Close my Care Home Business

Rescue, Recovery, and Closure Options for Care Homes

The social care industry is experiencing a raft of challenges, many of which show no signs of abating. From staff shortages and increasing operational costs, through to a sharp decline in occupancy levels due to a combination of squeezed family budgets and a reduction in Local Authority (LA) referrals, along with ensuring compliance with ever-changing regulatory requirements and adequate levels of care are maintained at all times, has the potential to push some care home providers to breaking point. 

Close your Care Home via Company Liquidation

If you run a care home and have found the past few years to have been particularly challenging, you may be considering placing your business into liquidation. Voluntary liquidation is done via a formal insolvency method known as a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation – or CVL. It is a director-initiated process which brings about the end of an insolvent company.

Before any company enters liquidation, they must seek expert help and advice from a licensed insolvency practitioner to ensure this is an appropriate step for their business. However, when it comes to liquidating a care home - a place which cares for some of the most vulnerable individuals in society - extra caution needs to be exercised.

Closing a care home via liquidation does not just impact the directors of the company and its outstanding creditors, but also the lives and living situation of many elderly or unwell residents. Your insolvency practitioner will be able to talk you through the entire liquidation process, ensuring you know exactly what it means for you, as well as your staff and residents.

If your care home is experiencing financial difficulties, yet you are keen to see whether the business can be turned back around, we can also explore all the options open to you and your business in order to minimize any disruption to your care home and the residents who call it home.

“Shaun really helped me for quick legal advice in a stressful situation where I needed advice QUICK. Called me back within 30 seconds and gave me the advice I needed. Thank you”

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Shaun Barton
Business Debt Expert

Rescue my Care Home

If your care home has hit a temporary rough patch, there could be a number of ways which your company can move from the red and back into the black. Liquidation is far from the only option for your care home despite its current financial problems.  

If your company has fallen behind in its obligations to creditors – including HMRC – entering into a process of negotiation with them could help lower the financial burden you are feeling on a monthly basis, giving you the chance to get your cash flow back to healthy levels. Creditor negotiation can be done on an informal or a formal basis, and your approach will likely depend on your existing relationship with your creditors, the amount you owe, and whether or not you have already fallen into arrears.

For those care homes who are indebted to HMRC, one options which can be explored is entering into a Time to Pay (TTP) arrangement. As the name suggests, this arrangement gives a company additional time and space to bring its tax arrears up to date.

If your creditors are numerous, however, a TTP (which just covers money owed to HMRC), may not be enough. In these instances we can look at a range of different formal insolvency processes such as placing the company into administration, or else implementing a legally-binding payment plan with outstanding creditors.

This type of formal creditor negotiation is done through a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). A CVA typically lasts for between 3-5 years, during which time the indebted company is permitted to make monthly repayments towards outstanding debts at a lower rate than what they were previously paying. In some instances, debt which cannot be fully repaid will be written off at the end of the agreement so long as the company has adhered to the plan and made the agreed payments on time and in full each and every month.

A CVA will be administered and supervised by a licensed insolvency practitioner throughout the term of the agreement. The company in question will make their monthly contribution directly to the insolvency practitioner who will then distribute this amongst creditors proportionately.

While a CVA may sound like the perfect way of lessening your care homes outgoings, you will only be able to enter into a CVA if your care home is seen as viable by both the insolvency practitioner and also your company’s creditors. If your care home is experiencing more acute issues and your creditors have turned hostile, it may need to be placed into administration if it is to be saved.

Once your care home is in administration, it is granted certain legal protection through a moratorium which prevents the company from being perused legally and ensures the business cannot be wound up by creditors at least while the company remains in administration.

What many people do not realise is that administration is not a solution in itself; instead it functions more as a holding stage while a route forward is plotted. Administration can help save a struggling business, but going into administration does not always mean that the company will emerge positively. The appointed insolvency practitioner – acting as the company’s administrator – will assess your care home and its future prospects as part of the administration process, before advising you on whether the care home can be turned around.

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Director redundancy for owners of care homes

If your care home is registered as a limited company, there is a good chance that as well as being director of the company, you are also seen as an employee of the business too. In the event of your care home becoming insolvent and having to enter a formal liquidation process such as a CVL, you may be entitled to claim redundancy.

Whether you qualify, and the amount you may be entitled to, will depend on a host of factors including how long you have worked for the care home, your age, your salary, and whether you are on the PAYE payroll.

At a time when your business is in danger of being liquidated, you may also be struggling with personal financial worries, a redundancy payment could be a huge lifeline. As well as redundancy, you may also be entitled to claim for additional statutory entitlements such as unpaid wages, holidays, and arrears of pay.

As part of the liquidation process, your appointed insolvency practitioner will be able to refer you to a fully regulated claims management firm who can help qualify your entitlement to claim.