Small claims court defence - sole trader to incorporated company

chrisgs

I purchased a faulty car and was advised to reclaim costs via the small claims court as the trader refused to acknowledge any communications. The defendent has argued it on the basis that I have claimed against a limited company, and they were a sole trader at the time of purchase. Can anyone offer advice on my options now please?

A bit more detail:
I issued the claim against 'Company X Ltd' with 'Address X' on 8th Sept 2017, as a search for the company I'd bought it from ('Company X' at 'Address X' on the business card I had) showed that it was a limited company, incorporated in 2016, and its full name was 'Company X Ltd'.

The defendent has now filed a defence, stating that 'Company X Ltd' only started trading on 1st September 2017, and that my car was bought from Mr Y, trading as 'Company X', who seized to trade on 31st August 2017 (coincidentally, this is after I wrote to inform them that I would be taking them to court). The address provided for Mr Y is a private address and different to that from which I purchased the car and was provided on the business card.

Can anyone advise me what my next step should be please, as Citizens' Advice can no longer provide advice once a claim has been filed? Is it a case of acknowledging defeat and filing an new claim against 'Mr Y, trading as Company X' (and losing the fee I paid), or can I come back against their defence?

Thanks

neilmcl

What does it say on your original sales invoice?

DoaM

As the defendant has acknowledged being a sole trader at the time then you need to withdraw your claim and file again against the sole trader.

(The other side doesn't realise what they've done ... a sole trader has much more liability than a limited company does).

steampowered

This is a slightly odd situation.

Normally Defendants try to have things the other way round - they try to deny claims against themselves personally by saying the claim should have been brought against a company !!!

You need to have a look at what evidence you have to demonstrate that you are suing the correct Defendant. Have a look on https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/ to see when the company was established. Also have a look at your receipt / sales invoice.

Manxman_in_exile

DoaM wrote: »

(The other side doesn't realise what they've done ... a sole trader has much more liability than a limited company does).

I'm not sure that "Mr Y" is the same person as the defendant. (Yes - I know the original defendant was a limited company, but you know what I mean by same person). I think the defendant may be trying to blame somebody else entirely. The OP isn't clear if it's the same person or not, but they've used different letters to differentiate them.

bris

So what they are saying is that a sole trader sold you the car as ZZZ trading as XXX, this does indicate sole trader status.


You are now taking XXX ltd to court then that will not work because XXX ltd didn't sell you the car regardless of whether the same person was in charge or not.


You can however take the individual ZZZ trading as to court who has nothing to hide behind and is personally liable.