Any business/financial folks here?

Sorry it took such a bad turn for you but pleased you have found a better job. Your ex-boss needs to be stopped, have you been on to trading standards or citizens advice? Watch out for spending money with lawyers you could end up with big bills and get no-where if you ex-boss is a man of straw.

 

John is right. Be careful about throwing good money after bad. If the business is bankrupt and there are no assets you won't get anything even if you get a court order. It sounds as though there are no, or very little, assets that belong to the company.

There are different situations depending on whether it was a limited company or not. If it was a limited company you will have no ability to call on his personal assets (it almost certainly would be a company limited to a miniscule liability)unless it can be proven that he knowingly and fraudulently filtered the money, or assets, from it and it seems from what you have said that the company didn't own a lot of the assets anyway.

You have no argument if the business has gone down because of poor management or the effects of the economy. Even if he got you to continue working whilst knowing the business was failing he could argue that he thought that it would pull out of its problems.

If it was a private business (sole trader) then you may have a call on his assets for what he owes you. It would depend on how much the business was in debt and the taxman has first call on his assets. If he was a sole trader he is likely to try to make an IVA (Independent Voluntary Arrangement) we means that he may be allowed to start to pay bakc only a small fraction of what he owes. In practice this generally ends up with him paying that small amount (if you're lucky) for a period of time that will not get you much money back. Don't pay much at all to a solicitor for advice that is not going to get you a return.

Try talking to CAB first. Trading Standards will not be interested if the company has already gone down the pan and even if it hasn't, and they may be interested, they don't do anything to help you get your money that is owed. They only work on trying to stop him doing something that is wrong or getting him to put right things that are wrong. Lost wages don't come into that category.

 

It's such a pity that this has happened. As you said, it is possible that he has genuinely been having a struggle trying to keep the business going but that doesn't excuse telling lies - although it is sometimes necessary to not let anyone know how bad it is getting as, if the word gets out, the business could go down the pan immediately.

It could simply have been lack of capital - this happens fairly often in businesses but that's what overdrafts and loans are for. Unfortunately, banks have been cutting down on assisting buinesses - which, as far as I'm concerned, is why they are there.

I don't like the fact that he has shown you all as having been paid. It could be that it was entered in the books and then the bank wouldn't let him have the money - but it sounds a bit dodgy. Were you normally paid in cash or was it paid into your bank accounts? If it was normally into the bank and you didn't receive it then you have plenty of proof for the taxman. If it was by cash then the withdrawal from the bank of a large amount of cash would show on his statement. In that case I guess he would have misappropriated it. The taxman should be able to investigate the possibilities.

The small claims court limit is £5,000 but if the case is very complicated then it could be referred by small claims to a different track. The maximum court fee (for a £5,000 claim) is £120 but is less if your claim qualifies for a Money Claim Online - read here:-
Info about - County court bulk centre - money claim online

Good luck with it