Sales of Goods Ace Victory of sorts

Revad123_2

Hi,

I don't know if anyone will be able to offer any suggestions but last year I successfully sued a garage that I had bought my car from through the small Claims Court under the Sales of Goods Act.

The case was actually heard twice as the defendant requested the case be reheard (although they failed to attend either hearing). The problem is that between the two hearing dates they closed the company and reopened under a different name (all the other details remain the same), so when the bailiffs went to collect the £500 owed they said the company I sued had ceased trading.

My question is, as they have obviously done this to avoid paying monies owed and costs, do I have any options left to me or do I have to accept I'll never see the £500 again.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

somethingcorporate

Revad123 wrote: »

Hi,

I don't know if anyone will be able to offer any suggestions but last year I successfully sued a garage that I had bought my car from through the small Claims Court under the Sales of Goods Act.

The case was actually heard twice as the defendant requested the case be reheard (although they failed to attend either hearing). The problem is that between the two hearing dates they closed the company and reopened under a different name (all the other details remain the same), so when the bailiffs went to collect the £500 owed they said the company I sued had ceased trading.

My question is, as they have obviously done this to avoid paying monies owed and costs, do I have any options left to me or do I have to accept I'll never see the £500 again.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

I'd suggest a company would not close down and re-open for the sake of £500. I'd suggest they stiffed a lot more customers than you and got rid of the company to avoid their obligations to all of you.

I don't think you'll see your money again if the entity you sued and won against no longer exists.

George_Michael

I'd suggest a company would not close down and re-open for the sake of £500

Even if there are no other people owed money to, what the company concerned actually owes could be far more than just £500.
As they failed to turn up for the first hearing then applied for another one which they also failed to show up for, they may well have had all of the court costs awarded against them, and these costs could well run into thousands.

Even though costs aren't generally awarded at the SCC, the option is still available if the judge wishes to use it.

InsideInsurance

Have you looked on Companies House to see what has happened to the company?

Depending on what grounds the company was struck off the registry you can potentially get it reinstated and assuming it wasnt insolvent at the time then its assets would have to be returned to it. You can then obviously attempt your recovery from them again.

You do need to be careful not to spend good money after bad though!

arcon5

Only a court or insolvency practitioner can reverse the sale/transfer of assets. You can apply to have it reinstated to the register but you're no better off.

Unfortunately you'd need to have the company wound up through the courts at the cost of £1250ish (this is also the first bit to be repaid from any realised assets over the IS fees and creditors)..... however to do this you have to issue a statutory demand and the debt must be over £750.

All in all it looks like you're !!!!!!ed