Lawrence Dallaglio's estranged wife in late bid to save him from bankruptcy by selling £2.7m home
Lawrence Dallaglio's estranged wife in late bid to save him from bankruptcy by selling £2.7m home
Lawrence Dallaglio is the latest former rugby player to struggle with financial issues - Getty Images/David Rogers
Lawrence Dallaglio's estranged wife has gone to court to obtain an 'urgent' order in a bid to stop him being made bankrupt.
Telegraph Sport can reveal that Alice Dallaglio applied to the High Court for a 'validation order' that would allow the immediate £2.7 million sale of the former couple's Richmond home. She is said to have done so in the hope of staving off the imminent threat of Rugby World Cup-winning forward Dallalgio being forced into bankruptcy.
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The prospect of a 'bankruptcy order' being made against Dallaglio – who averted financial ruin two years ago by agreeing to pay off debts that included £700,000 in unpaid tax – was raised during an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing on Tuesday.
The proceedings before Deputy ICC Judge Stephen Baister centred on an urgent application lodged on Friday 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 £2.7m' but that equity in the home was only 'around £1.2m'.
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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.
Dallaglio has previously been the subject of a bankruptcy petition by HM Revenue & Customs, which it withdrew in September 2023 after saying he had reached an 'individual voluntary arrangement' (IVA) – a binding agreement to pay off his debts.
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.'
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Judge Baister told Parrett he would prioritise the application pending minor modifications. He said: 'Get it in quickly enough. I'm sitting in the afternoon and I'll certainly get it done.'
Telegraph Sport has been told the order was subsequently granted.
The 52-year-old, who was filming with TNT Sports on Tuesday, 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'.
Telegraph Sport has been told 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.
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Dallaglio's financial plight has been well-documented in recent years. As well as narrowly averting being made bankrupt, his company, Lawrence Dallaglio Limited, previously faced a winding-up petition from HMRC 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 that he was still being chased for hundreds of thousands of pounds loaned to the firm.
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.
Meanwhile, 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.
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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.'
Dallaglio stepped down as England captain in 1999 shortly after allegations emerged that he had used hard drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, while celebrating British 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'.
In March 2020, a court was told a credit card belonging to Dallaglio was used to make payments of £10,000 in a brothel.
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He was also interviewed under caution by police in the presence of a solicitor as part of an investigation into a gang said to be running a high class prostitution racket and selling cocaine.
He was not arrested nor required to give evidence at a six-week trial at Wood Green Crown Court, North London. No further action was taken against him. It was never established what his money was spent on.
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