Dispute with sole trader

macman

He can 'ignore the court' if he chooses, but if he does, then judgement will go against him. If he's actively trading then you should have no difficult finding him, as you say he has a studio address? It's then up to you to take action to recover your money if he doesn't pay. A rented studio is not however an asset, and his expensive equipment may all be leased.
Presumably you have a signed contract with this person, so there seems little that you need otherwise in terms of evidence?
To avoid all doubt, this is a sole trader and not a limited company?
Do as suggested and start with an LBA, and get proof of posting. It costs you only the price of the stamp. You really need to get on with this as your claim will become weaker the longer you wait.
naedanger; yes, you can opt out, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth checking.

djmsemcgrath

Yes, this is a sole trader. He does trade as a business name, in fact, several, and has several websites in those names, but he's not registered with Companies House, so he's not a limited company.

The WHOIS data for all of the websites are in his personal name, and the same address as what is on those websites, and also what was on my invoice. The websites mention his personal address and also his studio address.

Sorry if I missed it, but what is a LBA?

I have sent him recorded delivery letters which get signed by someone I am assuming is his wife, as it's a female's first name with his surname. However, I receive no response at all. These letters have gone to both addresses.

For what it's worth (and probably not worth anything in court), but I have sent him Facebook messages containing the same content as those letters and Facebook provides confirmation when he has read them, so I know he's alive, and reading the messages, and choosing to ignore them.

Fair points on his assets, perhaps he won't have much.

He also ignored letters from the ADR (dispute resolution service) I engaged, but hopefully he won't ignore official court documents when it reaches that stage.

Am I able to give the court 2 addresses or will they only accept one?

bod1467

To address an earlier comment ... enforcement against a sole trader probably has a greater likelihood of success than against a Limited company; a Ltd company may have few assets belonging to it, and can be dissolved and phoenixed, whereas a sole trader is much more likely to have personal assets which are "fair game" for enforcement.

Do the whois entries say Name T/A Company Name?

naedanger

damianjmcgrath wrote: »

Thanks naedanger, I understand that. However, I feel like the amount of money spent is worthwhile to try and chase down. He is a photographer, who has actually set up 2 new websites in the last month focusing on different types of photography, so presumably, he's taking bookings and has a decent income (including renting a studio), and has expensive photography equipment. I think he's likely to have obvious assets.

I also believe my case is pretty strong as I have a lot of documentation, and some helpful additions, such as the venue attempting to contact him by telephone, getting through to him, then when they explained about me, he hung up on them. I have an email from the venue confirming this happened, which paints him in a bad light.

My one and only concern is about actually getting money back, and this concern comes from 1) the courts not being able to find him. I can supply an address but he's ignored me so why not ignore the courts and 2) even if I win, enforcing payment might be tricky.

I was hoping to get some tips about those 2 points, but I guess there's nothing anyone can do really, just hope for the best.

Hopefully others will have tips regarding these points. Unfortunately I can just see the problems e.g. that his assets are in his wife's name, or are on finance, or are pledged as security on other loans etc.

Also I don't think it is the court's responsibility to find him. I think that will be your responsibility (but I am not completely certain on this point).

That said I agree you are doing the right thing i.e. checking you will be able to find him and that he has assets before going to court.

The most obvious and useful asset to look for would be a house. If you know where he lives you could check if he owns it using the following website. (If he does own the house, and has significant equity in it, then that should significantly improve your chances of enforcing payment, assuming you win.)

https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/search-the-register

I also agree with the point that you should send a letter before action. There is a small chance that might convince the photographer you are serious. (If he does have assets, and he is convinced you will sue and win then he may settle to save having to pay court costs on top of his liability to you.)

Undervalued

damianjmcgrath wrote: »

Sorry if I missed it, but what is a LBA?

I have sent him recorded delivery letters which get signed by someone I am assuming is his wife, as it's a female's first name with his surname. However, I receive no response at all. These letters have gone to both addresses.

LBA - Letter before action.

I wouldn't use recorded delivery as it may be refused. Providing you have a certificate of posting a court will assume it was delivered unless he could show good evidence that he was having regular mail problems etc. If you want to be doubly sure, send two copies from different post offices on different days.

macman

LBA equals Letter Before Action. Keep it short and simple. State what he agreed to provide and failed to do, state what resolution you want, and the timeframe he has to comply. Say that no further correspondence will be entered into and that legal action will commence in x days if full resolution not made.
There should be no problem serving papers if he is trading from a physical address. You give one address.
And Facebook proves nothing, anyone with access to his account can read those letters. All you need to prove is that a) he agreed to do the work (which your contract will provide evidence of), that you paid for it (bank transfer evidence), and that the goods were never supplied.
Have you checked to see if he already has any CCJ's against him? Have you checked with any other clients who might have booked him via the hotel recommendation? Surely they'll be happy to help if he's done the same to a number of their clients?

naedanger

bod1467 wrote: »

To address an earlier comment ... enforcement against a sole trader probably has a greater likelihood of success than against a Limited company; a Ltd company may have few assets belonging to it, and can be dissolved and phoenixed, whereas a sole trader is much more likely to have personal assets which are "fair game" for enforcement.

I agree with this comment - it is better for the op that the photographer is operating as a sole trader than operating through their own limited company (because as a sole trader the photographer is personally liable).

[My comparison was with a "large company". By that I meant a company where the liability to the op would be small relative to its business - for example the typical large company a consumer might deal with e.g. utility company, financial institution, large retailer etc. If that was who the op was dealing with then he would not normally need to be concerned about enforcing payment. However when dealing with either a sole trader or a small limited company then enforcing payment can be more problematic than winning in court.]

djmsemcgrath

Thank you for all your advice, I'll investigate into all those points.

Just one last area of confusion for me - about the amount to ask for back as a refund, or to claim through the courts.

Let's assume for the sake of easy maths that the total amount was £1000. This, according to the invoice and agreement of work, covers him to take the photographs, provide them to us on CD, then create an album of a style we selected of 30 of those pictures. The CD was to be delivered to us within 30 days of March 27 2015, and the album produced within 60 days of us confirming to him which 30 pictures we wanted.

Obviously the issue is that no CD was ever received.

In terms of going to court for a refund, would I be entitled to the whole 1000, or only a part of that since he did actually take the pictures? Does late interest come into it at all? How do I calculate compensation of wasted time, multiple letters, phone calls, and the loss of valuable photos?

naedanger

damianjmcgrath wrote: »

Thank you for all your advice, I'll investigate into all those points.

Just one last area of confusion for me - about the amount to ask for back as a refund, or to claim through the courts.

Let's assume for the sake of easy maths that the total amount was £1000. This, according to the invoice and agreement of work, covers him to take the photographs, provide them to us on CD, then create an album of a style we selected of 30 of those pictures. The CD was to be delivered to us within 30 days of March 27 2015, and the album produced within 60 days of us confirming to him which 30 pictures we wanted.

Obviously the issue is that no CD was ever received.

In terms of going to court for a refund, would I be entitled to the whole 1000, or only a part of that since he did actually take the pictures? Does late interest come into it at all? How do I calculate compensation of wasted time, multiple letters, phone calls, and the loss of valuable photos?

Has he given you any pictures?

djmsemcgrath

None at all.