Arrears of wages, holiday pay, redundancy and pay in lieu of notice will be paid out by the Redundancy Payments Service ("RPS") to certain prescribed maximum sums. The RPS will then stand in lieu of the employee with a claim.

Your suppliers will be happy that you are taking control of your situation. Experience has shown that suppliers will be willing to continue to trade with you, but normally with little or no credit being extended. It is therefore important that any cash flow forecasts are prepared on this assumption. Funding will be key to the success of the future business.

No, it requires a licensed Insolvency Practitioner ("IP") to act on your behalf.

To act as Nominee, to negotiate a deal which is fair to both you, the debtor, and your creditors. To act as Supervisor to ensure that you comply with the terms of the agreed CVA. It is important to remember that the Supervisor will usually have no involvement in running the business. However, he may have some form of monitoring role.

The IP will draw up a proposal setting out the offer you wish to make to your creditors. This can take several forms: A contribution from income for a period of time, often 5 years A lump sum from a third party A lump sum from the sale of an asset A lump sum from refinancing The IP will contrast the return to creditors from the CVA against that available under a liquidation and lodge the proposal in Court, before sending it out to all your creditors. Your creditors will be invited to a meeting to consider your proposal and vote on whether to accept or reject it or to accept but with modifications. If you accept the modifications, the vote is counted as an acceptance. It is possible to negotiate to arrive at a mutually acceptable outcome. Once the votes in favour exceed 75% by value of the total votes cast, the CVA is considered to be approved. Any creditor who did not vote, or any who voted against, is bound by the arrangement.

There are two elements to the fees: Nominee (up to, and including, the meeting) and Supervisor (after the meeting, to closure) Other costs include: Specific Penalty Bond premium (an insurance policy to protect creditors in the event the IP absconds with the cash). The level of this premium is dependent upon the level of contributions, or on the size of the lump sum. Other costs include postage, printing, room hire and valuations. The preparation of the various forecasts which may necessitate some professional assistance.

Some IP's will ask for the Nominee's fee 'up front'. We take it from the contributions you make into the arrangement. If your creditors reject the proposal, you will not have to pay any fee. The Supervisor's fee is normally taken by deduction from the contributions, or lump sum. We only require the payment of the Specific Penalty Bond premium once the proposal is ready to lodge in Court. Please note: It is possible to agree the level of fees with the IP prior to him acting. However, your creditors can insist upon a lower level. It would be most unusual for creditors to insist that the fees should be increased.

You may have a creditor who is being particularly aggressive, possibly sending in bailiffs or looking to liquidate your company. It is then possible to obtain an Order from the Court. This protects your company from creditor action while you canvass the creditors' votes for a CVA.

Certainly not, but it will allow your company to continue to trade. In a CVA based upon contributions, you are committing your company to making a monthly payment. It is important to weigh up all aspects of the situation, and choose that which is BEST FOR YOUR COMPANY. As with all insolvency-related matters, you MUST get advice and information upon which to base your decision. An unrealistic contribution level may mean that liquidation is merely deferred, not avoided.