Rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio has been declared bankrupt as individual voluntary arrangement fails. Photo / Photosport
Rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio has been declared bankrupt as individual voluntary arrangement fails. Photo / Photosport
Lawrence Dallaglio has been declared bankrupt, it can be revealed.
Telegraph Sport has been told that a bankruptcy order was made against the Rugby World Cup-winning forward on May 8.
That was two days after the prospect of such an order being issued against Dallaglio was raised during an Insolvencyand Companies Court (ICC) hearing.
Dallaglio averted financial ruin two years ago by agreeing to pay off debts that included £700,000 ($1.6m) in unpaid tax.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport, the ICC hearing had been triggered by an application to the court by Dallaglio’s estranged wife, Alice, for an “urgent” order allowing the immediate £2.7m sale of the former couple’s Richmond home.
The 52-year-old was previously the subject of a bankruptcy petition by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which it withdrew in September 2023 after saying he had reached an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) – a binding agreement to pay off his debts.
That IVA is now listed on the Individual Insolvency Register as having “failed” last Tuesday.
Dallaglio’s financial plight has been well-documented in recent years.
As well as narrowly averting being made bankrupt in 2023, his company, Lawrence Dallaglio Limited, previously faced a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill.
He opted to liquidate the company, since when a report into its financial affairs for the year ending October 2024 stated he was still being chased for hundreds of thousands of pounds loaned to the firm.
Lawrence Dallaglio: 'I think one has a responsibility to ensure that the taxman does not get everything.' Photo / Brett Phibbs
Dallaglio is not the only former England star – nor member of their 2003 World Cup winning team – to face financial ruin.
Phil Vickery had a request to be made bankrupt granted in February last year after reportedly racking up debts to HMRC and others totalling six figures.
Telegraph Sport revealed in March that a bankruptcy petition against Ugo Monye had been withdrawn after HMRC said it was unable to find him to serve it.
Upon announcing his retirement from rugby in 2008, Dallaglio told the Financial Times: “I think one has a responsibility to ensure that the taxman does not get everything.”
The May 6 hearing before Deputy ICC Judge Stephen Baister centred on an urgent application lodged four days earlier by Alice Dallaglio for an order allowing the immediate sale of the home she shared with her husband for almost a quarter of a century.
She was represented at the hearing by Craig Parrett, a director at Isadore Goldman specialising in personal and corporate insolvency.
Parrett told the court: “The completion of the property’s set for tomorrow and all the parties are keen to ensure that completion can proceed for the benefit of the first respondent’s [Dallaglio’s] creditors.”
Parrett said the sale price of the property was “about £2.7 million” but that equity in the home was only “around £1.2 million”.
The sale price appeared to reflect the urgency of cashing in on a property which had been put on the market last year for £3.3m, more than three times its 2001 purchase cost.
Parrett told Judge Baister on Tuesday that the conveyancing solicitors acting on the sale of the Dallaglio family home had “agreed to hold the net sale proceeds”.
He added: “If a bankruptcy order is made, the net sale proceeds will be provided to a trustee. If the bankruptcy order is not made, they’ll be provided to the IVA supervisor.”
Judge Baister told Parrett he would prioritise the application pending minor modifications.
Telegraph Sport has been told the order was subsequently granted.
Dallaglio, who was filming with TNT Sports that day, was represented at the hearing by executive assistant Anna Bathurst, who spoke only to convey his apologies for being unable to attend “due to work”.
The Dallaglios are currently going through divorce proceedings after deciding to end their 20-year marriage. They have three children together: Enzo, Ella and Josie.
Dallaglio stepped down as England captain in 1999 shortly after allegations emerged that he had used hard drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, while celebrating the Lions’ victory in South Africa two years earlier.
He denied the allegations, insisting the newspaper that reported the claims had been involved in an “elaborate set-up”.
