Small Claims Court

[Gottabesomethingbetterthanthis]

Has anyone used this before to obtain a refund, how easy was it and what costs were involved. Looking to get back £800 from a tradesperson who didn't fulfil job! I'm now in touch with CheckaTrade but not hopeful of a resolution so looking at possible next steps.

Thanks.

www.gov.uk/make-money-claim

Not done it but should be quite straightforward.

I did it twice years ago. Both were around £500. It was very straightforward. I had to give notice first. My costs were added to the amount they owed. Good luck.

We did last year, to get our money back from a travel agency who tried to tell us they didn't need to give us cash, only vouchers, despite the law clearly stating the opposite. Their response - the law is faulty, clearly not fit for purpose, so we won't comply.

SCC process was really simple, did ourselves with some guidance from Which? Legal (best £9/month we spent). Covid meant everything was over the phone, which was spotty, but in the end we got our £7.5k back.

Nice one, CityGirl!

Complaint is with Checkatrade first and if they can't help us then I think we'll go down the SCC court. Sneaker bugger, changed his trading name recently but rather stupid, still the same branding and links to his old trading name in his company blurb. Hubby tried to call him today about the refund, guy denied being the old company and put the phone down. Out and out theft and makes my blood boil that cowboys like this think they can get away with it.

So it seems that I will need to sue the owner of the company rather than his old trading name.

Has anyone felt nervous suing someone for fear of retribution or have I watched too many hitman movies ;-) This guy has our address obviously as he was booked in to move us.. wouldn't want his 'heavies' turning up on the doorstep because he's being taken to court!

Is he a limited company? Check if he is listed as active on companies house?

That seems to be something the tv programmes check first.

If he’s a sole trader then you can go after him personally I believe.

I mean direct court paperwork to him. Not give him a kicking lol! 😂

That’s another thing, do you have an address for him to be served at?

Don’t throw good money after bad. If he says the contract was with his old company that he has closed down and it has no assets (because he knows what he’s doing and he’s been doing this before!) you will not see any money back.

@ForensicAccountant

Don’t throw good money after bad. If he says the contract was with his old company that he has closed down and it has no assets (because he knows what he’s doing and he’s been doing this before!) you will not see any money back.

I understand what you're saying... but if I sue the person, rather than the company..? The contract was with the former company however payment was sent to his direct bank account, not in the name of the company.

I have his former address and his newly registered address. He is still running the same business but he's now registered the new name with Companies House. On Trust Pilot, he is using his new name but then has a link at the side of that in his old company name - and then when you click that link, of course it takes you to his updated (renamed) website.

I’ve used it twice.

Once was an ex friend who I lent money to, it was only supposed to be for a week but she just refused to pay me back and lied to me.

She did pay us back eventually in instalments.

The second was to get money back from a tradesperson we paid for a service they didn’t fulfil.

We won the case but they tried to plead poverty and were ordered to pay in instalments, they then asked for another hearing to adjust the payments, and the judge was sympathetic and dropped the monthly payments to £5 supposedly temporarily.

The person paid for a year and then stopped, we tried to chase them but it turned out they had moved and despite paying for them to be tracked down nothing came of it, we can’t go back to court without their address.
It’s been 5 years now and we’ve had nothing and now the ccj will have dropped off their credit file despite them not having paid even a fraction of the money back.

Technically we can take them back to court if we ever find out their address, but I feel like it’s unlikely at this point.

@DancingPolarBear

I’ve used it twice.

Once was an ex friend who I lent money to, it was only supposed to be for a week but she just refused to pay me back and lied to me.

She did pay us back eventually in instalments.

The second was to get money back from a tradesperson we paid for a service they didn’t fulfil.

We won the case but they tried to plead poverty and were ordered to pay in instalments, they then asked for another hearing to adjust the payments, and the judge was sympathetic and dropped the monthly payments to £5 supposedly temporarily.

The person paid for a year and then stopped, we tried to chase them but it turned out they had moved and despite paying for them to be tracked down nothing came of it, we can’t go back to court without their address.
It’s been 5 years now and we’ve had nothing and now the ccj will have dropped off their credit file despite them not having paid even a fraction of the money back.

Technically we can take them back to court if we ever find out their address, but I feel like it’s unlikely at this point.

It's very frustrating, isn't it. How people can get away with this - it is pure theft, at the end of the day and where's the justification for the victims? I can't understand how someone can offer a service, request payment, not bother to turn up and then refuse to refund your money - I mean.. it makes me sick.. how do these people sleep at night?

I’m responding to this as it’s in the active section but is it on the legal board? If not try a thread there?

You can’t just go after someone as there are rules. Which is why the sneaky bastards get away with ripping people off. They know those rules.

If he’s still listed as a director and his limited company is live i think you can go after him. But if that’s not the case I’m not sure.

OP I was trying with a friend to get her money back after she paid for some goods that were defective and seller refused to refund.

It was around £2K she was owed and it was clear cut in law.

We used Which? Legal and the court fees were surprisingly onerous - I feel like £800 or so in the end for various forms we submitted.

We then had a hearing, the defendant didn't show up, the judge found in our favour and issued a CCJ and she never got her money back. Not the original money or the court fees. I don't know exactly what went wrong but it was a fair old amount of time and stress for absolutely nothing.

You're obviously in the right and it's maddening but given the costs you'd incur I doubt it's worth it.

@Gottabesomethingbetterthanthis

It’s very frustrating.
I’ve no idea how they live with themselves.
What annoys me is I’m still out of pocket, but now the ccj has dropped off her credit file she has no reason to ever pay me.
Ccj’s should be permanent until the debt is paid off.

I would be very surprised if your contract was with the owner, rather than the company. If there is a contract, the owner will most probably have signed on behalf of the company.

I've used https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

The first time was brilliant, just sending the email letting them know that i was about to submit the claim was enough for them to agree to pay albeit in instalments.

The second time the documents could not be served and came back 'not known at this address' from a house in the village where we know they live. And they know we know. Sigh.

I did contact a certain well-known top consumer review organisation to help with my issue and they wrote to the company but no response. This company doesn't even care that they'll have their membership removed. They probably think with such excellent 'reviews' on another well-known consumer review website (some reviews that they've clearly written themselves), that they don't need that main membership because there'll be plenty of other suckers like me they can get rich from!!! I'm feeling more and more it's not worth it but I'm fuming.

Anyone flown to Turkey recently.. what did you have to provide going out ref Covid - if you are fully vaccinated, just your NHS proof and a passenger locator form? Coming back I think it's filling in another form and then once back in the UK doing a Covid test on or before day 2 after arrival into the UK?

Have I missed anything?

OOps, wrong page, hahaha

Former Debt Recovery person who used to fill in the all the forms for court.

If the company was a Ltd or PLC company you CANNOT go after him personally, your contract is with the company. The directors cannot be chased personally for the money owed by their company, this is why some people set up Ltd companies so they can rip people off and walk away from the debts.

You can file against a Ltd company but if he has dissolved the company you cant claim against it. Companies House will tell you this. If he has wound the company up and opened a new one there is not very much you can do. The company i worked for had the money and legal team to go after the Ltd companies, we tried to prove that it was the same company, same address, same director but we couldnt pursue it as the law was weighted in their favour.

The only way to go after the director is to prove it was fraud which would mean reporting him to the police and even then it would be a criminal action and you still wouldnt get your money back. In 99% of cases the police didnt give a stuff when we presented the evidence.

Sorry OP but if it was a Ltd company there is nothing you can do. He might have signed the contract but that was on behalf of the company.

@BackInBlackAgain

Former Debt Recovery person who used to fill in the all the forms for court.

If the company was a Ltd or PLC company you CANNOT go after him personally, your contract is with the company. The directors cannot be chased personally for the money owed by their company, this is why some people set up Ltd companies so they can rip people off and walk away from the debts.

You can file against a Ltd company but if he has dissolved the company you cant claim against it. Companies House will tell you this. If he has wound the company up and opened a new one there is not very much you can do. The company i worked for had the money and legal team to go after the Ltd companies, we tried to prove that it was the same company, same address, same director but we couldnt pursue it as the law was weighted in their favour.

The only way to go after the director is to prove it was fraud which would mean reporting him to the police and even then it would be a criminal action and you still wouldnt get your money back. In 99% of cases the police didnt give a stuff when we presented the evidence.

Sorry OP but if it was a Ltd company there is nothing you can do. He might have signed the contract but that was on behalf of the company.

Thanks for your message. My 'contract' with him was when he was as a non-registered trading company, not Ltd, not Plc, anything. His new trading name which he has registered is Ltd.

Meantime, though the mediator, the big consumer review organisation, he has offered a payment plan so I jolly well hope he honours this and we get our money back in full!

It's a lesson well learned - never pay for anything upfront, and always check reviews - see if there are any patterns amongst any negative comments, despite the 'excellent' reviews.

That is good news that it wasnt a LTD company but a sole trader, you can take him to court directly. It doesnt matter if he has now become a LTD, as a sole trader your contact was with him.

Sorry i didnt realise he was a sole trader, i thought from your post he was a LTD.

It is really good news that he has suggested a payment plan, by doing this he has admitted the debt and if you do take it to court that is all the evidence you need.

Good luck OP and i hope you get your money back.

I’ve been through the process a few years ago.

It was incredibly stressful- and very time consuming providing evidence. I think similar to you, it was ‘not fit for purpose’, ‘of poor quality’. I also was worried if I interpreted the process wrong, I would end up with more costs.

I had to go to court twice (including sitting in the same waiting room as her for over 4 hours!), had threatening letters from the other parties solicitor. It was not fun.

I wouldn’t rush to do it again, but that would depend on the value.

Latest instalment of this saga: he has emailed me to tell me that the 'big consumer review organsation' has cancelled his membership and intimating that that was my fault, and because of this, and that organisation being the source of much of his business, he cannot now repay me! I am once again fuming but this time by both companies. The advice by the consumer organisation was that he would be allowed to honour his repayment plan and if he reneged at any point, then his membership would be cancelled. I called them and they can't advise why his membership has suddenly been cancelled, and I reminded them of the agreement for repayment which now is impossible due to their actions. The trader - this is the type of pattern to expect from him. Promises to fulfil but near or on the day, renegs on promise by way of email or text, and has the audacity to take a defensive and blaming stance when the customer complains about their extremely bad service. This trader did not provide the service that we had paid for and he should have refunded us immediately. The fact that he has now lost his membership is his fault totally, whether that's entirely down to my complaint, or a combination of other complaints he's received. Ultimately, this situation is of his own making for being a thieving scumbag!

I'm now waiting for a response to my email to consumer group and their own complaints procedure. Doesn't look at all likely to reclaim costs and will put it down to experience.