Published: 01/08/2025 By Andrew Bailey
We were recently approached by a business owner who had received a Winding Up petition from HMRC, so we ran through all the available options for the business. Please remember there are options, so if you do receive a Winding Up petition please act on it and take advice!In any case, the business owner advised that he had received various communications from many other third parties who he did not know also advising him that a petition had been filed. We explained that the reason for this is that when a petition is filed it will appear on the Court records. These records can then be accessed, and they will feed into the records of credit reference agencies which are also accessible. Using this data these third parties can then identify which businesses are in financial distress on the basis that they have received petitions, judgments, etc and they will contact them directly.
Not that there is anything bad about this process, because businesses need to market their services as they see fit. However, the caution here is about making sure you check who you are speaking to and that you are getting appropriate and reliable advice for your specific situation.
The accountant on this case was receiving calls from a party called "Revenue Services". They identified the accountant using the registered office address of the company that had received the petition. We contacted "Revenue Services" ourselves and never quite established who we were actually talking to and what services they were providing. It certainly was not H M Revenue & Customs which the name potentially suggests.
When business owners find that they have a business in financial distress it is stressful, they can be taken advantage of when they take up an offer of help in a panic. Just be careful and do your due diligence if you or someone you know finds themselves in this situation, make sure any advice is coming from a viable source.
Like any service you are seeking, it is important to do the research before you make your choice, rather than just jumping with the first person that comes knocking especially if it's out of the blue. Word of mouth recommendations are often a good start and if you speak to your accountant and or solicitor that may help guide you in the right direction. Alternatively there are plenty of ways of searching for licensed insolvency practitioners online via the membership organisations or via gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/find-an-insolvency-practitioner.
We are always happy to have an initial chat, free of charge with no obligation just to put your mind at rest.