Small Claims Court - Sharing personal details

PaulC5

So I'm hoping quite a simple question for someone to answer quickly. I am completing a claim against a client who didn't pay for a job I did. They haven't responded to my first invoice, a second reminder or my last response which answered there concerns as to why they won't pay. (They only responded with there reasons why when my solicitor wrote them a letter which I had to pay for!) Anyway I haven't disclosed my personal address with them and don't feel comfortable in doing so. When completing the form on MoneyClaim.gov.uk there is no mention whether my address is shared or not with the defendant. Can anyone confirm if my address would be shared with them or not?

lincroft1710

Didn't your invoice have an address on it?

Keep_pedalling

Court records are public documents, but in any case anyone running a business should have a published business address. 

PaulC5

No my invoice didn't have my address only my name, mobile number, email address and bank details. I didn't do the work through any business. I was starting out and it was my very first job which I found through Facebook and they are a friend of a friend. You could say cash in hand to be declared on my self assessment when I come to file it. I was testing the water so to speak having been out of my normal office job at the time for 10 months. Fortunately I now have an office job with a regular income so don't need the money but still I won't let unpaid invoiced of nearly £2,000 get ignored!

DiddyDavies

PaulC5 said:

No my invoice didn't have my address only my name, mobile number, email address and bank details. I didn't do the work through any business. I was starting out and it was my very first job which I found through Facebook and they are a friend of a friend. You could say cash in hand to be declared on my self assessment when I come to file it. I was testing the water so to speak having been out of my normal office job at the time for 10 months. Fortunately I now have an office job with a regular income so don't need the money but still I won't let unpaid invoiced of nearly £2,000 get ignored!

Even though it was your first job, you were obviously operating as a business of some sort and as such, you should be showing a business or contact address.
If it does get to court, I wouldn't be too confident in your winning as no sensible person would make a payment of close to £2k to a business without first being given full details of that business and I know that I wouldn't make that sort of payment to a trader who refused to provide their full details.
After all, if there was to be a problem with the work in the future and you refuse to rectify it, without an address there would be very little that they could do to get the situation resolved.

PaulC5

I was operating as sole trader or self employed I don't have a business address, whats so difficult about that? They never asked for a business name or address, as far as they were concerned I was doing them a favour because the plumber they usually use cancelled on them at the last minute (I know why he did now!) Anyway totally going off on a tangent, how about someone helpful answering my original question please?

pramsay13

You've had your answer.
The court records are public documents so even if it is not shared directly it will be available for the person to find.
You need to include your address in the court document, so if that's a deal breaker simply forget about it and move on.

unholyangel

PaulC5 said:

I was operating as sole trader or self employed I don't have a business address, whats so difficult about that? They never asked for a business name or address, as far as they were concerned I was doing them a favour because the plumber they usually use cancelled on them at the last minute (I know why he did now!) Anyway totally going off on a tangent, how about someone helpful answering my original question please?

You were also required, by law, to provide the consumer your geographical address (and your identity along with the identity/address of anyone you were acting on behalf of). If you had no business premises then that would be your home address. 

You may not think it's relevant but if you weren't aware of that obligation then you're probably not aware of the rest and may not have a contract that can be enforced. 

Also, a sole trader may not be a company, but they are still a business and have all the same obligations. 

PaulC5

Ok address aside. Are you suggesting I’m not entitled to be paid for a job I did because I didn’t give the client my address? There was no mention of any of that when I discussed my situation with my solicitor who is a friend of my brothers.

DiddyDavies

PaulC5 said:

Ok address aside. Are you suggesting I’m not entitled to be paid for a job I did because I didn’t give the client my address? There was no mention of any of that when I discussed my situation with my solicitor who is a friend of my brothers.

It's not a case of not being entitled to get paid for the work, more a case of possibly not being able to use the UK court system to help get you the payment.
As you didn't comply with your legal obligations when dealing with the customer, any contract that you thought may be in place may actually be invalid, hence the court can't help to enforce it.

unholyangel

PaulC5 said:

Ok address aside. Are you suggesting I’m not entitled to be paid for a job I did because I didn’t give the client my address? There was no mention of any of that when I discussed my situation with my solicitor who is a friend of my brothers.

No I'm saying if you don't know you were legally obliged to give them the address, you probably weren't aware of your other legal obligations and may not have an enforceable contract. 

If the contract was for urgent repairs (needed for the safety of the property, like a burst pipe) then you needed to inform them that they would not benefit from the right to cancel, your identity, your geographical address, the total price (inclusive of taxes), the period of performance etc in a durable medium before they were bound by the contract. 

If it was not an urgent repair then it gets even trickier. Because in that situation, you need to tell them that they have the right to cancel, you cannot perform services in the cancellation period unless they make an express request (and if off premises then it needs to be on a durable medium) to begin services within the cancellation period and you can't charge them anything if you begin provision without having received that express request from them. If you complied with your obligations, then the cancellation period ends 14 days after entering the contract. If you did not, then the cancellation period can be extended up to a maximum of 1 year and 14 days.