Advice needed - small claims court

pw22

Hi - I am after some advice. Details are as follows -

My husband began a company last year with a work colleague - it was a limited company with both of them listed as directors and registered with companies house. Unfortunately they get into financial difficulty and dissolved the company earlier this year.

A family member of my husband's business partner did some work for them and was only paid for some of his work. He has since decided to go to the small claims court however his claim is only against my husband (his name and then t/a the company name).

My husband has been out of the country for a few weeks due to family illness and upon returning has a letter saying that the court has ruled in favour of the claimant.

My question is this - is it worth appealing? The invoices which were submitted for work carried out were in the company name but the court claim is in my husband's name.I can't understand this as the company was registered in both names at companies house.

Any advice would be greatly received.

vax2002

He would need to download form N244 from the courts service and file to have the judgement set aside.
This will produce a new hearing and he will need to present paper work and defence that these are limited company debts.
He will need to prove why he could not attend the first hearing.

It is a default judgement as it was not defended and the worst case is bailiffs take his goods to be sold at auction, this can be vehicles and household items.

mynameistallulah

There is a legal concept known as lifting the veil of incorporation, where an individual can be held liable for the debts of a limited company. He needs to establish whether this applies here.

Has he spoken to his ex business partner, to see if they can split the debt and pay the claimant?

How much is the debt for? Did you not open any of his post whilst he was away? An application to set aside a default judgment costs £80, so you need to decide whether it is worth it.

pw22

Thanks for your replies - the total costs including court costs is just over £3000.

The original invoices were made out to the company at an office address and we have all the paperwork relating to the registration of the company from companies house.

We did offer to pay him half of what he was owed but he rejected this. His ex-business partner is related to the person who is making the claim so he will not pay anything...

DVardysShadow

pw22 wrote: »

We did offer to pay him half of what he was owed but he rejected this. His ex-business partner is related to the person who is making the claim so he will not pay anything...

Any hint that the person claiming knew your OH was out of the country? Was there a Letter Before Action?

What about the correspondence from the court before judgement?

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi pw22, thank you for your query regarding advice needed- small claims court.
Unfortunately we are unable to give advice on business debts for limited companies but I would suggest you contact Business Debtline on 08001976026 or at www.bdl.org.uk who should be able to assist but suggest you get advice as soon as possible as there are strict time limits for appealing against a judgement.
Hope this is of assistance