Directors’ Advice
Most of the questions directors bring us are not about insolvency procedure. They are about what happens to them personally: whether the guarantee they signed three years ago will follow them home, whether the loan account creates a liability, whether stopping trading now makes things better or worse. This hub covers the personal side of company distress.
Personal Liability
Are directors personally liable for company debts?
When limited liability does not protect you
Can a director be made bankrupt?
Personal insolvency risk after company failure
Can personal assets be seized from a limited company?
When creditors can come after your property
Losing your house if the company goes bust
When your home is at risk
What is limited liability?
What the protection actually covers
Misfeasance
The civil claim liquidators use most
Personal Guarantees
The risks of signing a personal guarantee
What you are agreeing to before you sign
Directors’ personal guarantees
How guarantees work and when they crystallise
Unenforceable personal guarantee
When a PG can be challenged
Personal guarantee insurance
Covering the liability before it is called
Personal liability for CBILS loans
Government-backed loans and personal exposure
Director Duties and Conduct
Duties and responsibilities of a company director
The legal framework directors operate under
Directors’ duties to creditors
When your duty shifts from shareholders to creditors
Avoiding and disclosing conflicts of interest
Section 175 and 177 CA 2006 obligations
Companies Act 2006
The legislation that governs directors’ conduct
Director’s responsibility for accountancy errors
When the accounts go wrong
Preventing company director disputes
Board conflict before it reaches a lawyer
Director Consequences
Directors’ disqualification
How the Insolvency Service investigates conduct
Can a director get a criminal record?
When misconduct becomes criminal
Phoenix companies explained
Legal phoenixing vs. restricted conduct
Frozen company bank account
Why banks freeze accounts and what to do
HMRC IR35 investigations
Off-payroll working rules and enforcement
Directors’ Loans and Company Finance
How to legally take money out of a limited company
Salary, dividends, and loans in the right order
Overdrawn directors’ loan accounts
When the loan account creates a debt to the company
Writing off a director’s loan account
Tax implications and when it is possible
Fixed and floating charges
What lenders hold over company assets
Funding options for SMEs
Finance routes when growth stalls
