Peters Opal/B A Peters

[ladyh]

We thank people for their good wishes and understand from replies to our previous post that there are a number of people with lost deposits who are angered by the situation. We are therefore interested to hear from anyone who is willing to legally persue Peters Opal either to deposits paid or boats paid for in full and not delivered. We have spoken with our solicitor who is willing to act for a group of people should they wish to collectively litigate.

 

[Richard10002]

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We have spoken with our solicitor who is willing to act for a group of people should they wish to collectively litigate.

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Is your solicitor a true specialist in this type of thing, or merely a general practitioner... if the latter, they may be on a learning curve... if the former, they should be able to cut to the chase pretty quickly.

Personally, I find solicitors seem happy to take on any kind of work and charge for it. I usually research things myself and, once the solicitor has prepared the info, get a barristers opinion..... expensive in the short term, but can save a lot of messing about and long term expense.

 

[ladyh]

He is an expert in this field who also has previous experience of acting on behalf of Peters Opal. Whilst it may be that he will cost he was the only one able to get through to the administrators after we spent all day on Wednesday trying.

 

[PeterGibbs]

I am truly sorry to hear of the plight of creditors to this defunct company.

Let me try to assist your preparations with a true account of a crash that occurred some 17 years ago:

On discovering that preparations for the delivery of his new boat were mysteriously and unaccountably not proceeding as promised, our intrepid client sped down to the yard and encountered the adminstrator making an inventory of the business. Our man summoned friends immediately and took off with the hull marked to his name and for which he had made several stage payments. He was not able to get redress from the administrator for the unfinished work and had no guarantee of course regarding the "prematurely removed vessel". He lost the final stage payment made in advance and had to finish the boat himself. He nontheless secured the bulk of his outlay.

In another case affecting me directly, the garage in which my car was being serviced, went bust. I had to throw my weight around with the administrator to secure my car from being included in his list of assets for disposal!

This kind of solution does not occur by hiring solicitors and pushing paper around, in almost every case. Nor is it feasible with money held in general, as opposed to dedicated client accounts organised by the defunct dealer/supplier.

Visitors to this site will probably know that administrators have to work to a priority list of creditors, the Revenue usually being top dog. Clients and their stage payments/deposits will be pretty well down the list. There is a better outlook, of course, if the business can be continued in some recapitalised form.

I don't enter these comments to promote lawlessness but to stiffen the resolve of unsecured creditors to use all means at their disposal to secure their legitimate interests. The very best of luck!

PWG

 

[DavidofMersea]

Many years ago, I gave my boat to a trader to sell and he went bankrupt. I went to his place of business with 4 Irish building labours, and took me boat back - with so what are you going to do about it? They did nothing. The law may have changed

I am not a lawyer but I thought that provided you could prove the a certain boat was yours, it was yours and you could take your boat away

 

[grumpy_o_g]

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Visitors to this site will probably know that administrators have to work to a priority list of creditors, the Revenue usually being top dog. Clients and their stage payments/deposits will be pretty well down the list. There is a better outlook, of course, if the business can be continued in some recapitalised form.

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I thought that as well but someone has pointed out on another thread about Peters that the Law has changed. The pecking order is now:


A Secured creditors with a fixed charge.
• Typical fixed charges are over a property or plant and machinery.
• If you fail to make payments a creditor can sell the asset to cover the debt.
B
Preferential creditors, whose categories have been reduced.
• Employees are now the main preferential creditors for holiday pay, up to four months’ wage arrears (subject to a set maximum) and contributions to occupational pension schemes.
• HM Revenue & Customs etc no longer have preference.
C Secured creditors with a floating charge — normally the banks.
• Assets such as work in progress are normally covered by a floating charge.
D Unsecured creditors.
• Trade credit is usually unsecured.
• Under new legislation, unsecured creditors may be entitled to part of what has previously have gone to HM Revenue & Customs, where there is a floating charge — only where it was created on or after 15 September 2003.

That was from a welsh site here which has a couple of excellent guides to Insolvency, etc.

Apart from that I have to agree with you - rule one does seem to be posession is 9/10 of the law where Administrators are concerned.