You can request a meeting with the Insolvency Service at any time during the course of the investigation.  Whilst there is no specific obligation on the part of the Insolvency Service to agree to a meeting they are mindful of their obligations to treat you fairly because of the public interest nature of directors disqualification proceedings.

 

Whilst the Insolvency Service are unlikely to refuse to meet with you there is the potential to compel them to meet with you and progress the investigation if you were to issue Judicial Review proceedings.  However, you must discuss this with your specialist disqualification solicitor before any Judicial Review proceedings are issued because the issues are complex and potentially costly.

 

The short answer is “yes”.  It is inconceivable that any Insolvency Service investigator would refuse to allow your lawyer to attend and advise you.    

 

A meeting can take place at any stage.  The start of a disqualification investigation usually means an Insolvency Service investigator writing to you telling you that an investigation is under way and asking you to complete a Questionnaire.  Written representations would then ordinarily follow.  This stage provides an opportunity to change the mind of the Insolvency Service investigator not to recommend to the Secretary of State that directors disqualification proceedings ought to be brought.  Similarly, if an investigator has already recommended to the Secretary of State that proceedings ought to be brought there is one final opportunity to meet with senior members of the Defendant Liaison Team to persuade them to take a different course of action.

 

Your expert legal representatives can tailor and implement any strategy to suit the circumstances of the case.  The meeting can take the form of a presentation of your case, it can include demonstrating how effective you might appear as a witness, it can force the investigator to answer questions and justify their decision making in a manner similar to a cross examination, it can set the scene for new evidence to be introduced.

 

A successful meeting involving you and your specialist disqualification lawyer could result in the investigation being closed at a very early stage.  It may result in the Insolvency Service reconsidering the seriousness of your conduct so that even if they were to bring disqualification proceedings the period of time sought as a period of disqualification could be lower than would otherwise be the case.