Who do I sue?

lawnmowerman_2

I wonder if one of you geniuses can help?!
I am making a Small Claim online for £500 from a guy I have done some work for and hasn't paid. I put his name and home address on the form as the plaintiff and his defence is that he is an agent for a limited company with a trading name. (He doesn't actually dispute the claim.)
Do I have to start the claim again against his company or can I carry on with a claim against him? I have never heard of this company; it has never been mentioned in any of our conversations and I feel he is trying to get away without paying.

DevCoder

If the work was done by the person acting under the company the you have to sue the company.

vaio

krisdorey wrote: »

If the work was done by the person acting under the company the you have to sue the company.

as long as it was apparent from the original paperwork that he was acting for a limited company then you sue the company, if it wasn't then you sue the individual

lawnmowerman_2

vaio wrote: »

as long as it was apparent from the original paperwork that he was acting for a limited company then you sue the company, if it wasn't then you sue the individual

Thanks both. No, I never had any idea he was acting for a limited company until he sent in his defence to my claim.

ValHaller

lawnmowerman wrote: »

Thanks both. No, I never had any idea he was acting for a limited company until he sent in his defence to my claim.

Did you send a written quote, did you get a written acceptance?

I think the basic line to take is that you always understood that your customer was Mr X and he never represented himself as the agent of a limited company until he submitted his defence. I think it would be good to press that line and hopefully have that defence struck down. It will make the point that he is a slippery character.

bris

Sue who you invoiced, he may have invoiced the company after the work was complete but that is not your concern.

unholyangel

Have you checked to see if the company exist/have any connection to this guy?

If he was an agent he should have made that clear from the offset.

Do you ever do b2b transactions or do you only deal with consumers? It may help prove on the balance of probabilities that he presented himself as a consumer if you can show you only deal with consumers.