OpCapita attacked over Comet collapse The chaos at Comet has been blamed on a cash squeeze at the retailer as it geared up for Christmas. Credit insurers, which protect suppliers against the risk of a retailer defaulting, pulled their support for Comet, prompting suppliers to demand cash upfront. On Thursday night insurers criticised OpCapita's handling of Comet. Euler Hermes and Atradius, two of the biggest, pulled their support for Comet at the end of last year after OpCapita bought the business from Darty. A collection of smaller insurers turned against Comet in recent weeks. "We didn't like the business plan [from OpCapita] and we didn't like the amount of money going in," said a source at one credit insurer. OpCapita declined to comment. However, sources said OpCapita had "made available" a £50m dowry from Darty to Comet, as well as investing £35m in the company and securing a £40m loan. Deloitte has been lined up as administrator to Comet - whose website was shut down on Thursday. It has already received approaches from rival retailers, including Maplin and Dixons Retail, whose shares rose 14pc to 23.53p.