Case studies from the practice.
Eight composite case studies illustrating the principal patterns of SME insolvency handled by IQ Insolvency — HMRC arrears, external shocks, regulatory shocks, the CVA-vs-CVL viability test, co-director fraud and asset recovery, tech/SaaS failure, post-COVID demand shifts, and personal circumstances.
Each case study is an illustrative composite drawn from real appointments handled by IQ Insolvency. Identifying details have been changed and facts blended across cases to protect client confidentiality. No single case study reflects any one specific appointment.
When HMRC tips a viable business over the edge
HMRC arrears of £340k, an overdrawn director's loan account, and post-COVID cost inflation combine to tip a viable SME into liquidation — and what the director can do in response.
When external shocks — not director conduct — cause failure
Industry-wide disruption, retrospective tax assessments and counterparty insolvency: three appointments where the business was sound but the environment was not.
When regulatory shocks crush a micro-business
Civil penalty fines from Immigration Enforcement and the discovery of historic employee fraud crystallise liability the business cannot absorb. Three procedural responses.
When the right answer is CVL, not CVA — the viability test
Three appointments where directors arrived hoping for a CVA but where the underlying trade could not support contributions. How the viability test operates in practice.
Co-director fraud and the path to asset recovery
Worldwide Freezing Orders, double-derivative proceedings and cross-border enforcement when one director has systematically defrauded the company.
When development cost outruns revenue — tech and SaaS failures
Intangible assets, front-loaded build cost and key-person risk: how distressed UK technology businesses move through pre-pack and CVL.
When the workplace changed — WFH and post-COVID demand shifts
Lunchtime hospitality in an office district, parcel delivery, a rural newsagent and an air-cargo pivot: four CVLs driven by permanent shifts in customer behaviour.
Bereavement, illness and the failed business pivot
Two CVLs where the underlying cause was personal — a bereavement-driven pivot from leasing into hospitality, and a sole-director consultancy interrupted by serious illness.