Unfortunately, every year lots of people win an employment tribunal but they never get the compensation awarded, or not all of it. If your employer is in financial difficulty or if they have stopped trading they are unlikely to pay you.
If you work for a big organisation you can be more confident that they will pay you if you win. Smaller companies are less likely to pay you. Some may declare themselves insolvent or bankrupt to avoid debts like this, and then just start trading again under a different name.
You can check if your employer has had any other cases brought against them and if they had to pay compensation on GOV.UK.
You can check the register on Companies House to see if they are insolvent (cannot pay their debts) or have a history of winding up and restarting under a new name.
If your employer was a limited company (which will usually have ‘Ltd’ as part of the company name) and have stopped trading, they might not have any money or assets to pay you with. Directors of ‘limited’ companies do not usually have to use their own money to pay the company’s debts. However, if you win a discrimination or whistleblowing claim against them as an individual, they might have to.
If your employer was a sole trader who has stopped trading and no longer has any business assets, you may be able to go to court to get a judgment to make them sell their personal assets to pay you. Be aware this would mean winning a case at tribunal and then taking another case to court. See our series that shows you how to take someone to court.
If your employer is bankrupt or in administration or liquidation (all of which mean they cannot pay the people they owe money to), you might be able to get the money from the National Insurance Fund if you win your case. The National Insurance Fund can only pay people who were employees and either UK or EEA nationals, and with certain claims, like unpaid wages or redundancy pay. Check if you would be able to claim if you won on GOV.UK. If you wouldn’t be able to make a claim to the National Insurance Fund, it is not usually worth taking a case.