The administration of a former claims firm has finally been confirmed more than six weeks after it gave notice of closure.

SSB Group Limited, which traded as SSB Law, was placed into administration on 4 January, with insolvency firm FRP Advisory appointed to handle its affairs.

The Sheffield law group had issued a statement in November saying it was seeking to put the business into administration, saying it had suffered ‘ongoing financial challenges’ and was being marketed to secure fresh investment.

A statement of the company’s affairs will be published in due course. Questions remain about the finances of the firm and monies borrowed to fund cavity wall claims.

It is understood that the Solicitors Regulation Authority sent forensic investigators into the firm in October, although there is no suggestion that any misconduct was found. The Gazette has previously reported that a complaint was made to the regulator several months earlier over an alleged non-payment of a debt.

According to annual accounts published last year, SSB Group took out loans worth £30m in 2021/22 after taking on files from the collapse of Pure Legal Group. In total, the amount owed to creditors within a year had leapt from £2.46m to more than £48m.

The closure of SSB resulted in almost 200 jobs being lost, although it has been reported that these redundancies were not confirmed until last week, leaving staff in limbo over the Christmas period.

The Sheffield Star quoted FRP as saying that it has secured the transition of all live case work to new providers. A core team will stay on to support ‘an orderly wind down’ over the next few months.

Since details of the firm’s difficulties have emerged, a growing number of people purporting to be former clients have reported that they face adverse costs orders after cavity wall claims have collapsed. Notices of enforcement have been issued and threats of bailiff visits made, according to clients who have posted details of their cases on online forums.

 

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