Wedding venue has cancelled - bankrupt. Where do I stand?

Dizzy078

steampowered wrote: »

You would need the court's permission to add an additional claimant. You apply for permission using form N244, for which I believe the fee is £255 - more than the fee you paid to start the claim. It may also effectively 'reset' the time the defendant has to respond to the claim.

Personally, I would sit tight for now. Once you either get default judgment or receive a defence, which should happen during the next few days, you can then make an educated decision what to do next in terms of the court process.


If the company is still trading, it was an offence to submit a striking-off application. This in itself doesn't trigger personal liability but it adds pressure and helps build a picture.

If company assets were moved from the company to her name without paying the company the proper price for them (and the company using that to pay creditors), that would trigger personal liability - but you probably don't have enough information to say whether this was the case or not. As the 2016 accounts indicated that the company's debt exceeded its assets the company may well have been genuinely insolvent.

Interesting re: the council website. Does the council website say in what name the event licence was granted? This would be helpful evidence if you need to get bailiffs/HCEOs involved. It is also helpful for objecting to companies house if the licences were issued in the name of the company, as it proves that the company has been trading in the past 3 months so cannot be struck off.

Ouch £255 is very steep to add claimant details. I may just stick to my original idea and claim the contract was with her & not the company.

The council website states the licence holder is the individual, not the company. (Can companies apply for temporary event notices?).

To unforeseen - I think you mixed up I have filed for court against the director personally not the company. Not sure whether this was a good idea or not yet!

AndyMc.....

Dizzy078 wrote: »

Ouch £255 is very steep to add claimant details. I may just stick to my original idea and claim the contract was with her & not the company.

The council website states the licence holder is the individual, not the company. (Can companies apply for temporary event notices?).

To unforeseen - I think you mixed up I have filed for court against the director personally not the company. Not sure whether this was a good idea or not yet!

It looks like you need to name an individual for the licence so looks like you!!!8217;re dealing with the company.

https://www.gov.uk/approval-of-premises-for-civil-marriage-or-civil-partnership

There!!!8217;s no point going after the director personally if it!!!8217;s a limited company.

steampowered

It sounds to me like you should be taking the position the contract was with her for now, and can re-assess if she files a defence saying that the contract was really with the company.

If you get a default judgment against her personally because she fails to reply to the claim form, that is the best case scenario.

unforeseen

Dizzy078 wrote: »

Ouch £255 is very steep to add claimant details. I may just stick to my original idea and claim the contract was with her & not the company.

The council website states the licence holder is the individual, not the company. (Can companies apply for temporary event notices?).

To unforeseen - I think you mixed up I have filed for court against the director personally not the company. Not sure whether this was a good idea or not yet!

I was talking about filing against both in the same action, not changing from company to director. Its an either/or situation not both.

There is nothing to stop you going after a director if your claim against the company fails or vice versa. It just won't work if they are both in the same action.

Dizzy078

Righto, ta. I have also reported the company to the insolvency service now as suggested. Bit of a waiting game now. I will update here once I get further details. Thanks all!

Manxman_in_exile

Are there two OPs?

onomatopoeia99

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

Are there two OPs?

One with a capital letter at the start of the username and one without. Probably a simple oversight.

dizzy078_2

steampowered wrote: »

It sounds to me like you should be taking the position the contract was with her for now, and can re-assess if she files a defence saying that the contract was really with the company.

If you get a default judgment against her personally because she fails to reply to the claim form, that is the best case scenario.

Hi again.


An update to the situation; she had until yesterday to contact the court, she hasn't done. I have now applied for a CCJ against her. I was really surprised she didn't contact the court - can she get a default judgement removed once it's been granted?


Also, I am wondering whether it is best to apply to the high court or the county court to enforce the judgement (with bailiffs). Can anyone offer any advice which would be best? I am owed just over £2200 by her so I think I could apply to either.


Thanks for your continued help.


Edit; I forgot to add. Companies House did contact me back saying they required evidence dating within the last 6 months that the company owed us money. I again tried to show them they did (the invoice was around 10 months old) and the only recent emails are by the individual, nothing official from the company. There is a solicitors letter saying the company is going into liquidation but it is not dated. Basically companies house have put the 'strike off' of the company on hold for two weeks giving me more time to send evidence. I don't have any different evidence to what I've sent already.


Should I now forget about CH as I have the default judgement against her personally? I'm not sure what else I can do to stop her striking the company off.

steampowered

dizzy078 wrote: »

An update to the situation; she had until yesterday to contact the court, she hasn't done. I have now applied for a CCJ against her. I was really surprised she didn't contact the court - can she get a default judgement removed once it's been granted?

Yes, after a default judgment has been granted she can apply for a 'set aside'.

However this is not automatic; she would have to apply promptly and explain why she didn't respond. It would also cost her a court fee.

Also, I am wondering whether it is best to apply to the high court or the county court to enforce the judgement (with bailiffs). Can anyone offer any advice which would be best? I am owed just over £2200 by her so I think I could apply to either.

The general concensus is that you are more likely to get a result with HCEOs than with county court bailiffs. HCEOs are very quick.

Should I now forget about CH as I have the default judgement against her personally? I'm not sure what else I can do to stop her striking the company off.

Yes, unless you want to take action against the company I think in reality it may not be worth beating that particular drum much further.

Dizzy078

steampowered wrote: »

Yes, after a default judgment has been granted she can apply for a 'set aside'.

However this is not automatic; she would have to apply promptly and explain why she didn't respond. It would also cost her a court fee.


The general concensus is that you are more likely to get a result with HCEOs than with county court bailiffs. HCEOs are very quick.


Yes, unless you want to take action against the company I think in reality it may not be worth beating that particular drum much further.

Hi, thanks again for your continued help. I'm afraid I've got some bad news now. Saturday I got an email from the court saying she has now filed a defence. She is arguing (as predicted) that the debt is with her company and not her personally. So now I'm back to square one and Ive been given until the 29th of may to apply to get a court date. I was thinking about mediation and asking for most of the money back because at this point I'm really not sure what a judge would make of it. Plus, if we went to court and I lost, could I be asked to pay her legal fees if she had a solicitor represent her?

The court claim online still states the CCJ application is in progress so it's a little confusing. My experience using the online system so far is that it's been chaotic and slow. I guess the status will be updated with her defence shortly. I just don't know why I've been informed of the defence until after the deadline has passed. (It appears the defence was sent by email and not letter).

I've sent her defence onto companies house - I mean surely if the director of the company is arguing that the company has a debt she cannot strike it off. I will be really surprised if they don't accept this as evidence now.