Creditors Insolvency Solicitors

Restructuring & Insolvency

Commercial Creditor Advice From Insolvency Solicitors Who Understand Business

When a customer, supplier or business partner becomes insolvent, the financial consequences can be severe. Whether you are a trade creditor, commercial landlord, lender or investor, our creditors insolvency solicitors in London act on your side, helping you understand your position and take swift, decisive action to recover what you are owed.

Gurve Legal works with SMEs, business owners and commercial creditors across all sectors. We know that when a debtor becomes insolvent, time is critical. The earlier you seek legal advice, the more options you have. Waiting can mean slipping further down the creditor priority queue or missing procedural deadlines that cannot be reversed.

Unlike many firms that approach insolvency purely from a debtor or director perspective, we act for creditors with the same rigour. Our restructuring and insolvency team can advise on everything from statutory demands and winding up petitions to creditor claims in administration and challenging transactions that have unfairly reduced the assets available for recovery.

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Our Services for Creditors in Insolvency Proceedings

Statutory Demands

A statutory demand is often the most effective first step when a debtor refuses to pay an undisputed debt. We draft and serve statutory demands on your behalf, ensuring full compliance with the formal requirements under the Insolvency Act 1986. Handled correctly, a statutory demand can prompt swift payment or open the door to winding up or bankruptcy proceedings.

Drafting and serving statutory demands on companies and individuals
Advice on the £750 threshold and undisputed debt criteria
Next steps if the demand is not satisfied within 21 days
Responding to set-aside applications

Winding Up Petitions

Where a company owes you money and has failed to respond to demands, presenting a winding up petition through the courts is a powerful tool. Our insolvency solicitors advise creditors on whether a petition is the right route, manage the court process on your behalf, and represent your interests at hearings. For businesses owed money by another company, this is often the most commercially effective form of pressure available.

Advising on grounds for presenting a winding up petition
Drafting and filing petitions at the Companies Court
Representation at petition hearings
Advice on advertisement and substitution by other creditors

Creditor Claims in Administration

When a company enters administration, unsecured creditors face the risk of receiving little or nothing. Our team advises commercial creditors on how to register their claims correctly, engage with administrators, and challenge decisions that may reduce recoveries. We also advise on the appointment of administrators and how to influence the process from the outset.

Registering and evidencing creditor claims in administration
Challenging administrator decisions or conduct
Advice on the order of priority for unsecured creditors
Monitoring progress and engaging with office holders

Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation Advice

In a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, the liquidator is appointed to wind up the company and distribute any remaining assets. Creditors have the right to participate in this process, and active engagement can make a material difference to outcomes. Our team ensures your claim is submitted correctly and that you are represented in any creditors’ meetings or decisions about the appointment of the liquidator.

Submitting proofs of debt in voluntary liquidations
Attending and voting at creditors’ meetings
Requesting information from the liquidator
Challenging remuneration or decisions affecting recovery

Antecedent Transaction Claims

If assets were moved out of the insolvent company before it failed, those transactions may be challengeable under the Insolvency Act 1986. Our solicitors advise creditors and insolvency practitioners on transactions at undervalue, preferences, and transactions defrauding creditors. Where assets have been deliberately hidden or dissipated, we work with clients to identify and pursue recovery through the courts. You can also read about our broader dispute resolution and litigation services where contentious insolvency matters require court action.

Identifying transactions at undervalue or preferential payments
Advising on section 423 claims for transactions defrauding creditors
Working with insolvency practitioners on recovery actions
Asset tracing and recovery in connection with insolvency

Personal Guarantee Enforcement

Where a director or business owner has given a personal guarantee in connection with a company debt, our team advises creditors on enforcing those guarantees when the company becomes insolvent. We also work alongside our commercial contracts team to review the drafting of guarantee documents in cases where the enforceability of the guarantee is disputed.

Reviewing the terms and enforceability of personal guarantees
Issuing claims against guarantors
Negotiating settlement with directors facing personal liability
Advice where guarantees are contested

Commercial Landlord Creditor Advice

Commercial landlords face particular challenges when a tenant enters insolvency. Rent arrears, dilapidations, and the forfeiture of leases all become complicated when an administrator or liquidator is involved. Our team advises landlords on their position as creditors, their rights of re-entry, and strategies to protect the value of their commercial property assets. This sits alongside our commercial landlords and tenants service, which covers the full range of property-related legal advice for business landlords.

Advice on rent arrears and claiming in insolvency proceedings
Forfeiture rights and re-entry in administration
Dilapidations claims against insolvent tenants
Protecting lease terms and recovering commercial premises

Debt Recovery and Pre-Insolvency Action

Not every debtor dispute requires formal insolvency proceedings. Where a business owes you money but has not yet entered a formal process, early legal action through our dispute resolution team can resolve the matter more quickly and cost-effectively. We advise creditors on the full range of pre-insolvency options, from letters before action and county court judgments through to freezing injunctions where assets are at risk of dissipation.

Letters before action and formal demand letters
County court and High Court debt claims
Enforcement of judgments against company assets
Freezing injunctions to protect against asset dissipation

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Why Choose Gurve Legal

We Act for Creditors, Not Just Debtors

Many insolvency solicitors focus primarily on directors, debtors or companies facing financial difficulty. Gurve Legal takes an explicitly creditor-side approach for business clients owed money, ensuring your interests are the priority throughout proceedings. Whether you are a trade supplier, lender, investor or landlord, you receive advice that is focused on maximising your recovery, not on managing the insolvency of others.

Commercial Advice for SMEs and Business Owners

Our creditor clients are typically business owners and commercial operators, not institutional lenders with in-house legal teams. We explain insolvency processes in plain terms, advise on realistic recovery prospects early in the engagement, and help you make commercially sound decisions about when to pursue a claim and when to cut your losses. This is the kind of practical, direct advice that larger firms often reserve for their biggest clients.

We Act for Both Sides

Gurve Legal represents both creditors and debtors in restructuring and insolvency matters. This dual experience gives us a sharper understanding of how the other side is likely to approach negotiations, what administrators and liquidators are looking for, and where the opportunities for recovery lie. That insight translates directly into better outcomes for our creditor clients.

Integrated Legal Support Across Your Business

Insolvency rarely sits in isolation. A supplier becoming insolvent may also trigger contract disputes, property complications, or employment questions. As a full-service commercial law firm, Gurve Legal can draw on specialists in commercial contracts, commercial property, and employment law to support you across every dimension of a creditor situation, without the need to instruct multiple firms.

Speak to Our Creditors Insolvency Solicitors Today

If you are owed money by a business that is insolvent or heading towards insolvency, the time to act is now. Early advice gives you the best chance of a meaningful recovery and prevents procedural deadlines from passing unnoticed. Contact our team to discuss your position in a free, no-obligation consultation.