The lender is calling in a personal guarantee I signed four years ago, and I cannot remember what I agreed to.
A personal guarantee turns a company debt into your house. Most are enforceable, but far fewer are enforceable for the amount demanded, against the person named, on the terms claimed. We establish what you actually owe before anybody negotiates it.
Dinmore Bell acts for directors and shareholders facing personal guarantee claims, establishing what was actually signed, what it secures and whether the sum demanded is right before any negotiation. It acts in a business capacity only. It does not conduct litigation; where proceedings are issued, litigators are instructed and controlled.
How we own it
What you actually signed
The instrument itself, its execution, whether it was properly witnessed, what it secures, whether it is capped, whether it survives the facility it was given for, and whether later variations discharged it. A surprising number fail on one of these.
The defences worth running
Misrepresentation, undue influence, failure to advise, non-compliance with the lender’s own process, and quantum — because the sum demanded frequently includes amounts the guarantee does not cover. We assess these on the documents before responding.
The negotiation
Most guarantee claims settle, and they settle on the strength of the first response. We own the correspondence, run the negotiation, and structure the settlement — instalments, releases, and the wording that stops the same debt returning.
Where specialists come in
We act for directors and shareholders in a business capacity. Where a guarantee sits behind a regulated consumer credit agreement, or the guarantor was not acting in the course of a business, different protections apply and we instruct specialists. We do not conduct litigation and have no rights of audience; where proceedings are issued we instruct and control litigators and counsel, hold the budget, and remain accountable for the outcome.
Sectors we run this for
Related insights
All insights →The letter before action, and what it actually buys you
Most disputes are settled by the quality of the first letter, not by the threat at the end of it.
What a fully loaded General Counsel actually costs
The comparison is not our fee against an hourly rate. It is our fee against the hire you would otherwise make.
- Can a director challenge a personal guarantee?
- Often, yes — though rarely on the basis that it is void altogether. The realistic challenges are to quantum, to whether the guarantee covers the debt now claimed, to execution and witnessing, and to whether later variations to the facility discharged it. Each is a documents question first.
- Do you act for individuals or only businesses?
- We act for directors and shareholders in a business capacity. Where a guarantee sits behind a regulated consumer credit agreement, or the guarantor was not acting in the course of a business, different protections apply and we instruct specialists rather than acting ourselves.
- What if the lender has already issued proceedings?
- We assess the position, instruct and control litigators and counsel, and hold the budget. We do not conduct litigation ourselves. Even after issue, most guarantee claims settle, and the terms are usually better where somebody has tested the quantum.