Section 75 claim on range cooker held in storage

lewisgriffy

I'm seeking advice on a Section 75 claim that's reached a stalemate with Lloyds Bank Credit Card Services as I have no proof the range cooker we bought was held in storage by the vendor. Details of the transaction are as follows:
- 2 separate credit card payments made for the full price in May 2016 amounting to £1500 total.
- range cooker meant for a second property which was being renovated, so we agreed the vendor would keep it in storage until we were ready for delivery. It didn't occur to us to ask for proof of storage.
- unexpected delays occurred at the property and so we weren't ready for delivery until Autumn 2018.
- up until then we received approximately 6-monthly [friendly] phone calls from the vendor asking whether we were ready for delivery (last phone call was June 2017).
- September 2018, we looked for the vendor's telephone number online, but couldn't find the website at all. Eventually discovered through Companies House that the company had gone into liquidation in November 2017.
- Sent Lloyds Bank Credit Card Services copies of the invoice, receipts, credit card statements and winding up notice.
- Were advised by Lloyds to attempt to contact the liquidators themselves. Did so in writing and they haven't replied.

My questions:
1) Was the company obliged to tell us they were going into liquidation?
2) Are they entitled to take possession of our paid-for cooker?
3) How much onus is on the credit card company to contact the liquidators now that we've attempted to do so unsuccessfully?
4) Could this Section 75 claim be escalated?
5) In the event the stalemate continues, how much leverage would threatening to shift 4 Lloyds current accounts and credit card account to another bank give us? We've been loyal customers for 26 years and we know they've made far more money out of us in credit payments than this Section 75 claim is for.
6) Forgive a naive question, but would a small claims action be be appropriate/fruitful?
7) Is there anything else we might try?

Many thanks in advance.

[Deleted User]

It sounds as if they may be treating it as a chargeback.

Tell them that it has not been delivered. The storage issue is irrelevant.

Escalate to FOS if necessary.

lewisgriffy wrote: »

5) In the event the stalemate continues, how much leverage would threatening to shift 4 Lloyds current accounts and credit card account to another bank give us?

None whatsoever.

eddddy

Section 75 makes the CC company jointly liable for breach of contract - so you need to make your claim on that basis.

• Failing to supply a cooker that you had paid for would be breach of your purchase contract So s75 would be relevant.

• But the wording of your post suggests that the cooker was supplied, and you had taken ownership - so the contract was fully completed. But you asked the retailer to store your cooker and it later went missing. In which case, s75 won't be relevant.

lewisgriffy

Thanks zx81 and eddddy.
Although I didn't say so in so many words at the time of purchase, eddddy believes my actions implied taking ownership prior to asking the vendor to store the cooker - would zx81 agree with this?

If the vendor has agreed to store the cooker which is under my ownership, haven't they committed an offence by not notifying me they were going into liquidation and asking me to collect it?

Based on zx81's advice and trying to remain as optimistic as I can, how belligerent can I be with the credit card claims people regarding the storage issue? All correspondence I've received from the claims team to date has been via email. The phone calls I've made have been to arms-length representatives who take notes to be added to the claim file for the claims department to peruse at a time that suits them (usually 2 weeks go by at a time). The claim is still open as I understand it.

Does the elapsed time have any bearing?

I'm not a dishonest person, but should I have omitted the storage aspect when I initiated the claim and concentrated simply on the fact the cooker was never delivered?

How does one escalate to the FOS?

Thanks.

18cc

I think Edddy is right in as much as was your cooker you had taken "possession' of it...

However because it was your cooker the administrators should not have taken it you should therefore contact them not your credit card company...

lewisgriffy

Thanks 18cc.

I found two names on the winding up notice I found on the Companies' House website. There was a postal address but no telephone number or email address.

I sent a letter (1st class postage) to the two names at the postal address on 13/1/19, requesting a response within 15 working days of the date of the letter. I received no reply to date - are they obliged to reply?

Enclosed with the letter were copies of the invoice, credit card receipts and credit card statements.

Should I send another letter by recorded delivery this time?

What might my next steps be if I still don't get a response?

Thanks.

18cc

I would forget the credit card company and the FOS - others on here may disagree with me but as far as I can see you have paid for a cooker it has been delivered to you and you have said thanks can you hold onto a bit until I can collect it

at this point it is your cooker, you've paid for it they have delivered it - case closed

18cc

As far as the liquidators are concerned they should not have touched your cooker as it did not belong to the company - they may not have known that of course but in law that is the fact

if you can tell us the name of the liquidators maybe we can find out how you can call them

Terry_Towelling

Agree that the contract to supply the cooker was not breached.

The issue is the storage of the cooker. That was done for free with no formal contract governing how it should be stored.

As for the Liquidator/administrator taking possession of the cooker, that is an unknown quantity. Did they take the cooker and sell it as part of the liquidation? Was the cooker even there at that time? Might the company have already re-sold it to try and prop themselves up?

Whatever the case, the liquidator presumably has to answer the questions asked of it about your cooker - if you can prove it was yours and if it was still there at the time of liquidation. Do you have paperwork with model/serial numbers or anything that could be used to uniquely identify the item and tie your paperwork to it?

lewisgriffy

Thanks 18cc.

In fairness to Lloyds Bank they have at least been willing to consider my claim as far as my providing proof the cooker was being held in storage.

Even had I had such proof, perhaps they would have reached the same conclusions as yours, edddy and Terry Towelling regarding there being no breach of the supply contract.

I completely understand 18cc and Terry Towelling's viewpoints regarding the relevance or not of Section 75. However, whether Section 75 is relevant to this case or not, if Lloyds have had the goodwill thus far to consider my claim based on the facts I've presented in good faith and in all honesty, would there be any mileage in requesting they contact the administrators? If I made such a request in writing, would they be obliged to do so, or would they be free to refuse? I'd imagine they would have more clout than me. It might not be in their business interests to do so of course, quite understandably.

lewisgriffy

Hi,

Moderators, please excuse me if I'm breaching forum rules by providing the following The details of the liquidators I got were from Form 600.

The company number (that sold me the cooker) is 03287834.

The liquidators' names on the form are: Mr John Dean Cullen (office holder number 9214) and Mr Mark Rodney Newton (office holder number 009732).

The address for both gentlemen is is 2 Sovereign Quay, Havannah Street, Cardiff, CF10 5SF.