Carpet Company Chasing Bill from 3 years ago

nevermore_2

Advice need please. We had a HUGE extension 3 1/2 years ago and bought carpets at the end of it. The company did the whole house and are now querying if we paid for two of the rooms. I am sure we did as it would be totally out of character for us not to (easy for me to say I suppose) but in honesty if we'd thought we'd got away with it I wouldn't be posting and would have lived in fear of being chased up by them for the last 3 years! They are saying it could be a credit controller glitch and are looking into it but is it for us to prove we paid it (trawling through old accounts/cheque stubs/credit card statement requests) or since they've said nothing over three years can we tell them to take a hike?

Marktheshark

I would simply inform them any contract you had with them was finalised on payment and is closed.
If they need someone to do their accounts, try the phone book under A

jhs14

The burdon of proof doesn't fall on one side rather than the other, as this is a civil payment dispute and not an 'innocent until proven guilty' type scenario. So it's not for you to prove you did pay, any more than it is for them to prove that you didn't.

As they've admitted it could be a glitch at their end, I'd wait and see if they come back with anything concrete.

In the meantime, would it be relatively easy for you to go back through bank statements and find the payment?

societys_child

. . . or since they've said nothing over three years can we tell them to take a hike?

No, they have up to 6 years.

McKneff

As societys child says, it is 6 years.


I cant see a problem as to you asking your bank what the payment was or looking yourself at old bank statements on line.

Acc72

jhs14 wrote: »

The burdon of proof doesn't fall on one side rather than the other

In the meantime, would it be relatively easy for you to go back through bank statements and find the payment?

I agree with the second bit, but not the first bit !


As it is not possible to prove a negative (i.e. how does the carpet firm prove that they have not received payment?), then hopefully the OP will be able - via bank statements/cheque stub etc. - will be able to prove that payment was made.

Marktheshark

It is six years for a debt.
A Credit agreement or service contract can become a debt, but a quotation, invoice and then payment is not.
Only way to make it a debt is to obtain a CCJ.
If they quoted, you accepted, they did the work as per quote and you paid said quote then you owe them nothing.
They obviously have no paper work or they would not be asking you if you had, they would just deliver it up and say you owe xxx.
On reflection, I would just check what was paid and the quote/ invoice and if it is order ignore them until they do something.
But as it sounds they dont have any paper work, they are not going to get very far if you dont give them any are they.

Sounds more like someone trying it on hoping to con you more than anything else.
If they have lost their paperwork, tough, smarten your business up a bit.
This is a money saving site and without any paper work, they have nothing, so do not give them any.
If they get heavy, start some complaints over the carpet, I am sure you can find some.

jhs14

Acc72 wrote: »

I agree with the second bit, but not the first bit !


As it is not possible to prove a negative (i.e. how does the carpet firm prove that they have not received payment?), then hopefully the OP will be able - via bank statements/cheque stub etc. - will be able to prove that payment was made.

Which bit don't you agree with?

It's not for either side to 'prove' anything. This is a civil dispute, unless it goes to court it is nothing more than a disagreement for both sides to sort out between themselves. If it goes to court, the court will look at the balance of probabilities, nobody has to prove anything.

It's certainly possible for the carpet firm to show (not prove) that they never recieved payment, if thats what happened. Equally it should be easy for the OP to show that they did make a payment to the carpet firm.

Acc72

jhs14 wrote: »

Which bit don't you agree with?

It's not for either side to 'prove' anything. This is a civil dispute, unless it goes to court it is nothing more than a disagreement for both sides to sort out between themselves. If it goes to court, the court will look at the balance of probabilities, nobody has to prove anything.

It's certainly possible for the carpet firm to show (not prove) that they never recieved payment, if thats what happened. Equally it should be easy for the OP to show that they did make a payment to the carpet firm.

Ok, I am bored at the moment so will answer .....


"nobody has to prove anything" - so how would you expect a Court to make a decision ? Do you expect that both parties turn up, one says that they paid, the other says that they didn't and a decision is made on that basis ?


If the OP has an invoice/receipt for £x and can show that this amount was paid to the carpet firm then case over.


"It's certainly possible for the carpet firm to show (not prove) that they never recieved payment, if thats what happened" - just out of interest, how would the carpet firm show that they never received payment ?

JustinR1979

They haven't missed it for 3 years, wait for them to prove it.

jhs14

Acc72 wrote: »

Ok, I am bored at the moment so will answer .....


"nobody has to prove anything" - so how would you expect a Court to make a decision ? Do you expect that both parties turn up, one says that they paid, the other says that they didn't and a decision is made on that basis ?

No, I would expect that both parties would turn up, argue their case, the firm would produce the invoice and show bank statements, the OP would show their bank statements, the court would decide on the balance of probabilities.

It's not the case that because you can't prove a negative, the burden of proof is on the OP to show that they did pay.

If the OP has an invoice/receipt for £x and can show that this amount was paid to the carpet firm then case over.

Indeed, I never said otherwise.

"It's certainly possible for the carpet firm to show (not prove) that they never recieved payment, if thats what happened" - just out of interest, how would the carpet firm show that they never received payment ?

They can show bank statements that show no payment from the OP, then demonstrate that they only operate one bank account and don't accept cash, so the payment must be missing, etc.

They can't prove it, but they can certainly argue their case and present good evidence to support it. But they don't have to prove it, the OP isn't 'innocent until proven guilty'.