April payday for creditors of Ward Evans IBA account
Some Ward Evans creditors will receive their money in full by the end of April, while others face a protracted wait to receive less than 5% of what they have lost.
A creditors' meeting on 5 March approved the administrator's proposals for paying creditors. Despite being owed an estimated £6.1m, the "50 to 60 insurers", brokers and policyholders who are owed money are in a better position than many of the company's other creditors.
This is because they are creditors to the company's IBA accounts, which still contain £788,000. An additional £1.3m is also owed to these accounts in outstanding premiums by policyholders. Joint administrator Charles King said that this money is being pursued.
Those insurers, brokers and policyholders whose funds went into these accounts after late November 2002 are likely to receive all their money by the end of April.
But those who receive only part or no payment from the IBA accounts will rank alongside the company's other unsecured creditors. Depending on which Ward Evans company they have a claim to, the best they can hope for is either 3.2p or 4.2p for every pound owed. And these payments will be "sometime away". King said: "It is more likely to be next year or thereafter."
The prospect of legal action against the directors or auditors of Ward Evans is still to be discussed by creditors.
Ward Evans collapsed on 18 December. Its consolidated accounts for the 11 months to 31 October 2002 show that its overheads of £10.9m far outweighed its turnover of £7.3m.
