Insolvency Claim
ClaimSame day when instructed by early afternoon
Main contractor insolvent? We help record and claim your assets, value the debt and prepare your recovery claim.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Get a free report on your claim. About three minutes; no obligation.
The problem
Your main contractor has entered administration or liquidation owing you money. Plant or materials may remain on site, you may be asked to keep working, or the administrator or liquidator may have set a deadline for your claim.
Still trading? See Insolvency Loss Prevention. Terminated but solvent? See Termination Claim.
The solution
We prioritise site assets and urgent decisions, referring legal questions to your solicitor on day one. We price any fresh completion offer, then value and lodge the debt with your approval.
We explain when the likely return does not justify further cost. We do not give legal or insolvency advice.
What you get
You receive an asset schedule and supporting claim for your materials and plant, together with an evidenced calculation of the debt allowing for counterclaims. We lodge the claim and record what is agreed and what remains disputed.
Includes a Handover Pack: key dates and sources, next steps, likely responses, scope limits and any ready-to-send letters.
Fee: Fixed fee for the first days, agreed in writing when instructed. Preparing the debt claim has a separate fixed fee agreed after we see the evidence.
How it works
Claim stage: Event
You tell us what happened
Start with a free call. Instruct us by early afternoon for a same-day start; send whatever records you have.
- A
What you know and how you know it
The emails, calls or site rumours that told you, forwarded as they arrived, not summarised.
Where to find it: Your inbox and your site manager's phone, from the last day or two.
Why we need it: What we do depends on whether this is an appointment, a notice of intention to appoint or a rumour. Only the original messages and the public record can tell us which.
How we will use it: We check the insolvency on the public record and start the time-stamped log with these messages, because what you knew and when may matter later.
- B
The subcontract
A complete PDF or scan with all amendments; the last exchanged version if it was never signed, and say so.
Where to find it: The commercial folder or the order email.
Why we need it: The decision to stop or carry on, and every notice, must stand on the subcontract's own terms, because the administrator or liquidator will read them.
How we will use it: It gives us the payment, retention, suspension and termination terms that the first days and the account depend on.
- C
The account position, as it stands
Applications, Payment Notices, Pay Less Notices, payment history and the retention figure, in the original spreadsheets where they exist. Send today's state, not a tidied version.
Where to find it: Your accounts package and the job's application folder.
Why we need it: The claim in the insolvency is only as strong as the statement of account behind it, and it must be fixed before the numbers start moving.
How we will use it: We fix it to the day in a statement of account backed by evidence: work done, applied for, certified, paid and retained.
- D
Dated photographs of what is yours on site
Phone photos are fine: materials, plant and unfixed goods, wide shots and close-ups, taken today.
Where to find it: Whoever is on or near site takes them now; we say what to shoot if you are unsure.
Why we need it: Ownership arguments are won with evidence of what was where, when, before it is built in or gone.
How we will use it: We match them to the tickets and invoices, and they back the written notice claiming what is yours from the administrator or liquidator.
- E
Delivery tickets, invoices, hire records and your sale terms
The delivery tickets and invoices for the materials on site, and the hire or ownership records for plant. Add the terms you quoted or sold on, with any retention of title condition.
Where to find it: Your buyer's files, your accounts package, your hire firms' statements and the back of your quotation or order acceptance.
Why we need it: A claim to materials or plant on site is only as good as the paper showing they are yours and were not paid for.
How we will use it: We match each item in the photographs to its ticket and invoice, then claim it under your terms or put its value in the claim.
- F
Who is due on site tomorrow morning
Your people, your plant, your deliveries: what is booked and what can be cancelled.
Where to find it: The site diary and whoever runs your labour.
Why we need it: Every further hour worked is a cost decision that needs taking deliberately, not by default.
How we will use it: It feeds the decision to stop or carry on, so the position is recorded before the next shift starts.
- G
Anything the office-holder has sent
Letters, emails and forms from the administrator or liquidator, as received. Include any proof of debt form, the form for claiming what you are owed, and any claim against you.
Where to find it: Your inbox and the post, from the day of the appointment onwards.
Why we need it: The process sets its own dates, and any claim the administrator or liquidator makes against you is deducted from what you are owed.
How we will use it: We diary every process date, answer what is claimed against you, and lodge your claim in the form the process asks for.
- H
Any warranty you gave the client, and any offer to finish
Any collateral warranty or direct agreement you signed with the client or its funder, and any project bank account papers. Add any offer to finish the work, as received.
Where to find it: The commercial folder from the start of the job, and your inbox from the day of the failure.
Why we need it: A warranty can let the client step into your subcontract, and a project bank account can hold money for you on trust. Both change what you can recover, and from whom.
How we will use it: We read what each gives you and price any offer to finish as a fresh contract. The legal effect goes to your solicitor.
Copies are fine. Send what you have and we will tell you what's missing.
- A
Claim stages: Entitlement and Evidence
We protect what is yours in the first days
We confirm what has happened and send the legal questions to your solicitor. We help you decide whether to keep working, and list and claim your materials and plant.
What you get: A photo list of what is yours on site, and the written notice claiming it
We price any offer to finish the job
If the client or a new contractor asks you to finish your work, we price what is left as a fresh contract. Whether you take it on is your call.
What you get: A price for the rest of the work, as a fresh contract
Claim stages: Quantum and Assembly
We build your claim
Once you agree the fixed fee in writing, we value everything you are owed, after anything your main contractor could claim back. Nothing goes in until you approve it.
What you get: A statement of what you are owed, after every deduction
Claim stage: Resolution
We lodge your claim and negotiate it
We lodge your claim, called a proof of debt, and negotiate it with the administrator or liquidator. Whether to settle is always your decision.
What you get: Your claim as lodged, with every deadline in the diary
We close out the account and hand over the lessons
Get a free report on your claim
Answer the questions below for a free PDF report by email. Allow about three minutes; choose “Not sure” where needed.
Your report explains where you stand, the next steps to take and the records to gather. It also sets out how we could help for a fixed fee, with no obligation.
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Prevent it next time
Put a routine in place to reduce the risk of this happening again. Insolvency Loss Prevention.