Before you appoint an IP
Advice Before You Speakto an Insolvency PractitionerBecause Afterwards Is Too Late
Once appointed, an insolvency practitioner acts for your creditors and must report on your conduct. This is the conversation to have first, free, confidential, and entirely on your side.
Free initial advice · Independent of any insolvency practice · Confidential · No obligation · Lines open 8am to 6pm
Advice before you speak to an insolvency practitioner
What to know before an insolvency practitioner is appointed.
Who is actually acting for you?
Directors routinely go straight to an insolvency practitioner, reasonably assuming they are getting advice. What they are getting is a conversation with someone whose duties, once appointed, run to the general body of creditors and who is statutorily required to report on the conduct of the directors. That is not a criticism of practitioners; it is how the role is defined. It simply means somebody else needs to be advising you.
What this service is
Independent, director-side preparation before any insolvency appointment. We review the company's position and, just as importantly, yours: guarantees, the director's loan account, dividends, asset movements and the timeline of what happened when.
We identify what an office-holder will examine, deal with anything that needs addressing in advance, tell you what questions to ask, and then introduce you to a licensed insolvency practitioner appropriate to your situation. We stay alongside you throughout.
Who it is for
Directors who are approaching a formal insolvency process, whether they have concluded that themselves, been advised to by an accountant, or been pushed towards it by a creditor.
It is also for directors who have already had one meeting with a practitioner and left it feeling less certain than when they arrived. That is a very common reason to call.
When it is needed
Before any appointment, and ideally before the first meeting with a practitioner. The preparation is worth most when nothing has yet been committed to.
It is still worth doing if you have met a practitioner but not appointed anyone. It is worth considerably less once documents have been signed.
Why independent advice matters here
The insolvency profession is properly regulated and the practitioners we work with are highly credentialed. The issue is not competence, it is alignment. An office-holder's duty is to creditors and to the statutory investigation of directors' conduct.
Phoenix Company Consultants Ltd acts on behalf of directors and investors. We are not an insolvency practice and hold no insolvency licences. Our only interest is that you are properly advised before you step into a process that is difficult to step back out of.
What happens when directors skip this step
None of the following are exotic scenarios. They are the ordinary consequences of walking into a formal process without having taken independent advice first.
Personal exposure discovered too late
Guarantees, an overdrawn loan account and unlawful dividends are all manageable before an appointment and expensive afterwards.
Rescue options never considered
Where a viable trade could have been preserved through restructuring, going straight to a closure process forecloses that permanently.
Unprepared for investigation
Directors who first learn what is being examined during the examination itself tend to answer badly, not because they have done anything wrong but because they are unprepared.
Steps taken that create liability
Assets moved, creditors preferred or dividends declared in the weeks before appointment are exactly what gets unwound afterwards.
The wrong process chosen
Liquidation, administration and a company voluntary arrangement produce very different outcomes. The choice should be informed.
No independent record
Evidence of advice taken at the time is one of the most useful things a director can have when conduct is reviewed. It cannot be created retrospectively.
Mistakes we see directors make
- Assuming the insolvency practitioner is your adviser
- Signing appointment documents at the first meeting
- Not asking what the process will cost or how it will be funded
- Failing to disclose a guarantee or loan account balance out of embarrassment
- Moving assets or paying connected parties shortly before appointment
- Choosing a practitioner on price alone
How we work with you
A defined sequence, so you always know what happens next and what is expected of you at each stage.
- 01
Free first call
You tell us where the company stands and what has happened so far. Nothing goes any further.
- 02
Full position review
Company finances and your personal position, guarantees, loan account, dividends, asset movements and timeline, reviewed together.
- 03
Investigation preparation
We set out precisely what an office-holder will examine, and address anything that needs addressing while there is still time.
- 04
The right introduction
We introduce you to a licensed insolvency practitioner suited to your situation and brief you on what to ask and what to expect.
- 05
Alongside you throughout
We stay involved while the process runs, so there is always someone in the room acting for you.
What you get out of it
Alignment
One party in the process whose duty is to you, from before the appointment until after it concludes.
All options seen first
Restructuring, negotiation and closure are compared before a single route is committed to.
No surprises in the investigation
You know what will be looked at and what it will show, which removes most of the anxiety and improves the outcome.
The right practitioner
Introductions to licensed practitioners appropriate to the size and nature of your case rather than whoever came up first.
Better questions
You go into the meeting knowing what to ask about cost, timescale, funding, your loan account and your conduct report.
Nothing to lose
The first call is free, confidential and carries no obligation of any kind.
What to know before your first practitioner meeting
The meeting itself is straightforward once you know what it is for and what is being assessed. Most of the value comes from preparation.
What an office-holder is required to do
On appointment in an insolvent liquidation, the practitioner realises the company's assets, distributes them in the statutory order, and reviews the company's affairs. They are also required to report on the conduct of every person who was a director in the relevant period.
That review covers asset transfers and prices paid, payments to connected parties, the director's loan account, dividends declared, and the point at which the director knew there was no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation.
What to have in order beforehand
Preparation is mostly a matter of assembling facts you already have.
- An accurate list of creditors and approximate balances
- Every personal guarantee you have signed, and to whom
- The director's loan account balance and how it arose
- Details of any asset disposals in the preceding two years and the prices achieved
- Records of dividends declared and the reserves available at the time
- A timeline of when difficulties began and what was done in response
Questions worth asking the practitioner
What will the process cost in total, how is it funded, and what happens if realisations do not cover it? What will you report about my conduct, and on what basis? How will you treat my director's loan account? What is the timescale? What are my obligations during the process and afterwards?
These are all reasonable questions, and a good practitioner will answer them directly. Knowing to ask them is the point.
Whether a formal process is needed at all
Part of our role is to test that assumption. Where the trade is viable and the balance sheet is the problem, restructuring may protect it. Where a single dispute is the threat, containment and negotiation may resolve it, as it did for the Oxford transport company accused of fraud and theft after buying stolen, already-financed plant machinery, which was shown to be the victim and had its business and lost contracts restored.
Where a formal process genuinely is needed, we say so plainly and get you to the right practitioner quickly.
Who we introduce you to
The practitioners we refer to hold credentials including Fellow of the Insolvency Practitioners Association, membership of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, the International Association of Insolvency, Restructuring and Bankruptcy Professionals, and the Turnaround Management Association.
Alongside them we maintain a panel of auctioneers and valuers, some RICS-associated depending on the case, and work with a retired former HMRC inspector on specialist HMRC matters.
Where we advise
Offices near Alton in Hampshire and in Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Birmingham, with a registered office in Northampton. We advise directors nationwide, in person where that helps and by phone or video where it does not.
Questions directors ask us about this
Why not just go straight to an insolvency practitioner?
You can, and eventually you may need to. But once appointed, a practitioner acts for the general body of creditors and must report on your conduct. Having independent advice first means somebody has looked at the position from your side before anything is committed to.
Are you trying to stop me using an insolvency practitioner?
Not at all. We introduce directors to licensed practitioners regularly and work alongside them. We simply believe the director should be advised before the appointment rather than only after it.
What does this cost?
The initial advice is free, confidential and carries no obligation.
I have already met a practitioner. Is it too late?
Not if nothing has been signed. There is still real value in reviewing the position independently before an appointment is made.
What will the practitioner investigate about me?
Asset transfers and prices, payments to connected parties, your loan account, dividends declared and the point at which you knew the company could not avoid insolvency. We go through all of it with you beforehand.
Will you attend meetings with me?
We stay alongside you through the process and prepare you for the meetings that matter. Tell us what support you want on the first call.
Are you insolvency practitioners yourselves?
No. Phoenix Company Consultants Ltd is a director advisory firm acting for directors and investors. We hold no insolvency licences and make no claim to formal insolvency qualifications.
How quickly can we speak?
Lines are open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week, and the first conversation is usually same-day.
Is anything I tell you disclosed to the practitioner?
Only what you want disclosed. The conversation is confidential and nobody is contacted on your behalf without your instruction.
Do you cover my area?
We advise nationwide, with offices near Alton in Hampshire and in Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Birmingham, and a registered office in Northampton.
Still not sure it applies to you?
Describe the situation in one call. If this is not the right service for you, we will say so and point you to the one that is.
0330 223 5754Free · Confidential · No obligation · Lines open 8am to 6pm, 7 days a week
Have this conversation first
Free, confidential and no obligation. Find out what will be examined, where you stand personally and whether a formal process is even the right answer, before anyone is appointed.
0330 223 575407770 666896- The initial conversation is genuinely free and carries no obligation
- Everything you tell us stays between us
- We are independent: we act for you, not for your creditors
Free, confidential and no obligation. Company insolvency and director advisory only; we do not advise on personal debt.