The owners of Christchurch company Idiens Sheetmetal & Roofing are disputing the total amount owed to creditors after going into liquidation and ending a nearly 90-year business link.
The cladding, roofing and flashing business was put into liquidation in the High Court at Christchurch after an application by Inland Revenue (IRD) on October 16.
A first report to creditors and shareholders estimated an initial total shortfall of $1.13 million owed to all creditors included nearly $647,000 to IRD and 25 unsecured creditors nearly $480,000.
But this is being disputed by family members, who said the shortfall was taken from preliminary, unverified records and no longer reflected the true picture as several creditors had since confirmed they were not owed anything, which had reduced the unsecured claims.
The Phillipstown sheet metal fabrication company formed in 2006 is under shareholders and directors Gregory Gentleman and Angela Paterson.
Idiens’ eight employees were paid in full after being let go, including a four week notice period.
In their first report PricewaterhouseCoopers insolvency practitioners Wendy Somerville and Malcolm Hollis were advised the company’s insolvency was from one of their main machines being damaged in a storm.
This was followed by an insurance claim and dispute costing about $500,000.
‘‘There was also a debtor of the company that went into liquidation causing a bad debt write-off. Ultimately, the company was placed into liquidation due to unpaid taxes.’’
They said the directors had provided records of the company and had helped with providing information and responded to queries.
Since then, Mr Hollis said this was a first report and the liquidation would be updated.
He said the information based in all first liquidation reports, including this one, had come from information from accounting records of the company.
“We don’t make stuff up and also it’s not unusual for things to change later. It’s only an estimate and we do often find that information in these records is inaccurate we are happy to change it.”
He said shareholders with a current account with a company were also often included as creditors as the company owed them money.
“They might think the trade creditors – the third parties that have lost money – are nowhere near that number. But they forget they are a creditor themselves. What they are probably thinking is we don’t owe all these other parties $1m, which may well be true, but the company owes them and the third parties such as suppliers. So it may be an interpretation question or it may be inaccurate accounting inside the system.”
He said the insurance dispute for one of their main machines, or any other asset, would be looked at if there was an element of recovery.
These investigations would be carried out later after immediate practical issues were completed.
A landlord with an empty building was not being paid rent and the contents including machinery needed to be dealt with so the building could be handed back to the landlord, he said.
On a website Idiens describes itself as being Christchurch born-and-bred, 100% locally owned with nearly 90 years in the field.
The liquidators have put a value on unsecured assets including industrial machinery, tools, office equipment and a motor vehicle which will be sold.
Payment is being sought from debtors for outstanding accounts of about $192,000 for unpaid work and at this stage there is an overdrawn shareholder account at a book value of about $489,000 still to be confirmed.
Idiens made custom fit flashings, panels and other fittings for the Christchurch Central Library, Justice Precinct, Burwood Hospital and riverfront buildings within The Terrace hospitality and commercial area.
Mr Hollis said the liquidation would likely take a year to complete.
“I know they might be upset, but unfortunately some people have lost money and that’s just the sad reality. There is a bit of it happening at the moment.”
