Wedding Venue in Liquidation

Civvy21

Good morning
A family member is getting married in October of this year. 
She has just received a letter stating that the wedding venue has gone into liquidation. The letter also states that the venue has been taken over by another company and that the wedding can go ahead as planned. However it states that all payments made up to 1 February (approx. £3,000, paid by credit card) have been lost and that she will need to claim these from her insurance. All payments made after 1 Feb (approx £2,000) are safe and are held be the new company.  
Firstly, would it be better to claim the lost payments from the credit card company? Or would the credit card company expect you to claim from the insurance company? I assume it would be better to claim from the credit card company so as to keep the insurance intact? 
Secondly, the whole thing seems far too "neat and clean" to me. Are there any other obvious (to others that is) pitfalls that we should be aware of.
Grateful for any advice.

DoaM

In such a situation you have a Section 75 claim against the CC company. (Any claim you have against the seller you have an equal claim against the CC company). Whilst you may be able to use insurance you'd be subject to any T&Cs (e.g. excess), so a S75 claim may be simpler.

Has the company name (for the venue) changed yet the people are the same? (I mean directors etc. Check on Companies House).

Civvy21

Thank you DoaM. I appreciate your response. 
The new company, which has a different name, claims to be "a newly formed company set up with new partners, director and management team in place, employing some of the team which worked at the venues in the past..." 
We will go ahead with a S75 claim. I assume this will not affect the existing insurance in any way, and she will continue to have full and existing cover in case there are any further hiccups down the line. 

DoaM

I can't see why you making a claim via another (lawful) means would have any impact at all on your wedding insurance. If anything you're saving them money by not claiming on it.

unholyangel

Civvy21 said:

Thank you DoaM. I appreciate your response. 
The new company, which has a different name, claims to be "a newly formed company set up with new partners, director and management team in place, employing some of the team which worked at the venues in the past..." 
We will go ahead with a S75 claim. I assume this will not affect the existing insurance in any way, and she will continue to have full and existing cover in case there are any further hiccups down the line. 

That's easy enough to verify - just search the details on companies house. 

DoaM

Exactly what I suggested this morning.

eddddy

If you have any doubts, it might be worth double-checking that the original company has really gone into liquidation and been wound up. As an unsecured creditor, your family member might get a small payout.

Your family member would have had a contract with the original company. But it sounds like they've entered into a new contract with the new company - because they've paid another £2,000.

Are the terms of the new contract with the new company fully understood by everyone? The terms of the old contract won't automatically carry forward to the new contract. It might be worth making sure that everything is re-stated in writing with the new company. 

Civvy21

Thank you all for your comments. Very helpful.
We will indeed be having a good look at the new t&cs. A S75 claim has been made.

born_again

DoaM said:

I can't see why you making a claim via another (lawful) means would have any impact at all on your wedding insurance. If anything you're saving them money by not claiming on it.

Expect CC to ask if any insurance. If there is they will say to use it.

Also possible option of chargeback on the £3K given the co have ceased trading.

Civvy21

Thank you born_again. That is interesting.
In this situation is it clear cut which avenue she will be required to go down? It may well be that the bank would rather you use your insurance, but can she be compelled to do so? Thanks. 

Civvy21

An update....
The bank (HSBC) initially turned down the section 75 claim as it was past the 120 day deadline. Utter nonsense of course and I advised my family member accordingly. They have since continued to drag their feet but have now refunded about half of the claim. These were the credit card payments she made( I was unaware initially that she had used a combination of credit and debit card on her installment payments). HSBC have now advised her that they cannot refund the debit card payments yet because the bank's lawyers are dealing with it. I assume this is complete nonsense too. If the banks layers are "looking into it" then surely that is their concern. As the bank have, in effect, accepted the Section 75 claim and repaid her credit card payments then surely they would have to repay the debit card payments?
Grateful for any advice.