I posted this in Chat but it's been subsumed by the welter of other posts and I could do with some feedback (thanks to those who did on Chat).
Briefly.
My mother lives on a private road where all residents pay into a residents assoc which is a private limited company.
Last chair person moved away from his family having got new woman - around 2 years ago. He's been managing it from afar but a new chair was elected in Autumn and has been trying to get cheque books, statements, in fact everything out of the old chairman. He won't communicate and is being 'slippery'. When asked for a meeting, he never turned up and just left a bit of bank stuff on the new chair's door step - not including the cheque books. My father had to pay for some road maintenence himself before Christmas as there was no access to the money. Old chair's ex and kids have now moved out of the road.
The previous chair is a nice enough man, and its hard to believe anything 'fishy' but why all the evasion. He's contacted the new chair to say that £400 is owing (apparantly for servicing the sewer pump) but how he expects it to be paid when there is no cheque books we don't know.
I've looked on the companies house website and the plc is registered c/o some accountant who is local but who no one has heard of and who has never attended the meetings.
Everyone's direct debits are going into the bank account but no one with any knowledge of what's happening to that money. My father has since died but my mother has obviously not received reimbursement of the money paid out for the road maintenance.
Can anyone advise on the best course of action. Barclays are refusing to change the bank details unless the new chair, the old chair and my father (he was a counter signatory) are all there - obviously a bit difficult. The old chair is being very evasive about this.
What to do? Police? Companies house? Open whole new bank acocunt? Any suggestions gratefully received.