Small Claims Court Claim Advice Please

Dickie2shoes

I am about to launch an action in the Small Claims Court to recover a deposit of £1000+ paid in November 2021 to a supplier who has failed to deliver bespoke goods.

The problem is that I only have the Registered Office address of the limited company (which I think is a serviced office) as the only contact address I have. If court documents are served to this address and I win the judgement what does anyone think are the chances of recovering the debt when it is pretty clear that most day-to-day business is not done from this location?

I do have the bank details to which I paid the deposit. It is HSBC in the UK, the same bank as I bank with. Anyone know if there is the chance of requesting some sort of 'charge back' on an online banking transaction in a similar way to a credit card?

Any advice - even if slightly off-topic - very welcome!

pinkshoes

I would start by doing some research into the company to find out if they have any assets.

If it's a limited company, isn't it on Companies House with any addresses, and details of the directors?

What action have you taken so far to get your money back?

Dickie2shoes

The business had been recommended to me by an existing trusted supplier. Having met the director in person twice, I did not feel it necessary to do a check at Companies House until I started having problems and had to cancel the order.

To my horror, I found that the company has never filed any accounts (incorporated 2019) and has only one director - the chap I met. The company was about to be struck off by CH but currently has been granted an extension. To make matters worse, I find the only contact address is the Registered Office which is located in a suite of serviced offices. There is no private address listed for the sole director.

Until last month I had been corresponding by e-mail and letter during which the director stated he could not make a refund as he had had to dismiss his accountant for making unauthorised withdrawals from the company bank account. Apparently this had locked the director out of his online financial system. I have given numerous extensions to allow time for payment of the money owed and finally resorted to warning of legal action. Of course, since that point, there has been no correspondence from the company.

What really annoys me is that HSBC have continued to operate the company bank account so as to allow it to take desposits whilst the company is the subject of a Striking Off order which was first raised months before it took my deposit for future work.

Yes, I know - caveat emptor - but how paranoid does one need to be these days? The business came highly recommended.

macman

Serving papers to the limited company's registered address is quite correct, it doesn't matter if they see them or not: the court will accept that as service. Do NOT send them Signed For, as they may be refused.
No, there is no way to do a chargeback after a bank transfer payment: only from a debit card. Or an S75 claim from a credit card.
No one can tell you the chances of actually collecting your award after a CCJ is granted, but the last stats I saw were that only 16% of CCJ's issued were ever satisfied. However, given the relatively low costs of the small claims process, it may still be worthwhile.