Debt & Insolvency solicitors in Essex

Both deal with debts you cannot repay, but an IVA is a negotiated agreement to repay what you can afford over five or six years, usually protecting your home, while bankruptcy writes the debts off but puts assets including any equity in your home at risk. Which is better depends on your assets, income and debts, which is why tailored advice matters.

Normally the company is a separate legal person and directors are protected, but the protection disappears when the rules are broken. Wrongful or fraudulent trading, paying preference creditors, disposing of assets below value and breaching directors' duties can all create personal liability, personal guarantees and disqualification.

A statutory demand is the formal precursor to a bankruptcy or winding-up petition, giving you twenty-one days to pay or reach an arrangement, or eighteen days to apply to set it aside on proper grounds. Ignoring it lets the creditor petition for your bankruptcy or the company's liquidation, so legal advice within days is essential.

Often, yes. The sequence that works is a proper letter before action, then the court's pre-action protocol, then a claim if needed, because most debtors settle once the process becomes real. Interest and fixed costs usually follow the debt, and a judgment opens stronger enforcement such as bailiffs and charging orders.