Contract with company in liquidation

alystotty

Hi all, In April 2017 my husband and I went to a garden show where we saw a company offering foam roof insulation. We asked for a visit at our home and decided to go ahead. We paid £100 holding deposit with a further 25% to be paid on the day they come to do a technical assessment of the roof and preparation for spraying (provisionally booked for 1/5/18) and the remainder due on completion (spraying provisionally booked for 2/5/18).
We had a phone call before Christmas saying that they didn't have an installation date for us and I said that we wanted to push it back a bit as another project was overrunning. I wanted to have it done in the summer.
I've had a phone call today saying they wanted the deposit now and that 1/5/18 was the confirmed date. I reiterated that I hadn't confirmed the date but she was quite pushy. She then happened to mention that the original company, Dreamroof Ltd, had gone into liquidation because of fraud (no details given) and that the new company, Foamroof, was taking over the work. Same directors, same address etc. Having done some google searching I'm not happy that they are going to do a good job and am worried that we're being duped. Does anyone know if we can cancel the contract, given that all the paperwork is in the name of Dreamroof Ltd? CAB couldn't give me a definitive answer. Any advice gratefully received. Many thanks.

JJ_Egan

Dont pay any more .
You are now dealing with a different company .

Castle

How did you pay the original £100 to Dreamroof Ltd?

bris

You have no contract with the new company so if you want to walk away you can.


You will lose the original £100 though but if you still want it done I wouldn't pay anything more until the job is done. You can't trust them as they have obviously run away from the old companies debts.

unholyangel

Dreamroof look to be voluntarily winding up (although debts of £200k). The director of that company is (surprise surprise) the director of the new company. He started the new company in september - which sounds like he's been trading with the knowledge he was insolvent.

You don't start a duplicate company of a different name unless you know the current one is going down the pan and want a back up ready and waiting. He is also the sole director of both companies so it was all him.

If there was no clause permitting them the right to assign to third parties then they can't do it at all. Even if there is a clause, its generally only acceptable where the consumer agrees or where its purely technical and doesn't have any real effect on the consumer. They can't really say that here as they're asking for the deposit now when it was agreed otherwise.

Even if they had purchased the failing company, they would likely need your consent to make an assignation fair or at the very least the assignation would have to have no real effect/change for you.

Having looked at the statement of affairs, your only chance of getting your £100 will be if you paid by credit card most likely. I would however make a complaint to the ICO and trading standards (you may have to do this via citizens advice as most branches wont take complaints from consumers directly) about the unlawful disclosure of your data (despite being run by the same guy, legally the companies are completely separate entities) and their business practices respectively.

steampowered

I agree you should run for the hills and refuse to pay anything further.

You might have to write-off the deposit though, unless you paid by debit or credit card.

alystotty

Dear all
Thank you so much for your replies. I've been avoiding their calls but I feel more confident now.

Aly

LadyDee

alystotty wrote: »

Dear all
Thank you so much for your replies. I've been avoiding their calls but I feel more confident now.

Aly

I would put in writing to them, post and keep proof of posting, that you do not wish this company to do any work on your home, you do not have a contract with them, and will be pursuing the return of your deposit.

Presumably you paid the £100 by card so talk to your bank.

LadyDee

alystotty wrote: »

Dear all
Thank you so much for your replies. I've been avoiding their calls but I feel more confident now.

Aly

I would put in writing to them, post and keep proof of posting, that you do not wish this company to do any work on your home, you do not have a contract with them, and will be pursuing the return of your deposit.

Presumably you paid the £100 by card so talk to your bank.

alystotty

Thank you Ladydee. Will do. I paid by debit card so think that money is lost but hey ho.

LadyDee

Oh, it goes without saying that you keep a copy of your letter. It is not necessary to send it signed for, if you do they could well refuse to accept it, just so long as you keep a proof of posting the letter is deemed to have been delivered.