David
His business failed on a Tuesday. Nine days later the bank demanded £340,000 under a guarantee he'd signed years earlier without reading past the first page.
Fourteen months of judgments and orders later, his family home was sold from under him.
No structure. Everything exposed.
Michael
His business failed too. The same letter arrived. But quietly, and entirely legally, he had already put a structure in place. When the bank's advisers opened his file, they found everything positioned, papered, and protected.
The bank ran the numbers and recommended settlement. He paid a sum he could survive, kept his home, and was trading again within two years.
Structured. Negotiated from strength.