Gary, are you sure the fee was not dependent on a sucessful outcome? That is the normal structure.
I would not go near an IP that demands a large up-front fee up whatever the outcome. If the creditors meeting fails you have lost £1300 at the first hurdle. And it does happen. There are a number of unscrupulous companies that feed off cases where they know there is little chance of the success yet go ahead anyway to pocket the initial fees. Shame on them.