Insolvency News - Insolvencies

Sunday 19 June 2011

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON STUBBS GAZETTE

by Stubbs Gazette on Sunday, 01 May 2011 at 00:54
What is Stubbs Gazette?
Stubbs Gazette is a long established publication (first published in 1828) which provides details of all Insolvency events and Actions taken out against businesses and individuals in the United Kingdom.
Is Stubbs connected to the London/Edinburgh/Belfast Gazette?
No connection whatsoever.
Is there any difference?
Yes-  LG/EG/BG do not published CCJs which constitute c.50% of Stubbs
What is an Insolvency Event?
Insolvency events include the Administration of a Company, the winding up of a company or a company entering into a Company Voluntary Arrangement. In the case of individuals, it covers personal bankruptcy and sequestrations for example. The Dissolution and Change of Partnerships are also reported.
What is an Action?
Actions fall into two categories: in Scotland they are called decrees and in England and Wales, County Court Judgements. The majority involve a trade dispute between a debtor and a creditor. The creditor ( Plaintiff in E and W and Pursuer in Scotland)  is the entity which raises the Action and is seeking payment from the debtor who is either disputing or has declined to pay the debt.
In what order are the decrees/CCJs  published ?
In Court order.
What information do I receive on a Action?
You are provided with the name and address of debtor, date Action was entered into court records and the amount of the Action.
Actions are divided into different categories in Scotland – what are they?
Small Claims upto £3,000: Summary Causes upto £5,000 and Ordinary Causes over £5,000.At the current time, Stubbs is the only publisher of the Ordinary Causes of which there are c.10,000 per annum with a cumulative value of c.£100M.Other  providers “suggest” that they are providing the OC at present but we have no evidence to support this.
Do the same categories apply in E and W?
No – all judgements are referred to as CCJs, the only difference being that, depending upon the size of the claim, a specific Court will be applied to for the Action to be considered.
How often is Stubbs published?
England and Wales – weekly: Scotland – fortnightly; Northern Ireland – fortnightly and ROI – weekly
Apart from the geographical differences, do all versions of Stubbs provide identical information?
No – In England and Wales we do not publish details of CCJs taken out on individuals. This information is available in other jurisdictions.
Why don’t you publish this information?
Legally we are not allowed to publish this information in E and W coupled with the fact that consumer judgements are currently  running at c.13,000 per week which would make their regular publication an administrative  issue.
What is the difference between a judgement set aside and a judgement  satisfied?
Set aside indicates that the judgement was raised in error and the Court have corrected this inaccuracy. A satisfied position is where the Action has been repaid in full by the debtor.
When are judgements removed from your records?
Judgements are retained on our system until the Court advise that the case has either been satisfied or  set aside but for clarification purposes, both entries are retained on our records (which go back as far as 2001).
In what format is Stubbs available?
Two versions – pdf and paper
When do I receive my copy of Stubbs?
PDF version is available on Monday with the paper version delivered on Friday
Can I see a copy for free please?
Yes – happy to send a copy for perusal but only one for obvious reasons.
Can I have both versions?
Yes but there will be a charge – majority of subscribers take the pdf version.
Can I circulate this to my colleagues?
Yes if there in the same location. Multiple locations require separate subscriptions and we will consider discounts in these situations.
Can I receive the decrees or CCJs in excel format to facilitate a mail merge for example?
Unfortunately not, under the terms of our agreement with our provider, we can only provide the data in the above formats.
What is the cost of Stubbs?
England and Wales : £383: Scotland £350: Northern Ireland £197 and ROI Eu237 per annum.
Can I pay in instalments?
As the price point is modest in comparison to other products in the market, the preference is that it is paid in one instalment but we would consider a six month subscription - £200.
How do I pay?
You can pay online by Credit Card or we will invoice you as requested. Option pay under a Direct Debit scheme is under consideration and will be available shortly.
Who subscribes to Stubbs?
Insolvency Practitioners/Debt Management Companies/Insolvency lawyers/property management companies/credit insurance companies/housing associations/credit unions/local authorities/construction industry companies.
Why?
In general terms, any business which provides credit to both existing and prospective clients has a use for Stubbs. Companies House information is available but is often historic. Also the unincorporated business market is not well served by the other major providers whereas Stubbs provides 100% of CCJs on both Sole Traders and Partnerships of which there are c. 70,000 per annum at present.
Insolvency Practitioners:  Businesses with CCJs against them may suggest an early sign of financial stress.
Debt Managers -they consider Stubbs as a Business Development source – if an individual appears in Stubbs, they may require help to restructure their personal finances
Insolvency Lawyers -As IPs – potential source of business
Property Management Companies – allows them to monitor clients who  do not fall into the blue chip category and are often small  businesses. Stubbs is particularly useful in situations where short term leases or licences are used rather than traditional FRI leases. Stubbs information is very current and is focused on the SME market in particular.
Credit Insurers – Stubbs in E and W publishes List of Creditors and CI providers write to the businesses quoted suggesting that they should consider  CI in future to avoid a similar problem arising.
Housing Associations -  the Factoring Managers use SG as a source of information in common repair situations where the private owners are refusing to pay their share of a communal ( roof repair perhaps) bill.
Credit Unions – loan monitoring
Local Authorities -Personal bankruptcies
Construction Industry – due to the incestuous nature of the industry , credit controllers and managers use it to monitor their supplier and debtor bases.
Can I obtain this information from other providers and who are they?
The industry is dominated by three global players: Dun and Bradstreet (Stubbs has a strategic alliance with DnB who owned the franchise until 2008), Experian and Equifax. In addition there are numerous smaller players in the UK who provide similar services to Stubbs but Stubbs is unique as the only provider of full details of CCJs across all jurisdictions of the United Kingdom and ROI. The provision of judgement data is a key activity for Stubbs and accordingly we provide 100% of Court  data whereas the three entities quoted above are closer to 70% of judgements?  How has this situation emerged? Very simply the system utilised by the global players is driven by a requirement to match the CCJ to an address and if this is not achievable due to, for example an anomaly in the spelling eg an apostrophe in the name or an error in recording at the Court, the judgement is “dropped”  and  is not recorded anywhere on their systems which creates a “gap” which Stubbs fills.
How can we replace Experian or Equifax even with the above advantage to Stubbs?
Potential subscribers should take Stubbs in conjunction with one of the above as we can “fill a gap” they cannot or , more importantly, do not wish to devote the resources to as judgments are a very small part of their overall business.
Do you have an online search function to avoid having to research the paper or pdf version for an existing or potential client?
Yes – in return for a modest Fee c.2.50, you can search on a UK wide basis for decrees/judgements, strike offs and related data. Volume users benefit from significant discounts with many paying less than £2 per search.
Do I need to buy additional software to use the facility?
No – our search facility is designed to dovetail with that of your business with no investment required by the client. Stubbs provides Sign On and Password details which are all that are required to enter the system. More than one user can be given access to the system.
Can I search in different ways?
Yes – you can search by name/by postcode/by date range.
Can I do multiple searches?
Yes – and we would encourage you to use the facility in this manner. In terms of cost, the maximum you will pay is the equivalent cost of two units.
Can I print off searches?
Yes
If I am interrupted during a search  do I have to start again and will I be charged another unit?
No – the search entry is retained on the system for 30 days and can be revisited without a further charge being levied.
How do I pay for searches?
Similar to subscriptions, payment can be made by credit card or invoice. Units are paid for in advance per the search facility matrix. Volume users ( 1,000 + searches) can be invoiced monthly or quarterly subject to receipt of a letter on headed paper confirming this arrangement and satisfaction by us of their credit profile.
Do I have to use searches within a certain time period?
NB:   No – the units are not time bound and can be used over two calendar or financial years if required.  Other providers do not give this flexibilty.
There are numerous providers of credit information in the market place   so why should I use Stubbs?
  1. Stubbs has been in existence since 1828 – a well known and reliable source of credit information in the UK market
  2. Subscription priced at a level which is accessible to all sizes of business. An “ad hoc” review of competitor’s prices will confirm this – not possible to provide a simple matrix of products v pricing in UK market as many available products do not provide a direct comparison with Stubbs.
  3. No software cost required for search facility.
  4. Stubbs can provide UK and ROI coverage of the very important decree/judgement information.
  5. Stubbs receives the information, reformats and publishes the data from the court system in the UK and publishes with no attempt to “match” addresses etc with the result that subscribers to Stubbs are receiving 100% of judgements.
  6. Focus on Sole Traders and Partnerships  enables subscribers to assess the risk profile of this growing   business class  in the UK economy
  7. Search facility enables the subscriber to quickly identify a case at a competitive cost and reuse the information during the 30 day retention period.
  8. Absence of time limits on the use of the search units is an attractive option not offered by our competitors.