You may be asking this question if you are looking to pursue legal action against a company. The short answer is no, but please read on. A Limited Company is in itself a legal entity. If a Company has been dissolved, essentially it no longer exists and can only be pursued after dissolution if it is restored to the Register of Companies.
Firstly, It is always prudent to establish the finances of a company prior to commencing legal action. If the Company has no or little cash or assets whether it is dissolved or not, you may not be able to enforce a judgment against it after going through the process of court proceedings and the inconvenience, cost and time that this can entail. The dissolution of a Company is not always a definitive indicator that the company is financially fruitless and the company may have been subjected to compulsory strike-off, however, these initial investigations are important.
A common question asked is ‘What happens if the Company becomes aware of my claim, and it then dissolves?’ This is a good question because it is not unheard of for directors of a company that anticipate a claim or even after a claim has been issued to try and avoid liability by dissolving the Company. Fortunately, dissolving a company is a process and there is a procedure to do so.
A Company must first apply to strike off the Company, if this is accepted by Companies House, the Company’s request for strike off will be published as a notice in The Gazette. The purpose of publication is to allow creditors and others who have an interest in the Company to object to the strike off. If you have a claim against a company or think you may, you may be able to object to the strike off, but you must act quickly. You can check the status of a Company at Companies House. If a Company is subject to strike off, an active proposal to strike off will appear as the company’s status and the Company’s DS01 application and the First Gazette Notice will be listed under the Company’s filing history.
You can only object after notice that the company is going to be struck off has been published in The Gazette and so there is only a small window of opportunity to file an objection. If after 2 months from the first Gazette publication, no objection to the proposal to strike off a company is made, a final Gazette notice will be published and the Company will be dissolved.
If the Company you wish to make a claim against has already dissolved, the Company will have to be restored to the register and you will need a court order. There are conditions that must be met to be successful in restoring a Company.
If you have already obtained a judgment against a Company that is now dissolved, as a creditor, you should have been informed and provided with a copy of the Company’s application to strike off.
It is important to consider:
It is important to understand the merits of your case against a Company prior to considering whether to restore a Company and we can assist you by conducting an initial case analysis and guiding you through the process. We can also assist with obtaining a detailed asset trace to ensure you are well informed of a Company’s assets prior to commencing legal action.
You may find the following links useful:
Companies | Company | The Gazette
Limitation Act 1980Object to a limited company being struck off: Make an objection - GOV.UK
