Received a bill for a dissolved company. Please help

luigiscoop

Hi guys, not sure if this is the right forum for my question but I couldn't really see any other heading for it.

I have a quick question please, I was the sole director of a Limited Company tat was dissolved by Companies house in 2010.

While the company was active, I used a service from a call forwarding (0845 number provider) at £5/month. When the company was dissolved I wrote to the company and explained that the company no longer existed and that the contract would need to be cancelled. They ignored the letter and I didn't receive a reply. All D/D's etc were cancelled and I thought nothing more of it.

Until now. They have decided to send me an invoice (still addressed to the dissolved company) for nearly £400 for unpaid invoices dating back to 2011. They sent it with a pre-court claim, saying that they will proceed with court action in 7 days if I don't pay.

I called them and spoke to a delightful (not) lady and explained the company was dissolved in 2010 and that I wasn't going to pay. She said 'We're not interested in your company, we'll just take you to court'.

A quick google search and I can see they have done this to many other people.

Can someone in the know, please tell me where I stand?

Thank you

Luigi

Savvy_Sue

Was the contract with the company, or with yourself as an individual? Because you say "I used ..." rather than "the company used ..."

luigiscoop

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Was the contract with the company, or with yourself as an individual? Because you say "I used ..." rather than "the company used ..."

Just I used as it was me who set the account up on behalf of the company.

When I set the account up, it asked for Company name which I entered. It also asked me for my name which I entered as it was a required field.

ALL invoices were addressed to the company with no mention of me.

Thank you

gb12345

luigiscoop wrote: »

Just I used as it was me who set the account up on behalf of the company.

When I set the account up, it asked for Company name which I entered. It also asked me for my name which I entered as it was a required field.

ALL invoices were addressed to the company with no mention of me.

Thank you

They're trying it on - I'm sure many people would just cough up the money to be done with it.

Their claim is against a Limited Liability company that no longer exists - good luck to them if they try to take you to court, I'm sure the judge will see the funny side of it.

If you personally receive court papers, your defence is that the contract was with the disolved Ltd company and you have no personal liability.

Aquamania

luigiscoop wrote: »

Hi guys, not sure if this is the right forum for my question but I couldn't really see any other heading for it.

I have a quick question please, I was the sole director of a Limited Company tat was dissolved by Companies house in 2010.

While the company was active, I used a service from a call forwarding (0845 number provider) at £5/month. When the company was dissolved I wrote to the company and explained that the company no longer existed and that the contract would need to be cancelled. They ignored the letter and I didn't receive a reply. All D/D's etc were cancelled and I thought nothing more of it.

Until now. They have decided to send me an invoice (still addressed to the dissolved company) for nearly £400 for unpaid invoices dating back to 2011. They sent it with a pre-court claim, saying that they will proceed with court action in 7 days if I don't pay.

I called them and spoke to a delightful (not) lady and explained the company was dissolved in 2010 and that I wasn't going to pay. She said 'We're not interested in your company, we'll just take you to court'.

A quick google search and I can see they have done this to many other people.

Can someone in the know, please tell me where I stand?

Thank you

Luigi

Ignore (or better still, in future do not open letters not addressed to you. In the case the addressee used your address in the past, you could simply delete the address & mark the envelope 'Gone away' and pop it into the nearest post box unopened.)

Anyway, you say the invoice is in the name of the dissolved company and the LBA is also addressed that way.

If the creditor wishes to pursue this, then if you follow my advice above I suspect the matter will go no further because I suspect the summons will never be considered served.

Otherwise the likely outcome is the summons will be considered served, but no defence offered (since the defendant does not exist). Then perhaps the complainant will ask for judgement in default which would be granted.

Then the judgement will not be satisfied as the defendant does not exist. So perhaps the complainant will spend yet more money on enforcement action ... which again will ultimately fail as the defendant does not exist.



(In the event the complainant at any time attempts to summons you in person, then defend the claim on the basis you never entered into any contact with the complainant .... if that is correct)

As a matter of interest, what were the terms of cancellation of the contract the company entered into? Was that fullfilled in full? i.e. Cancelled in accordance with the agreed terms including all money paid (if any)?
If it was, why do you think the company still believes money is owed to them?
How is the alleged debt of £400 arrioved at?:huh:
£5 per month for 3 years only comes to £180 by my calculation

There may be much more to this than you imply. If that is the case, you would be wise to seek the help of an independent legal advisor to ensure you are not personally liable for this debt.

poggles

As much as any new member is welcomed here, I can't help feeling on this occassion you would have been far better off signing up to the forums where you have found via google those others who have suffered a similar situation with this supplier and asked them the outcome, as I suspect the outcome for you will be very similar.

luigiscoop

Aquamania wrote: »

Ignore (or better still, in future do not open letters not addressed to you. In the case the addressee used your address in the past, you could simply delete the address & mark the envelope 'Gone away' and pop it into the nearest post box unopened.)

Anyway, you say the invoice is in the name of the dissolved company and the LBA is also addressed that way.

If the creditor wishes to pursue this, then if you follow my advice above I suspect the matter will go no further because I suspect the summons will never be considered served.

Otherwise the likely outcome is the summons will be considered served, but no defence offered (since the defendant does not exist). Then perhaps the complainant will ask for judgement in default which would be granted.

Then the judgement will not be satisfied as the defendant does not exist. So perhaps the complainant will spend yet more money on enforcement action ... which again will ultimately fail as the defendant does not exist.



(In the event the complainant at any time attempts to summons you in person, then defend the claim on the basis you never entered into any contact with the complainant .... if that is correct)

As a matter of interest, what were the terms of cancellation of the contract the company entered into? Was that fullfilled in full? i.e. Cancelled in accordance with the agreed terms including all money paid (if any)?
If it was, why do you think the company still believes money is owed to them?
How is the alleged debt of £400 arrioved at?:huh:
£5 per month for 3 years only comes to £180 by my calculation

There may be much more to this than you imply. If that is the case, you would be wise to seek the help of an independent legal advisor to ensure you are not personally liable for this debt.

Hi, thank you for your help. I have written to them explaining that the company is dissolved and that I believe they are trying to deceive me and the courts (if it goes that far).

The cancellation period was 30 days which I gave them. But the cancellation period and conditions are well hidden on their site. Which is what most other complaints are about.
The £400 was because they have decided to put a whopping £30 charge on selected payments (no idea how they selected them) as a punishment for 'not paying'.

I think I will wait and see if I receive any court papers and respond to them if I do.

Thanks again

luigiscoop

poggles wrote: »

As much as any new member is welcomed here, I can't help feeling on this occassion you would have been far better off signing up to the forums where you have found via google those others who have suffered a similar situation with this supplier and asked them the outcome, as I suspect the outcome for you will be very similar.

Because unfortunately, nearly all the complaints are on complaints boards where you can't directly reply to the messages and not on forums like this.

luigiscoop

gb12345 wrote: »

They're trying it on - I'm sure many people would just cough up the money to be done with it.

Their claim is against a Limited Liability company that no longer exists - good luck to them if they try to take you to court, I'm sure the judge will see the funny side of it.

If you personally receive court papers, your defence is that the contract was with the disolved Ltd company and you have no personal liability.

Thanks. They are a nightmare of a company. So rude when you call them and I'm 100% sure they make their money from ripping people off..