Press Report : Creditors failing to claim £40m MG Rover cash

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Post, 23rd July, 2009

Many trade creditors hit in the pocket by the collapse of Longbridge are missing out on a £40 million-plus nest egg – more than four years on from the demise of MG Rover. An unspecified number of potential claims from the UK and overseas – worth nearly half a billion pounds – have not materialised since the Birmingham car firm closed in April 2005, it was revealed yesterday.

Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers disclosed in the latest Joint Liquidators Report that up to £464 million of further claims could still be admitted despite the increasing time gap. With two dividends amounting to a total of 6p in the pound already paid to approved claimants some creditors are forgoing sums of many thousands of pounds.

MG Rover Administrator Rob Hunt said: ‘If you look at our receipts and payments, we are still sitting on just over £40 million. There are quite a number of creditors who still have not made claims. As time goes by, the chances of those coming through are less and we will get to the point where we will take the view that they are not going to claim. I think what has happened here is that a number of dealers will have made claims at the start of the insolvency in respect of loss of profits but those claims have not materialised.”

If you look at our receipts and payments, we are still sitting on just over £40 million. There are quite a number of creditors who still have not made claims. As time goes by, the chances of those coming through are less and we will get to the point where we will take the view that they are not going to claim. I think what has happened here is that a number of dealers will have made claims at the start of the insolvency in respect of loss of profits but those claims have not materialised.” Rob Hunt, Administrator, MG Rover Group Limited

Mr Hunt said a cross-section of suppliers, dealers and other trade creditors had failed to carry through claims, or not claimed at all despite the fund amassed by Adminstrators from Longbridge’s remaining assets.

The latest Joint Liquidators Report says: ‘Significant claims in excess of the values listed in the directors’ Statement of Affairs have been received and are still being adjudicated upon, and many potential claims from the UK and overseas have not been received. The Liquidators estimate that up to £464 million of further claims may be admitted.”

The report reveals that two dividends of 4.5p and 1.5p in the pound have been paid out – including average sums of £400 and £150 to 4,500 ex-workers – and at least one more payment is likely. The MG Rover Pension Fund already stands to benefit to the tune of around £20 million after Administrators admitted a claim of £352 million.

A total of 1,250 unsecured creditors, including traders, supply firms and dealers, were left out of pocket when MG Rover collapsed with debts of around £1.4 billion in April 2005.

[Source: Birmingham Post]

Clive Goldthorp

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