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Original poster

This man owes my poor DH over £8000, how can we get it off him without knee-capping?

32 replies

AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 19:38

Long story, but basically this man \link{http://www.ethnikcity.com/here} employed my dh in 2001 as his web designer. He designed most of this site, and never got paid. After an employment tribunal, the man (don't want to mention his name but he's the one with Tony Blair) was ordered to pay us the £8215 we were owed, but he ignored all requests, never showed up and disappeared. Now this has appeared with dh's work on it, and I'm sure he is going to rip more people off (we have met another man that lost a lot more than we did). What shall we do?? I don't want antone else to be conned like we were. You'd think that with TB in the pic etc he would be reliable.. how wrong can you be?

OP posts:
foxinsocks · 17/08/2006 19:41

have you had legal advice?

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 19:41

god i want to kill him.. wish he knew how much debt he put us in. just ignore me, i'm happy to wallow in a pool of hatred for him

OP posts:
nicnack2 · 17/08/2006 19:42

get a solictor. copyright may come into it. claims court etc

Carmenere · 17/08/2006 19:43

I'd go with the knee-capping option personally.

foxinsocks · 17/08/2006 19:44

I would first go for legal advice but if you were totally desperate for the money, you could employ a debt recovery agency but they will charge you (probably a % commission of the debt).

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 19:47

ooooh sounds good. He was ordered to pay us.. the last time he traded under this name the company was struck off. Wish I'd taken the offers of kneecapping years ago

OP posts:
Panyanpickle77 · 17/08/2006 19:48

Couldn't your husband hack the site, and stop it from working? Hold the bugger to ransom!

acnebride · 17/08/2006 19:52

so sorry to hear this alliebongo.

so, his previous company based Bury st E having been dissolved in 2003 - thereby presumably leaving you with nowhere to go - he's now i guess operating from here?
ETHNIKCITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE LIMITED
SUITE1, 3RD FLOOR, 21 RUTLAND
STREET, LEICESTER
LEICESTERSHIRE
LE1 1RB
Company No. 05543943 (from Companies House)
(I assume you know this already)

I'm interested in the name 'development initiative' although it's actually a private limited company. I wonder if he's attempting to get any form of public funding. If I were you I would get onto the local councillor for that area and also the local Trading Standards. Again I assume you probably already have.

If you think copyright might be an issue, my husband is a lawyer in a related field and would happily give a little free advice (although tbh he would probably mainly refer you to a copyright specialist). cat me if so.

CountTo10 · 17/08/2006 19:52

Is this the kind of amount you can lodge a court order for so you could send bailiffs round etc to seize goods/money or get a ccj registered against him to force him into submission??? what an a*hole!!!!

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 19:57

Thanks so much for all your help. We did consider the CCJ but he disappeared from the area. It just brings it all back again. He is so convincing, you just believe he is honest. Will mention this to dh. acnebridge, I'll cat you if that's ok

OP posts:
VeniVidiVickiQV · 17/08/2006 20:01

Oh arse Allie. That sucks.

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 20:02

yeah, he's a cock. What could I do with £8k.. so very much

OP posts:
VeniVidiVickiQV · 17/08/2006 20:18

Ooooh me too

Mirage · 17/08/2006 20:40

He is just down the road from me.Do you want me to pay him a visit?

Seriously,if there is anything I can do to help,let me know.I think if it was me,I'd have done something horrible to the guy by now.

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 20:42

thanks Mirage. The thing that stopped us was his kids. Imagine daddy coming home with 2 broken legs covered in bruises.. I believe in karma (sp?) earl hickey style. although, you could go crap on his door step for me

OP posts:
Cam · 17/08/2006 20:44

You should pursue it through the courts, he will get a judgment against him whether he turns up or not, a CCJ will prevent him from getting credit in the furture among other things.

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 20:45

i think we'll go back to the CAB and investigate.
You all rock. thanks pals

OP posts:
CountTo10 · 17/08/2006 20:53

The CCj is a point because that will go on his official business records so whenever future customers/suppliers run a credit/business check on him it will come up and suggest he's not worth doing business with him - hit him where it hurts!!!

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 21:00

right, i'm gonna sort it out. thanks ladies

OP posts:
Cam · 17/08/2006 21:53

Good luck, Allie, and don't forget that interest is payable from the date the money was owed, so you can legally add that to the amount owed in total (think its about 8%)and it will keep on accruing until the debt is paid.

Think of this as a return on an investment.

First step: fire off a demand for the money to the man at the address someone has given you below. The court will need to see that you have demanded the money in writing. Keep a copy and give him only 14 days to pay from the date of the letter, stating that court action will follow if the money is not received, and that in you will be adding on interest at 8%

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 22:07

oooh fantastic. Thanks cam. he owes us at least a fortune in interest over the last 5 yrs

OP posts:
Cam · 17/08/2006 22:10

Move fast, AllieBongo, there is a Statute of Limitations of 6 years on contracts, which menas you have to start the court action within 6 years of the money being owed.

Original poster
AllieBongo · 17/08/2006 22:27

will keep u updated thanks again

OP posts:
fistfullofbanners · 17/08/2006 23:17

If you get to the stage of employing a bailiff, do the detective work yourself to find out what assets hes got that the bailiff can legally take. Dont rely on the bailiffs to do this work for you, apparently if you want the job done properly its best to do it yourself, and merely take the bailiffs along to get the stuff so that you dont break any laws.

littlemissbossy · 17/08/2006 23:26

Alliebongo, IMO, or as far as I am aware, your dh owns the copyright to the website as the author until he is paid - get advice from a solicitor or the CAB asap - what an arsehole this guy is, do everything you can to get this man - my DH is self-employed and has been done before - good luck lmbx