Want to save money but have a huge thorn in my side LEGAL ADVICE NEEDED

Music_Lover_3

Hello all,

I'm new here so not sure I'm posting this in the correct place (Mods, feel free to move if it's not!)

I'm at the end of my rope with a legal matter and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am owed almost £2,000 by an ex-employer who refuses to cough up. The ex-employer works freelance so it is increasingly difficult to obtain this amount.

I have issued a county court claim, which was ignored, a warrant of execution has been issued but ex-employer doesn't answer the door so the bailiffs cannot do anything.

Have been advised against an order the obtain information enforcement by the court as it seems they can't be bothered chasing ex-employer to serve it.

I cannot afford to let this amount drop but can barely afford to keep issuing enforcements.

Any advise about where to go from here would be greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.

ML

itsnever2lateisit?

How about a winding up order?

GeorgeUK

Does he have any assets / business assets?

Is it a case of he won't pay or that he can't pay?

Found this on the net.

Before issuing any court proceedings, you should try to establish whether or not the debtor can pay. You can do this by means of company or credit searches. If the debtor has no money and you take further action, you will be wasting time and more of your money pursuing them. Although it is a bitter pill, you will be much better off to write-off the debt and concentrate on productive work.

Charging Order

This is similar to taking a mortgage over freehold or leasehold property, if the debtor owns such property or an interest in it.


Execution

This involves sending the bailiffs to the debtor's address to see if there are any assets which are worth the bailiffs taking to sell to satisfy the judgement.


Garnishee Order

This is an order addressed to the debtor's bank (if you can find out the identity of it and the number of the account), requiring the bank to pay the judgement debt from any funds in the account. Under this order, the bank would have to pay the lower of the value of the judgement debt or the credit balance in the account.


Attachment of Earnings Order

This is only applicable if the debtor is employed and being paid a regular wage. Under such an order, the debtor's employer would have to pay the judgment debt by instalments by deducting them from the debtor's wages or salary.


Bankruptcy

Although not strictly a method of enforcing a judgement, this is often an effective way of "persuading" a debtor to pay a judgement debt. However, it is only of any use if the debtor actually has assets and does not want to lose them. The danger of using this method is that it is initially fairly expensive and there is no guarantee of getting the costs back (if for instance the debtor is genuinely bankrupt).

If you do not have any details of assets that the debtor might own, you can arrange a cross-examination about their financial affairs, to discover details of any assets.

Music_Lover_3

It is a case that ex-employer WON'T pay. The result of an extremely irresponsible, selfish lifestyle and zero morals.

Ex-employer called the bailiff and told them he was "working abroad" and they didn't bother calling at his property again. Surely this is all the proof they need that he's earning????!!!

He doesn't have any assets that I know of but lives hand-to-mouth so any money earned is zapped up by his needs.

ML

GeorgeUK

Had a think about this and need to clear something up.

Who was it you took to court? Was it the man or the company?
Different rules will apply if we are talking about corporate law. No idea what they are, but need to make sure we are looking at the correct area to start with.

Edit: Have you thought of moving this to the High Court so that their Bailiff's can go after this guy? I believe you hire them and they work on a commission basis. Still think that the other alternatives may be better though.

Have you contacted Citizens advice to see what they say?

Music_Lover_3

GeorgeUK wrote: »

Had a think about this and need to clear something up.

Who was it you took to court? Was it the man or the company?
Different rules will apply if we are talking about corporate law. No idea what they are, but need to make sure we are looking at the correct area to start with.

Edit: Have you thought of moving this to the High Court so that their Bailiff's can go after this guy? I believe you hire them and they work on a commission basis. Still think that the other alternatives may be better though.

Have you contacted Citizens advice to see what they say?

I issued a county court claim against the man, not the company. He doesn't have a company as all earning go through an agent. (have contacted the agent and they can't/won't help as he owes me the money, not them)

I'm not aware of the High Court so will go and look into it now but are you able to tell me if you have any experiences? Thanks.

I went to the citizens advice and they advised me to threaten to petition for his bankruptcy and carry it out if needs be. Although I have no qualms in doing this, it will be a last resort for me as it can be expensive and I won't get the money owed to me anyway. I know usually a threat is as much as it takes, but having worked in close proximity with this person, I know he knows no limits to haw far he'll go to do someone over.

ML

GeorgeUK

No experience i'm afraid, just looking at the legislation and gov/court sites for ideas. He doesn't have a car? It may be an idea to look into how to find out what assets/accounts he has.

Word of warning though - as many on the board will testify to, there are some very unscrupulous Bailiffs out there. Make sure you use a reputable one or you may have an even harder time getting your money.

Music_Lover_3

I appreciate your replies - thank you.

While they didn't carry out their job, I believe the county court bailiff was more lazy than unscrupulous. Their fee wasn't that high in the grand scheme of things but for all the good it's done me I'd rather have kept the money in my back pocket than line theirs.

I'm feeling such a great sense of injustice from the situation, especially from HMCS. Sent a letter of complaint to the county court about their handling of the situation by the bailiff, thinking that it might kick them up the backside for the order obtain information enforcement but all they did was call me and advise me to drop it.

The frustration is just causing massive headaches!

ML

hev_2

Check with a sympathetic court clerk. Many years ago you used to be able to get money owed from a third party paid directly to you which was called a garnishee. Money owed by the agent to your ex employer could be paid direct to you with an order from the court.

Please check this info as it may be out of date.

HTH

lesley1960

In our experience with having to sue non payers we have found the County Courts to be usless ( and quite often worse then that ) , try transfering to the high court , their baliffs have more powers i believe

tigerfeet2006

Don't try the bankruptcy route it will cost you a lot of the £2000 owed to you.

Best of luck with it all.