Small claims started but company now changed name

mi33cupc@ke

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sabz3008

This is what these cowboys do! - I'll be honest with you, even if you do win the case it seems that because of the fact that they're a company, a dodgy one that constantly changes its names etc... They won't have any assets anyway and you may not get your money back in the end. Your best bet might be to try and find out who the director of the company is and to sue them instead? - But I'm not sure if you could actually do that, it may be worth asking the courts, or if someone else could provide insight to that..

Equaliser123

jools02 wrote: »

I have been on companies' house today and found out that the original company name I issued the claim against has been dissolved but the one in brackets has not. I put a note on the Warrant to tell the Bailiff that they are now going by a new name. Does anyone know whether this will affect the warrant and the collection of the monies?

Depends who the judgment is against. If your judgment is against the now dissolved company, you are limited as to what you can do.

mi33cupc@ke

Thanks so much for replies. I'm won't mention them by their real name here, but as an example this is how I named them when I issued the claim:

Defendant: ABC Limited (DEF Motors)

'ABC Limited' is the company that has since dissolved.
'DEF Motors' is a name they still seem to be using, but upon checking their profile on Companies' House, they are now called 'DEF Motors Limited'

The court did send me a form to ask me to clarify the exact name of the company and I just put 'ABC Limited trading as DEF Motors.' They granted a judgment based on this.

Flyboy152

jools02 wrote: »

Hi all,

I won't go into huge detail about this. Basically, we were sold a dud car last September and after the dodgy trader refused to take the car back or repair it we started a small claims procedure with Money Claim Online. They have refused to pay, and today we have issued a Warrant of Execution (a court Bailiff will now recover the monies or sieze goods to the value to be sold at auction). Anyway,the trader appears to be trading under a few different names. My husband rang them anonymously and they answered the phone with a different name to when we originally bought the car. When I originally issued the claim I issued it against the name they were trading as at the time, but in brackets I entered an alternative name I had found out they had been using. I have been on companies' house today and found out that the original company name I issued the claim against has been dissolved but the one in brackets has not. I put a note on the Warrant to tell the Bailiff that they are now going by a new name. Does anyone know whether this will affect the warrant and the collection of the monies?

Is the warrant against a limited company, or against the directors as sole traders?

Flyboy152

jools02 wrote: »

Thanks so much for replies. I'm won't mention them by their real name here, but as an example this is how I named them when I issued the claim:

Defendant: ABC Limited (DEF Motors)

'ABC Limited' is the company that has since dissolved.
'DEF Motors' is a name they still seem to be using, but upon checking their profile on Companies' House, they are now called 'DEF Motors Limited'

The court did send me a form to ask me to clarify the exact name of the company and I just put 'ABC Limited trading as DEF Motors.' They granted a judgment based on this.

If the warrant is against a trading name, it doesn't matter what they call themselves now.

pendulum

Sounds like you've thrown good money after bad. You'll need a new judgment against the new company to recover from them, which you'd be unlikely to get because the new company is a different company to the one which wronged you, and even if you did, they'd probably just change name (legally: close and reopen a 'new' business) again anyway.

This is more than a name change because one company closed and another formed.

Flyboy152

pendulum wrote: »

Sounds like you've thrown good money after bad. You'll need a new judgment against the new company to recover from them, which you'd be unlikely to get because the new company is a different company to the one which wronged you, and even if you did, they'd probably just change name (legally: close and reopen a 'new' business) again anyway.

This is more than a name change because one company closed and another formed.

But if the original company was "trading as," the directors are not necessarily protected by limited liability.

mi33cupc@ke

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Is the warrant against a limited company, or against the directors as sole traders?

I don't actually know if they were a limited company, they were just called 'ABC Limited'. I didn't issue it against a person, just the company as a whole.

arcon5

jools02 wrote: »

I don't actually know if they were a limited company, they were just called 'ABC Limited'. I didn't issue it against a person, just the company as a whole.

if thats their name they will be a limited company, also backed up by the fact you found them on the companies house website.

You can not sure the directors personally, the whole point of incorporating is to protect them and their personal belongings.

When ABC Limited went our of business, so did any chance of recovering your money as I doubt any assets or money was left in the company when it went down!! It sucks, doesnt it?

Equaliser123

Flyboy152 wrote: »

But if the original company was "trading as," the directors are not necessarily protected by limited liability.

No issue at all with the trading as bit. Lots of companies 'trade as' something totally different to the corporate name.

And, to be clear, unless there is fraudulent or wrongful trading, the directors have no liability whatsoever.