County Court claims

[treebloke]

They have left a bunded diesel tank on site Robbo, but im not sure if its theirs or sub contractors. Is it legal to enter a fenced off site to lay claim to things or would that be classed as breaking and entering?

Cant see it belonging to contractors as work was suspended on site a long time ago

 

After reading all the post's on this thread so far I would say that due to the serious nature of this guy,s predicament unless you have have experience or knowledge then say nothing, many of the comments are flippant and will not solve the problem but create an opposite situation and when you are sitting in front of the magistrate in the small claims court trying to defend your case you will be taken to task by the defendant or his legal advisors.

 

I have been to small claims court several times and fortunately won each time, unfortunetly even though I have been awarded judement, on three occaisions I have not been paid because the defendants do not have any money or posessions or they have them and know how to work the system.

 

My advice for what it's worth would be to firstly satisfy yourself that if you take them to court and you win they have the funds or assets to pay you, items they have such as vans on lease or tools/plant on hire are worth nothing. You may be throwing good money after bad.

 

I have never used a solicitor and always defended myslef but I have spent a lot of time making sure I got things right and in this instance it looks like you have the law on your side. Having said that there are ways to go about things and this is expalined in the leaflets provided by the court, what I would say is read them, then read them again, then the following day read them again.

 

Look on the companies house web site and see what info you can find about them, how long have they been trading, is their reg office their trading address, what is their turnover, is it consistent with previous years.

 

How far are they away from you, go round one morning and see if the vans or trucks are going out the yard so you know if they are still working then go and see whoever gave you the job and have a word politely. Do not take anything or be agressive until you know they have no money or assets. Once you do this you can forget the small claims court.

[robbo 110]

treebloke, i understand what your saying,

however, company house will charge a subscription, to confirm the obvious, the company has no money... that is if they have even filed their accounts.

 

small claims.. you have won three times, but not been paid?? judgement is meaningless to a skint company or person!!

[treebloke]

treebloke, i understand what your saying,

however, company house will charge a subscription, to confirm the obvious, the company has no money... that is if they have even filed their accounts.

 

small claims.. you have won three times, but not been paid?? judgement is meaningless to a skint company or person!!

 

Your right about companies house but he needs to know whether to pursue a claim or not and this is just part of information gathering.

 

One of the three who did not pay me was being taken to court by another two companies for carpets and blinds at the same time.

 

Two of the three are individuals, one had a letter from his sister saying everything in his house belonged to her so the bailiffs could not take a thing, the second did pretty much the same but in court, she was ordered to pay a £800 bill @ £5 a week, she never paid a penny, the third simply did not have any money.

Edited April 6, 2011 by treebloke

[Stu3k]

Don't know if fully legal , but in the 80's(for my sins), i got paid to dress up in a pink bunny suit and follow company MD's etc ,about or picket meetings or their offices with a sign round my neck , Saying "Person in front wont pay their bills"

It certainly worked, esp saturday morning at the Golf Club

[Quickthorn]

 

Two of the three are individuals, one had a letter from his sister saying everything in his house belonged to her so the bailiffs could not take a thing, the second did pretty much the same but in court, she was ordered to pay a £800 bill @ £5 a week, she never paid a penny, the third simply did not have any money.

 

Out of interest, were any of these 3 employed, and if so, did you consider an attachment of earnings order?

[treebloke]

Out of interest, were any of these 3 employed, and if so, did you consider an attachment of earnings order?

 

The first was self employed and I almost ended up with his JCB but it didn't quite happen, the second is a supply teacher and she say's she has to look after her neice and nephew which I believe is a lie, the third did have a job but lost it.

 

The second one is very clever, she never turned up for any of the court appearances which made the proceedings drag on and subsequently I was awarded judgement, then when the bailiffs went round she would not be in or she would be in but would not open the door, in the end the court made her disclouse her means which is when she lied about her niece and nephew which the court believed without any proof. This is when the course of action has to stoop to self gratitude, the law has run it's course and failed which is then time for some of the earlier comments about cow muck and guys who do stuff for a few pints etc to come into play.

Edited April 7, 2011 by treebloke

[felixthelogchopper]

Yes they have 7days to inform you if they plan to hold back payment if they are not happy with the work. They had confirmed verbally they were happy with everything and like you say the fact that they accepted the invoice without contesting it backs that up. However i cant help but worry that there may be some loophole they can use to get out of paying as im new to all this and im sure their accounts dept have dealt with this many times.Makes me think they must know something i dont to risk taking it to court.Maybe the solicitors will be the only ones to gain from this:confused1:

 

I would strongly advise checking your T&Cs against theirs. You will need to prove that in any negotiations that your T&Cs were to prevail and so your payment terms to be applied, ie payment within x days. You may end up with their solicitor trying to develop a 'battle of the forms' argument, as in Butler Machine Tool Co Ltd, so you will have to prove that your contract terms are to be applied. I wish you every success in getting what is rightfully yours

[felixthelogchopper]

Don't know if fully legal , but in the 80's(for my sins), i got paid to dress up in a pink bunny suit and follow company MD's etc ,about or picket meetings or their offices with a sign round my neck , Saying "Person in front wont pay their bills"

It certainly worked, esp saturday morning at the Golf Club

 

That is absolutely brilliant, as long as it is in a public place and provable

[mr kipling]

Hi, I was owed £3000.00 and took this to a small claims court won but did not receive a penny i also sent bailiff round but they would not take stereo computer etc unless i payed the storage till sold i got an attachment of earnings order she was earning 650 pcm and her employers were to pay anything over 450 to a company to pass to myself they ignored that and were fined by the court which the court kept the proceeds she then dropped her earnings to 450 so i still didnt get a penny she was renting and when she moved the court said i had to trace her without harassing her to start the process all over again. In my opinion unless they own a house dont bother it cost me 300 pounds and a lot of stress to get nothing if somebody wants to play the system you cant win as it favours the bad payer.

 

I also once sued someone who owed me 15000 pounds to much for the small claims court they counter sued we got in an expert witness cost 700 who said that the job was fair for the price agreed but there was a couple of small faults in the end it cost me 3000 legal fees and i was advised to drop it and the guy suing me would do the same in the end the solicitors were the ones to make the cash .

 

Someone mentioned muckspreading wish i had the balls for that satifaction guarenteed

 

Chris

[Quickthorn]

i also sent bailiff round but they would not take stereo computer etc unless i payed the storage till sold

 

Sorry to hear all that.

 

What was the problem with paying the storage till sold - was that more than the value of the goods or something?

 

I think I'd have gone down that route as a last resort, even if it raised no money, simply to deprive her of her stuff.