The verdict in three sentences
When an agency goes into liquidation, your site keeps running until the day hosting or the domain expires, often without warning. The top priority is to recover the domain name and backups within the following 2 to 6 weeks, before thinking about a redesign. Realistic 2026 budget: EUR 800 to 2,500 excl. VAT for a takeover audit (roughly GBP 700 to 2,150), then EUR 3,000 to 12,000 excl. VAT of remediation depending on technical debt.
The eight accesses to secure in week one
The main risk is not the code but the accounts opened in the agency's name. A .co.uk or .com domain registered to the agency legally belongs to the agency, and therefore to the insolvency estate, until you obtain a transfer. The liquidator appointed by the court or creditors is your legal counterpart: write to them formally as soon as the appointment is published in The Gazette.
| Access to recover | Usual holder | 2026 procedure | Typical delay | Risk if forgotten |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain name | Agency | Liquidator's consent then registrar transfer, or Nominet dispute route for .uk | 2 to 6 weeks | Site and email cut at expiry |
| DNS zone | Agency or registrar | Export the zone, recreate at a registrar in your name | 1 to 3 days | Loss of MX, SPF, DKIM records |
| Hosting and server | Agency | Full copy of files and database before termination | 2 to 10 days | Total loss of the site |
| Backups | Agency | Retrieve the last 3 full backups | 1 to 5 days | No rollback possible |
| Theme and plugin licences | Agency account | Repurchase in your name, EUR 50 to 400 per year | 1 day | No more security updates |
| Google Analytics, Search Console, Ads | Agency as admin | Add your account as owner | 1 to 2 days | Loss of SEO and campaign history |
| Code repository (Git) | Agency account | Request via liquidator, otherwise rebuild from server | 1 to 4 weeks | Modified code lost |
| Third-party services (transactional email, CDN, captcha) | Agency | Inventory and recreate API keys | 2 to 5 days | Silent forms |
If the liquidator does not respond, registries provide routes when the registrant has disappeared or is insolvent, on proof (paid invoices, company registration, insolvency notice). Allow 2 to 6 weeks and modest registrar fees.
What a takeover costs depending on the site's condition
The takeover audit inventories the technical stack, measures the debt (outdated versions, abandoned plugins, known vulnerabilities) and prices three options: stabilise, modernise or rebuild. The ranges below are 2026 orders of magnitude for a European mid-market agency.
| Situation found | Takeover audit | Remediation | Stabilisation time | Recommended option |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up-to-date WordPress, market theme | EUR 800 to 1,200 | EUR 3,000 to 5,000 | 1 to 2 weeks | Stabilise and maintain |
| WordPress 2 years behind on updates | EUR 1,000 to 1,800 | EUR 5,000 to 8,000 | 2 to 4 weeks | Modernise |
| Undocumented custom theme | EUR 1,500 to 2,500 | EUR 6,000 to 12,000 | 3 to 6 weeks | Modernise or rebuild |
| Agency's proprietary framework | EUR 1,800 to 2,500 | Rebuild from EUR 12,000 | 6 to 10 weeks | Rebuild |
| Hacked or Google-blacklisted site | EUR 1,200 to 2,000 | EUR 4,000 to 9,000 | 1 to 3 weeks | Clean then modernise |
| Source code missing | EUR 800 to 1,500 | Rebuild EUR 8,000 to 20,000 | 6 to 12 weeks | Rebuild |
Filing a claim with the liquidator is worthwhile if you prepaid undelivered work, but unsecured creditors in a liquidation rarely recover more than 5 to 10 % of their claim. Do not build your budget on that refund.
Making sure it never happens again
Your next contract should register the domain in your company's name, give you admin access to hosting, require the code to live in a Git repository you own, and include a reversibility clause with handover of access within 10 days. A shared password vault (about EUR 4 per user per month) is enough to stay in control.
Mini case study
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Emma, managing director of a 35-person commercial kitchen equipment supplier in Croydon, learns from The Gazette that her agency is in liquidation. Domain, hosting and Search Console are in the agency's name, and the domain expires in 7 weeks. She orders a takeover audit at EUR 1,400 excl. VAT, gets the liquidator's consent in 3 weeks, migrates the WordPress site (18 months behind on updates) and repurchases 3 plugin licences for EUR 280 a year. Remediation: EUR 5,600 excl. VAT. Total first year: about EUR 7,300 excl. VAT. Her site generates 25 quote requests a month with an average order of EUR 4,000 and a 15 % conversion rate: a 2 month outage would have put roughly EUR 30,000 of revenue at risk.
FAQ
Do I own the domain if I paid the agency?
Not automatically: the registrant listed in WHOIS is the legal owner. Paid invoices serve as evidence to obtain the transfer, in 2 to 6 weeks via the liquidator or the registry.
Can I copy the site from the server without the liquidator's consent?
If you hold legitimate access, backing up your own content and data is prudent. For agency-developed code, rights assignment depends on the contract: have a lawyer confirm, roughly EUR 200 to 500 for a consultation.
How long does the site stay online after liquidation?
Until hosting or the domain expires, anywhere from a few days to 12 months. Check the expiry date in WHOIS on day one.
Do I need to rebuild the site entirely?
In about 60 % of takeovers, stabilisation at EUR 3,000 to 8,000 excl. VAT is enough for 2 to 3 years. A rebuild is only necessary if the code is missing or locked in a proprietary framework.
What should I ask the new agency for?
A written audit with an access inventory, a 30 day takeover plan and maintenance at EUR 80 to 300 excl. VAT per month with daily off-site backups.
Let's scope your project. Send us your site URL and what you know about the logins: we run the takeover audit, secure the domain and backups, then price the remediation, with an indicative budget of EUR 3,000 to 12,000 excl. VAT and stabilisation in 2 to 6 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
