Revealed: United Warranties’ giant debt pool

A clearer picture is now emerging of the mountains of debt generated by collapsed warranty provider United Warranties.

After last week revealing to CRN the failed company had no money to pay back its customers or partners, liquidator Grant Thornton has found a list of over 500 unsecured claimants owed a combined $1.7 million for United Warranties alone, as well as a separate $5.7 million bill from the National Australia Bank.

The liquidator is still making its way through a list of over 100 combined claims for the group’s other two arms, United Maintenance and United Electrical Holding.

The monetary claims for those companies will be made public in the coming weeks.

Claims to United Warranties have poured in from unsecured creditors including the likes of Telstra, Qantas, Corporate Express, Myer, as well the Australian arms of international corporations including Synnex, Samsung, Ingram Micro, IBM and LG - not to mention a legion of smaller retailers.

Reimbursement claims range from as little as $47 to $212,000 from the Australia Tax Office.

But those parties are unlikely to ever see their money.

NAB, the only secured creditor, is expected to see its $5.7 million loan repaid in full.

United Warranties is estimated to have around $16.2 million in assets, with only around $1.4m likely to be realised. The bill for the group’s combined 120 employees is still under investigation. 

The company, its creditors and liquidators are meeting today to discuss a voluntary winding up of the group. 

Speculation first arose the company was in financial difficulty in early June when partners and customers were unable to contact the warranty provider.

The group officially went into liquidation last week after weeks of being missing in action. 

United Warranties commenced local trading in 1996 and later established a presence in New Zealand.