breach of companies act, can anyone help?

toffe

i'm going to try and keep this short, here goes;

i had a limited company a few years back, i decided to wrap it up in 2007 which i did with no debts. (or so i thought)

fast forward a year or so and i start getting demands for payment for an old company mobile phone account, with the company name conveniently removed from the invoice.

i dispute the debt on the grounds that the company no longer exists and that since i did not give any directors Guarantee i could not be personally held liable.

so they go away, but keep coming back after a few months and the process repeats.

its five years on now and i'm sick of it. i know that it is in breach of the companies act to go after former directors of companies for company debts unless a directors guarantee was given but how do you stop them without the expense of employing a solicitior?

i fear that i will have to just bite the bullet and pay a solicitor to get rid of them but just thought i'd ask if anyone here has any experience or knowledge of this kind of thing first....

nickj_2

how much do they claim you owe , it could be less than the cost of a solicitor getting involved at £150 per letter or whatever they charge

toffe

its not alot, £160 ish but i'm not legally liable for the debt and i'm not going to pay it out of principle if it costs me more to get rid of them than the debt they are claiming then so be it but i just thought i'd see if the matter could be concluded without the involvement of a solicitor and the cost associated with that course of action before proceeding.

WhiteHorse

If the facts are as stated, then the debt died with the company. It's just a lowlife DCA trying it on.

Write to them (Recorded Delivery), stating the facts and that you are not personally liable. If they continue, they will then be in breach of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

glasgowdan

I would simply ignore this type of letter. Once you reply they mark their records as 'address correct' which spurs them on to hound you even more.

heathcote123

toffe wrote: »

i'm going to try and keep this short, here goes;

i had a limited company a few years back, i decided to wrap it up in 2007 which i did with no debts. (or so i thought)

fast forward a year or so and i start getting demands for payment for an old company mobile phone account, with the company name conveniently removed from the invoice.

i dispute the debt on the grounds that the company no longer exists and that since i did not give any directors Guarantee i could not be personally held liable.

so they go away, but keep coming back after a few months and the process repeats.

its five years on now and i'm sick of it. i know that it is in breach of the companies act to go after former directors of companies for company debts unless a directors guarantee was given but how do you stop them without the expense of employing a solicitior?

i fear that i will have to just bite the bullet and pay a solicitor to get rid of them but just thought i'd ask if anyone here has any experience or knowledge of this kind of thing first....

Have you thought about just paying it?

Presumably this was a service you ordered and used?

I appreciate you may not be techinically liable, but if you didn't notify all your creditors when you closed down the company (and surely there must be legislation on this?), you can hardly blame them for chasing you. I would.


Edit: http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/pdf/gbw2.pdf

Offences and penalties
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]It is an offence: [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]• to apply when the company is ineligible for striking-off; [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]• to provide false or misleading information in, or in support of, an application; [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]• not to copy the application to all relevant parties within seven days; [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]• not to withdraw the application if the company becomes ineligible. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]Most offences attract a fine of up to £5,000 on summary conviction (before a magistrates' court) or an unlimited fine on indictment (before a jury). If the directors deliberately conceal the application from interested parties, they are liable not only to a fine but also up to seven years imprisonment. [/FONT]
[/FONT]

I'd pay them, as it looks like you're the one that breached the companies act by not notifying them of the winding up.

JCS1

How old is the alleged debt? Regardless of the limited company being wound up, it will be statute barred after 6 years (5 in Scotland).

Premier_2

toffe wrote: »

i'm going to try and keep this short, here goes;

i had a limited company a few years back, i decided to wrap it up in 2007 which i did with no debts. (or so i thought)

fast forward a year or so and i start getting demands for payment for an old company mobile phone account, with the company name conveniently removed from the invoice.

i dispute the debt on the grounds that the company no longer exists and that since i did not give any directors Guarantee i could not be personally held liable.

so they go away, but keep coming back after a few months and the process repeats.

its five years on now and i'm sick of it. i know that it is in breach of the companies act to go after former directors of companies for company debts unless a directors guarantee was given but how do you stop them without the expense of employing a solicitior?

i fear that i will have to just bite the bullet and pay a solicitor to get rid of them but just thought i'd ask if anyone here has any experience or knowledge of this kind of thing first....

How did they get your name if, as you suggest, you didn't give it to them?
:huh:

(Should the invoice now have no name at all on it, what makes you think it is yours?)

heathcote123

Premier wrote: »

How did they get your name if, as you suggest, you didn't give it to them?
:huh:

(Should the invoice now have no name at all on it, what makes you think it is yours?)

I think he means they are addressing it to his name directly rather than to the limited company the account was opened under.

He's probably in a rage of self righteous indignation that he ordered a service, used it, didn't pay for it, didn't tell the telco he was winding up the company, and now they have the CHEEK to want paying for it!!! thats ILLEGAL he should SUE them!!! I bet he was MIS-SOLD the phone as well!

Honestly, only on MSE.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

emsywoo123

heathcote123 wrote: »

I think he means they are addressing it to his name directly rather than to the limited company the account was opened under.

He's probably in a rage of self righteous indignation that he ordered a service, used it, didn't pay for it, didn't tell the telco he was winding up the company, and now they have the CHEEK to want paying for it!!! thats ILLEGAL he should SUE them!!! I bet he was MIS-SOLD the phone as well!

Honestly, only on MSE.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I think the OP wanted a legal perspective rather than your skewed and clearly biased opinion.........

heathcote123

emsywoo123 wrote: »

I think the OP wanted a legal perspective rather than your skewed and clearly biased opinion.........

The legal perspective is that he broke the law by not notifying them he was winding up the company, and could possibly open a can of worms resulting in a 5k fine if the telco/collection agency is clued up.

The moral perspective doesn't even bear looking at.