Small Claims Court guide

maddad514

In all the help documents available on Money Claims I cannot find a definitive "reasonable time" to wait after a debt has fallen due and not paid? I have a contractual agreement that states I should get paid a fixed rate each month for a holiday rental property. How long should I wait after a payment date has been missed before I start any Money Claim actions. I have been in daily contact, some days multiple times by phone and email, with the company who each day have said they would reply with an answer which has so far not materialised.
How can I check if the company is in financial difficulties and unable to pay its debtors?
On companies house their accounts submission for last year is still outstanding. Is this a warning sign?

donnakebabnew

Hi can someone offer me advice. We paid for a tiler to tile out kitchen, hallway and bathroom floor. He tiled the hallway and kitchen over a year ago and shortly after tiles started coming loose and rocking and some cracked. We told him and said he would come and look and would also finish the bathroom. Dates were made and cancelled and messages ignore for over 8-12 months. Once we said we would have to go to court he turned up looked at the tiles and apologized and said they would all need to come up and be redone again. We made another date for mid October which he cancelled again. We remade another date the week later but he never showed. I cant get hold of him and his blocked my number. I messaged him on social media which he saw and ignored. My partner has left a message from his phone as he doesn't seen to be blocked but he hasn't come back. The tiles cost us over £2k to buy and his cost was £2300 which we paid before this issue appeared. We cannot move on with our home and everyday hear tiles rocking under our feet plus the bathroom still not tiles which was also in the job to be done.

we will now be taking him to court but the question is can he just say sorry I don't have any money even if we win and we dont get the money back? He works, he has a home and van so surely he will be made to pay? Will the court force him to pay or just say oh well he has no
money??

Many Thanks

zebra1982

Hi
I had hair extensions fitted at a salon, everything was fine and i paid £200, i then came back for maintenance and was booked in with another stylist who cut my hair too short, charged me £65 and a few of them fell out when i was on holiday, am i right to claim my full £200 back from the original fitting as the hair is shorter? They are offering me £65 refund but i want the £200 that orginally paid 4 months ago, am i in my right to claim this back through a court?

Maxxxer

Morning all,

A quick one if i may...Long story short i bought a used car back in September from a dealer, refused it due to overheating issues and returned the car just short of 2 weeks after the purchase date. The seller only refunded me £250 at the time (full refund was £495 plus my P/X back; I got my car and £2509 on the 'promise' the rest would be paid when he returned home.

Anyway, its dragged on and I obtained a CCJ in default at the end of November. I went through the process via the HMRC online service, which basically stops helping you at the point you obtain the CCJ.

My question is - what do i do next? I have the debtors bank details (used to pay the deposit and by him to refund the £250) however if this is a joint account i wont get the money back via 3rd party debt order, so i am considering bailiff action, which (i think) requires a warrant of control/execution..?

I understand i can fill out form EX322 to obtain this (if so - which Court address do i put in the box in the top right corner - 'In The' as in 'In The Court of <wherever>?) or i can do it via Money Claims Online, however I don't want to go through the whole thing again (as I seem to be having to do when filling out the MCO form) as I already have the CCJ...

Any advise appreciated here - I realise its a very small amount of money in comparison to others on here but its more the principle of the matter - I don't want him getting away with it and doing the same to someone else (especially as he has re-advertised the exact same car for sale again, with no work done...)

douglasireland

patch111 wrote: »

Earlier this year I successfully obtained a CCJ against a Builder for substandard workmanship.
I had employed him to complete me a 2 storey extension. He does not belong to any professional body such as FMB so is unaccountable for his work. He also does not advertise on sites such as checkatrade ?? In these cases I would walk away. Beware of this. Beware also how they can change company name, and charge VAT but not pay it !!!!
My Builder works solely in Farnborough, Hampshire, and I thought because he was busy must be trustworthy.
It was obvious that there were issues with some of his work. The Builder blamed everyone but himself, I called in other professionals for second opinions, who laughed at some of his work, yet despite this he arrogantly dismissed me.
After many months of going nowhere I was left with no option but to take him to Court. This should not be feared if you do your homework. I called in a professional who documented all his poor work. Eventually I was successful in court obtaining a CCJ against him. I still had to use bailiffs to recover the compensation that I was awarded. He only paid up when they said they would take his vehicle.

There is a very simple lesson here. To anyone who wants a builder CHECK THE ONLINE CCJ REGISTER. IF THEY ARE ON IT, WALK AWAY. For a few pounds it may save months of heartache and many thousands of pounds !!!!!

Hi, congratulations on your success, its good to hear a positive outcome (not that it goes any way to covering the stress, costs etc of the event itself)
I am in a similar position, CCJ issued but claim unpaid. Hope you may have some advice on how you pursued yours. Did you take your builder to court as an individual or a company? I am struggling to work out how to enforce this as ours are a limited company (FMB registered, checkatrade 5+, no previous CCJ's, yet still the surveyors report lists their work as not complying with building regulations and 'one of the worst installs' they had seen!). As far as I am aware we cannot therefore use most of the enforcement actions and the company address seems to be an accountants.
Really hoping for any help or advice!

Maxxxer

As an update to this, I gave in and called the number for Small Claims Business Centre based in Northampton. Despite the website stating they only deal with online claims, when i advised i had a reference with MC in it (Money Centre Online) she then directed me to the Civil claims helpdesk, as she felt it was a paper query I had..(?)

Despite a soul destroying 40 minutes on hold, I eventually got through to a very helpful Lady, who advised me where to send the N323 (Warrant of Control, to request Bailiff visit) and even transferred me to the payment line so it would get sorted straight away.

So, if you are not sure, it doesn't hurt to give them a call - as long as its not actual legal advice they are happy to help :T

Dumbledore55

Please can anyone tell me if Small Claims is the right place to go in these circumstances?

I rent out the house I had before I married through a letting agency. The contract states that they will inspect the property a minimum of 6 monthly. However, until 2018 they inspected quarterly. From 7 December 2017 to 30 November 2018 the letting agency failed to inspect at all. I pushed them to do an inspection on 30 November because i’d heard from neighbours that the tenants had done a runner.

The house was completely wrecked, two rooms flooded causing thousands of pounds of damage and my surveyor stated the flooding had been going on at least 6 months.

I want to sue for breach of contract, I want my fees refunded for 2018 when they failed to inspect at all and compensation for loss of income while the house is uninhabitable. There wasn’t even any electricity in the house due to the flooding. They also failed to tell me that tradesmen had refused to go in the house due to the state the tenants were living in especially the smell and the fact everything was greasy and filthy. It took me 2 weeks to clear the place out of all the mouldy furniture, clothes and food left behind.

I’m just not sure where I should take this claim so any advice would be gratefully received.

waamo

How much do you want to claim? If it is under £10k then it will be a small claim. If it is over £10k then it isn't and the loser may well have to pay costs for both sides.

If you want to start the process you need to send a Letter Before Claim. This sets out in simple terms how much you want, why you want it and by when. Google for examples.

Dumbledore55

It will be about £2k in all but definitely under £10k. Thanks for your reply.

Hm71

Sorry newbie here,
I am in the small claims process and have been granted permission to resubmit the particulars of my case.
Now I'm not sure if that means I have to fill in a new n1 form or if their is a different form.
Any help would be appreciated.