Small Claim judgement issued - what next?

agrinnall

For the first time ever I have started a small claim, against a taxi company (in England). They never responded to my initial letter or my LBA, and they did not respond to the court claim form before the due date, so I have today applied for and been awarded a default judgement against them, for £88 plus the £25 fee, so £113 in total.


How long should I wait to see if the CCJ by itself makes the company pay up?
After that, what's the best way of enforcing the judgement?

waamo

A judgement usually gives them 28 days to pay. After that you can start enforcement. For a low value claim this would be baliffs.

I suspect the company may have little or no assets. Unless they own any of the vehicles you may struggle to get anything. It's likely a rented office and a phone. They might have a decade old computer.

The fact they have ignored everything makes me wonder if they are used to this? Have they got any other ccjs against them?

agrinnall

Thanks waamo. They may not have assets but they will surely have money, they aren't running the business on goodwill. How can I see if they have other CCJs?

BoGoF

What entity are they, sole trader, ltd company?

agrinnall

BoGoF wrote: »

What entity are they, sole trader, ltd company?

Looks like Limited Company.

waamo

Here you go https://www.trustonline.org.uk/ The official register for ccjs. Costs a few quid (£6 I think) to do a search.

BoGoF

agrinnall wrote: »

Looks like Limited Company.

And your judgement is against said Limited company?

unholyangel

What was the claim against them for? Did you try complaining via the local licensing authority at the time?

The reason I'm asking is if they breached the terms of their licence, the LA's are usually proactive in contacting the company to find out what went wrong - and the taxi/minicab company won't ignore them or they may find they no longer have a licence.

agrinnall

BoGoF wrote: »

And your judgement is against said Limited company?

Yes it is.

agrinnall

unholyangel wrote: »

What was the claim against them for? Did you try complaining via the local licensing authority at the time?

The reason I'm asking is if they breached the terms of their licence, the LA's are usually proactive in contacting the company to find out what went wrong - and the taxi/minicab company won't ignore them or they may find they no longer have a licence.

The claim was for a replacement train ticket because they sent the taxi that was to take me to the station to the wrong address, and by the time it had got to my address and driven to the station the train was pulling out. Had they come to the address they were given in the first place there would have been plenty of time.



I didn't use the route you suggest as I wasn't really aware that taxi firms are licensed by the LA, I know the drivers are but I didn't know it applied to the company too. Would you suggest doing it now anyway?


Edit: I've now checked and Birmingham City Council does have a taxi complaint page https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/hcphcomplaint

KeithP

Another 'spanner in the works' might be that the taxi driver is self employed and it was the driver that got it wrong.

In which case the Ltd company may not be liable.

Did you sue the right entity?

But you already have a Judgment against the Ltd company...