Crowell & Moring’s London Restructuring and Insolvency team has been appointed by Kroll Advisory in the administration of Woodville Consultants Limited (trading as Woodville Litigation Funding), a motor finance litigation funder with an estimated £330m loan book and more than 300,000 claims under its belt. The team first acted for a group of investors in successfully securing a contested administration order from the High Court and has since been retained by Kroll to assist in the wider administration process.
Woodville’s collapse follows investor allegations of widespread fraud and misapplication of investor funds and suspicions that the investment scheme was operated as a Ponzi scheme. The administrators are in the process of reviewing and investigating the company’s books and affairs and if such claims are substantiated, the Woodville investment scheme could turn out to be one of the largest investment frauds in UK history.
Paul Muscutt, Crowell & Moring restructuring and insolvency partner, toldThe Timeshe believed “the Woodville investment scheme was fundamentally flawed from the outset.” He alleged there was no clear basis for it to “promise quarterly returns at high interest levels when the source of income to meet those returns’’ was repayments from law firms pursuing claims such as car finance, which are inherently uncertain in “quantum and timing”.
Press Coverage Highlights
Law Gazette: This Woodville scandal is going to be huge (August 24, 2026)
Woodville Consultants Limited entered administration on 16 July this year. Initial investigations by administrator Kroll and transatlantic law firm Crowell & Moring found that ‘the books and records reviewed to date appear unsatisfactory for a business of the company’s size and are in a state of disarray’. The business is estimated to have raised more than £390 million.
Car Dealer Magazine: Investigation exposes how collapsed car finance litigation funder raised more than £300m – Car Dealer Magazine (August 20, 2026)
Paul Muscutt, partner at Crowell & Moring, a law firm working with Kroll, said he believed ‘the Woodville investment scheme was fundamentally flawed from the outset’. He questioned the basis on which it could ‘promise quarterly returns at high interest levels’ when the money needed to generate those returns depended on repayments from law firms pursuing claims such as car finance cases, which were uncertain in both value and timing. He added: ‘There are concerns the viability of Woodville investments was compromised by the deductions from investors’ capital of sums used to pay for high commissions.
The Times: How car finance litigation firm Woodville collapsed (August 17, 2026)
Paul Muscutt, partner at Crowell & Moring, a law firm working with Kroll on the case, said he believed “the Woodville investment scheme was fundamentally flawed from the outset.” He alleged there was no clear basis for it to “promise quarterly returns at high interest levels when the source of income to meet those returns’’ was repayments from law firms pursuing claims such as car finance, which are inherently uncertain in “quantum and timing”.
The Times: Regulator ‘looking closely’ at role of banks in loan note scandal (August 16, 2026)
Paul Muscutt, partner at Crowell & Moring, which is advising administrators from Kroll on litigation related to 79th Group, said: “In loan notes, we are seeing some of the biggest alleged Ponzi schemes in UK history. Collectively, they add up to billions of pounds of investors’ money at risk.
“Given that, the receiving banks have serious questions to answer. The higher the volume and amount of transactions in and out of the account — especially where transfers do not appear to have an obvious [legitimate] purpose — the higher the monitoring and compliance thresholds should be if banks are to avoid criticism and potential liability for facilitating these unlawful schemes.”
Insolvency Insider UK: Woodville Litigation Funding enters administration with £249 million loan book (July 26, 2026)
Crowell & Moring, which acted for the investor group that obtained the administration order, has been retained by Kroll to assist with the insolvency, engagement with the FCA and recovery of amounts advanced to law firms.
Automotive Management Online: Car finance claims funder collapses as redress delays bite (July 24, 2026)
The London office of law firm Crowell & Moring, which represents investors, secured the contested order from the High Court. It has now been instructed by Kroll to support the administration.
Paul Muscutt, restructuring and insolvency partner at Crowell & Moring, told Legal Futures that the FCA process meant the claims were “effectively on hold” and Woodville was therefore unable to achieve repayments from law firms.
Finance Connect: Motor finance litigation funder collapses (July 24, 2026)
The London restructuring and insolvency team from law firm Crowell & Moring has been instructed by Kroll to assist in the bankruptcy, liaise with the Financial Conduct Authority, and aid the recovery process from UK law firms.
Legal Futures: Pressure on law firms as car finance litigation funder goes down (July 23, 2026)
The London office of US law firm Crowell & Moring, which represents investors, secured the contested order from the High Court. It has now been instructed by Kroll to support the administration.
Paul Muscutt, restructuring and insolvency partner, said initial investigations indicated that the administration would affect “possibly six law firms” but “the amount of claims taken on is under review”.
Mr Muscutt said they would be working with the law firms “to assess the status of the loan book portfolio, the progress of the law firms generally and to take actions, where appropriate, to preserve the underlying consumer claims to maximise realisations and repayment to Woodville”.
The first priority of the administration was to see if the business could be rescued and to preserve the loan book and maximise recoveries for investors.
“We will also be looking at the conduct of the directors, associated parties and the introducers who are suspected of wrongdoing and misapplication of investor funds,” he added.
Mr Muscutt said the fundamental flaw with Woodville’s model was that the loan notes “obligated Woodville to pay fixed quarterly returns with fixed repayment dates without reference to recoveries being achieved on the underlying consumer claims.
“It is highly questionable how this was ever workable from the outset when the timescales to realise consumer claims were uncertain in time and quantum and many claims dependent on a number of factors including court timetables, the consumer’s eligibility and disputes as to financial loss on the part of the consumer.”
The Financial Conduct Authority’s work to introduce a motor finance redress scheme, now suspended pending the ongoing legal challenges to it, meant the claims were “effectively on hold” and so Woodville was “unable to achieve repayments from the law firms”.
Mr Muscutt said: “It is currently unclear how Woodville has funded quarterly returns and redemptions to loan note holders in the period leading up to the administration and this is currently being investigated.”
He added that Fenchurch Legal, which entered administration in April this year and on which Crowell & Moring is also instructed, operated a similar model.
The Law Society Gazette: Motor finance claims litigation funder with 300,000 cases under its belt appoints administrators after court action (July 22, 2026)
The London restructuring and insolvency team from law firm Crowell & Moring has been instructed by Kroll to assist in the bankruptcy, liaise with the Financial Conduct Authority, and aid the recovery process from UK law firms.
Law360: Woodville Forced Into Administration As Finance Claims Frozen (July 21, 2026)
Litigation funder Woodville Consultants Ltd. has been forced into administration amid a freeze in the motor finance complaints it had been backing, Crowell & Moring LLP said Tuesday.
A group of investors represented by the firm’s London restructuring and insolvency team secured a contested administration order on Thursday in the High Court, where a judge appointed Kroll Advisory’s Robert Goodhew and Andrew Stoneman as joint administrators of Woodville.
Woodville, whose registered office is in Pontypridd, Wales, funded law firms pursuing consumer claims over what they said were undisclosed commissions on motor finance loans.
Crowell represented a group of investors who had invested in Woodville loan notes that later defaulted. The investors argued that the Financial Conduct Authority’s pause to the motor finance complaints process prevented the underlying law firms from progressing claims and recovering funds that would have been used to repay Woodville. The case also involves allegations of fraud against Woodville’s directors and others involved in the sale of the loan notes.
Paul Muscutt, partner at Crowell & Moring, told Law360 on Tuesday that litigation funds set up to fund consumer claims carry significant risk, especially in cases like Woodville’s, where investors into the fund are promised fixed quarterly returns.
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Crowell’s London restructuring and insolvency team has been instructed by Kroll Advisory to assist with the insolvency, including advising on claims, liaising with the FCA and supporting the recovery of funds from U.K. law firms.
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Crowell & Moring acted for a group of investors in Woodville’s loan notes and has now been instructed by Kroll to support the administration. The team was led by Muscutt and Cathryn Williams, and also included counsel Philippa Lai and Bethany Warner, associate Aisha Zulfiqar, and trainee solicitor Phoebe Kinsman.
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