Options Skills FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions page

As you may be aware, Options Skills Ltd was placed into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation on 9 April 2024. Craig Povey and Mark Malone of Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP were appointed as Joint Liquidators on the same date. The Company ceased to trade prior to this date on 17 March 2024.

What’s happening with my course? If I have an exam coming up, should I still attend?

The Company ceased to trade on 17 March 2024 and is consequently unable to fulfil your course.

The Company will be unable to conduct any upcoming exams.  We would advise that if you have an exam scheduled, do not attend and contact your awarding body (EAL for electrical students, and LCL for gas students) regarding alternative education providers. Contact details for each awarding body are detailed further below.

EAL / LCL and new education providers

For further information relating specifically to your qualifications, portfolio, and steps required to continue with your qualification, please contact the awarding body relevant to your course (EAL or LCL) who may be able to assist in providing details of your current position in respect of your qualifications, as well as appropriate organisations to continue your studies with.

Each awarding body has provided further guidance and support, as well as their own Frequently Asked Questions, on each of their own dedicated Options Skills areas of their websites. For electrical students, the EAL website can be accessed here. For gas students, the LCL website can be accessed here.

Please note that it is not the role of the awarding bodies or any new/ alternative education provider to recompense you for the funds you are owed following Options Skills Ltd entering liquidation. Please see below regarding the potential recovery of any monies owed to you by the Company. You will need to discuss any further fees applicable in completing your education/ qualification with any new education provider that you choose.

Contact details for EAL (for electrical students):

Website: https://eal.org.uk/news/faqs-for-learners-registered-for-eal-qualifications-by-options-skills-ltd

Further support can be requested from EAL by completing the form provided by EAL on their above website

Contact details for LCL (for gas students):

Website: https://lclawards.co.uk/options_skills  

Telephone: 020 8839 2439

Email: [email protected]

Can I have access to my online portfolio data and/or work?

You should still be able to login to the My Options Skills student portal as usual using the login details previously provided to you by the Company (https://my.options-skills.co.uk/wp-login.php). We understand that for some courses, certain student and portfolio data may be accessed on this website. If this is something that you have used on your course, please review, download and save any work and data that you may require as soon as possible.

Can I get my personal belongings/ portfolio work/ certificates from site?

We are currently liaising with the landlords of the four premises from which the Company operated, as well as EAL and LCL, the two awarding bodies, to facilitate the return of any physical portfolio work and other exam related material held at the Company’s premises. We will provide an update as soon as we are able to. Please do not chase the liquidators, as this may delay the process.

Can I recover the money I have paid?

If you paid by credit card:

If the amount paid is less than £100, you may be able to initiate a chargeback process with the credit card provider, however, there is no guarantee that monies will be recovered with this process. If you paid over £100, a claim can be made pursuant to Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act (“Section 75”). Section 75 is legal protection for UK consumers whereby the lender (in this case, the credit card provider) is jointly liable with the retailer for monies owed. Claims brought under Section 75 must be made within 6 years of the date of payment, or in the case of non-receipt of goods, within 6 years of the date that goods should have been received. Please contact your bank or financial institution directly to explore what options may be available to you in this regard. Further information including on time limits that apply is available from https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/our-expertise/cards/chargeback-and-section-75.

If you paid by debit card:

You may be able to contact your debit card provider with a view to making a chargeback claim for the effective sums outstanding. However, this will differ between organisations and will be subject to the date of the payment, and the individual procedures, policies and insurance of your bank or financial institution. Please contact your bank or financial institution directly to explore what options may be available to you in this regard. Further information including on time limits that apply is available from https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/our-expertise/cards/chargeback-and-section-75.

If you paid by PayPal:

If you paid via PayPal, we understand that you have 180 days from the date of payment to open a dispute. We would advise that you should open a dispute with PayPal directly, and as soon as reasonably possible.

If you paid by finance:

Snap Finance

If you paid for your course via a regulated finance agreement with Snap Finance, please contact Snap Finance directly regarding the options available to you under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Snap Finance can be contacted at [email protected] or on 03300 109381.

Knoma

We understand that Knoma provided some students with an unregulated loan to finance their course. As the loans are unregulated, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 does not apply.  Should students have any specific queries regarding their loan agreement with Knoma, please contact [email protected] to discuss with Knoma directly.

What should I do if I cannot recover my money from my bank, financial institution, or payment processor?

If you are unable to recover your monies from the above, you will need to submit a proof of debt claim in the liquidation (if you have not done so already). All claims of this nature will rank as an unsecured claim in the liquidation. Unfortunately, we do not anticipate that there will be enough funds available to enable a payment to be made to unsecured creditors, however, if this should change its important that you have submitted a proof of debt claim.

What is an unsecured creditor?

The order in which creditors are ranked in an insolvent liquidation, is set out in the Insolvency Act 1986. An unsecured creditor is the lowest ranking creditor in the order of priority and payment will only be achieved if all other creditors, who rank before unsecured creditors in the order of priority, are discharged in full, along with costs of the liquidation. Please refer to the following article for further information regarding the order of payments in a liquidation: https://www.begbies-traynorgroup.com/articles/insolvency/who-gets-paid-first-when-a-company-goes-into-liquidation

Finally, please refrain from phoning the offices of Begbies Traynor where possible as unfortunately we are unable to add anything further at present. We will look to provide further updates in due course. If you have any further queries regarding the liquidation of the Company, please contact our designated case email address, [email protected].

For and on behalf of Options Skills Ltd (in Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)