Making a court claim to multiple ltd companies

UpToHere2020

Newbie here, please be nice.
Cribs: bought a static on a park, not fit for purpose, also misrepresentation etc.far too long to go into on this post.

I am planning to apply to the courts to attempt to reclaim my money. However, the company has a history of moving assets and closing Ltd companies as soon as a court case appears, so the plaintiff never gets a penny, and they're never affected by CCJs. 

I want to maximise my chances of retrieving some cash, and am hoping people on here may have advice.
In total its about 20k  which includes £15k for the van, and the rest on site fees.

Is it possible for me to potentially split the claim between with park manager who missold,  the director of the firm, and a couple of the 14 limited companies they have ? 

TIA

Aylesbury_Duck

UpToHere2020 said:

Newbie here, please be nice.
Cribs: bought a static on a park, not fit for purpose, also misrepresentation etc.far too long to go into on this post.

I am planning to apply to the courts to attempt to reclaim my money. However, the company has a history of moving assets and closing Ltd companies as soon as a court case appears, so the plaintiff never gets a penny, and they're never affected by CCJs. 

I want to maximise my chances of retrieving some cash, and am hoping people on here may have advice.
In total its about 20k  which includes £15k for the van, and the rest on site fees.

Is it possible for me to potentially split the claim between with park manager who missold,  the director of the firm, and a couple of the 14 limited companies they have ? 

TIA

I'm no lawyer but I would have thought you can only take action against parties you had direct dealings with. 

Given the magnitude of the sums involved, and the potential complexity, I'd advise getting proper legal advice rather than that of miscellaneous strangers on the web.

davidmcn

UpToHere2020 said:

Is it possible for me to potentially split the claim between with park manager who missold,  the director of the firm, and a couple of the 14 limited companies they have ? 

No, you can't just pick random companies to pursue because you feel like it. And if it's a limited company who owes you money, it's very unlikely that its directors or employees will be personally liable.

You risk being liable for expenses if you bring spurious claims like that. You pursue whoever actually owes you money.

Sandtree

At £20k of claim it is reasonably likely that the claim will not be allocated to the small track which means that legal costs start to be recoverable. As such it would be prudent to get formal legal advice from a solicitor to avoid your actions results in the case being rejected or decided against you and you then have to pay the other side's legal fees.

A defendants ability and likelihood to pay is a key considering when deciding if its worth incurring additional costs or not. Again the solicitor will talk you through what your best mitigantes are for your concerns but it is unlikely to be that you issue against 14 companies that you have no contractual relationship to.

UpToHere2020

I've called a number of solicitors. Its a very specialist field, and so far I haven't found one who specialises in the complexities of static caravan park laws.
Seeing multiple defendants is possible, and comes under Bullock law, I believe. 
Although the limited company itself owes me money, it is the manager and directors who have missold. 

davidmcn

UpToHere2020 said:

I've called a number of solicitors. Its a very specialist field, and so far I haven't found one who specialises in the complexities of static caravan park laws.
Seeing multiple defendants is possible, and comes under Bullock law, I believe. 
Although the limited company itself owes me money, it is the manager and directors who have missold. 

The only "Bullock Law" I can think of is the one about not driving the bus at less than 50mph...
Yes, you can sue multiple defendants, if they're actually liable. You can't just lump in everybody whom you think is connected with the relevant defendant.
Everything which limited companies do is carried out by individuals, it doesn't mean they're personally liable.

steampowered

Claim against the company you actually have a contract with.

Then, if assets are moved out of that company to avoid paying creditors, you may be able to sue the directors responsible for that personally under s423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/45/section/423).

I don't particularly see why this is specialist or why you need an expert in static caravan park laws, unless there are other details I am not aware of.

Sandtree

davidmcn said:

UpToHere2020 said:

I've called a number of solicitors. Its a very specialist field, and so far I haven't found one who specialises in the complexities of static caravan park laws.
Seeing multiple defendants is possible, and comes under Bullock law, I believe. 
Although the limited company itself owes me money, it is the manager and directors who have missold. 

The only "Bullock Law" I can think of is the one about not driving the bus at less than 50mph...

I think they are referring to Bullock and Sanderson Orders 
"Sanderson" and "Bullock" Orders - Nevil Phillips | Quadrant Chambers

But these relate only to costs where you sue 2 companies and succeed against one but fail on another (and so in theory the other defendant could be awarded costs from the claimant) 

davidmcn

Sandtree said:

davidmcn said:

UpToHere2020 said:

I've called a number of solicitors. Its a very specialist field, and so far I haven't found one who specialises in the complexities of static caravan park laws.
Seeing multiple defendants is possible, and comes under Bullock law, I believe. 
Although the limited company itself owes me money, it is the manager and directors who have missold. 

The only "Bullock Law" I can think of is the one about not driving the bus at less than 50mph...

I think they are referring to Bullock and Sanderson Orders 
"Sanderson" and "Bullock" Orders - Nevil Phillips | Quadrant Chambers

But these relate only to costs where you sue 2 companies and succeed against one but fail on another (and so in theory the other defendant could be awarded costs from the claimant) 

And in any event appears to be restricted to where it might have been reasonable to sue the two companies in the first place - the court still has discretion to award costs if it ought to have been obvious that your claim was without foundation.

bris

You sue the name or company on the invoice, suing any one else will just get it thrown out before it gets anywhere.

Ltd companies are set up for this type of thing, the Ltd co is in it's own right it's own legal entity.

loveka

I am in a very similar situation to you in that I bought a caravan which is not fit for purpose.  I have lost about 17k.
I bought it from a limited company and I have been advised by a consumer law specialist solicitor that there is no point pursuing it through the courts. Even if ( and it is actually when as I am 100% sure I would) I won I would not be able to actually get the money or costs as they would simply close the business down to avoid paying. So I would be throwing even more money away.

The fast track is costly and sometimes judges don't even award you all your costs even of you win.

It is a hard pill to swallow and I'm feeling pretty low about it. The law really is an !!!!!!.