving building contract disputes – but its interaction with the insolvency regime, in particular the principle of insolvency set-off, has long been a subject of debate. An important
The COVID-19 crisis has heralded such an avalanche of emergency legislation that it cannot be passed into law quickly enough. In a unique insolvency case on point, the High Court blocked a commercial landlord from presenting a winding up petition against a high-street retailer in
The government’s ‘furlough’ scheme is an unprecedented means of saving jobs and viable businesses in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis – but how does it interact with the insolvency regime? The High Court addressed that burning issue in the context of a restaurant chain
Judges are keen to support insolvency practitioners in their quest to recover funds for the benefit of creditors, and a ground-breaking High Court ruling will no doubt be greeted as a welcome extension of their reach beyond the borders of the UK. The case concerned
Making a debtor bankrupt is a serious matter and the correct procedural steps must be followed to the letter. As a High Court case showed, arguments that such steps are mere technicalities and that a failure to follow them has caused no injustice almost always
Only liquidated debts, for specific amounts which have been ascertained fully and finally, can form the basis of bankruptcy petitions. As a High Court case showed, however, discerning which debts fall into that category can be far from easy. The case concerned a businesswoman who
When people are declared bankrupt, all of their ‘property’ passes automatically to a trustee so that it can be used to pay off their creditors. In a guideline case of great interest to insolvency practitioners, the Court of Appeal has ruled that that word embraces
Where a trustee in bankruptcy disclaims any right to a bankrupt’s property, in the belief that it is of no or negative value, what happens if that belief turns out to be mistaken? The High Court considered that issue in a guideline decision. The case
Mortgage lenders who take possession of defaulting debtors’ properties are obliged, when selling them, to obtain the best price reasonably obtainable. The High Court made that point in overturning a seven-figure statutory demand in the context of a bankruptcy case. A businessman loaned sums of
