The corporate recovery expert appointed to hunt for assets of The Accident Group (TAG) has called into question the no-win, no-fee business model.
Begbies Traynor partner Paul Stanley, who most recently worked on the liquidation of another failed claims management company, Life Repair Group, said he had doubts about the sustainability of businesses that operate on a no-win, no-fee basis. "I personally don't think there is [a sustainable model]," he said.
Stanley was appointed by the Department of Trade and Industry on 15 January to recover assets after TAG was put into liquidation.
He said that after the formation of a creditors committee comprising representatives of TAG's largest creditors, including insurance companies, he wouldbegin questioning middle management to "find out when the problems started and what they did or didn't do to sort them out".
He will also use special legal powers to question former TAG chairman Mark Langford about alleged "wrongful trading" and excessive dividend payments.
Stanley said that while his remit did not extend to investigating criminal actions, any evidence of such activity would be passed on to the authorities.
