Find company not on companies house who has disappeared after taking my deposit

Debbo1

Hi,  I wish to take a company to the small claims court to recover  a deposit paid for building works not carried out and not responding to my correspondence.  The company is not appearing on Companies House however.  How can I find them?  

TheMilkmansDad

If you've paid the deposit then presumably you have a quote and/or invoice. Are there not contact details there? You'd probably also need that paperwork should you end up in court.

sheramber

How did you find them in the first place?

How did you pay the deposit?

They may not be a 'company' bit a sole trader/partnership so would not be  registered with Companies House.

Debbo1

Found via Mybuilder.com. Paid deposit via BACS payment. 

comeandgo

Did they describe themselves as a Ltd company?  If so have you done a search under director names? I’m assuming you do have a persons name?  

born_again

Debbo1 said:

Found via Mybuilder.com. Paid deposit via BACS payment. 

Contact Mybuilder for their details 👍
But given you mention " not responding to my correspondence" just what means is this by?

ThumbRemote

If you paid via BACs, presumably you have a surname (if it went to a personal account) or a business name (if it went to a business account). 

You're going to have to do some detective work to find out the address details if that's what you need. Do they have a van with contact numbers on? If you need an address, can you follow it to see where it parks at night? Can you get a friend to ring them to give a quote for something, so you know they are still operating? 

Sandtree

Debbo1 said:

Hi,  I wish to take a company to the small claims court to recover  a deposit paid for building works not carried out and not responding to my correspondence.  The company is not appearing on Companies House however.  How can I find them?  

If they are not on Companies House then they are not a UK company. 

What is the name of the business? It could easily be you are mistaking a sole trader's trading name as a company name. 

I know with some of these sites it allows you to see their certificate of insurance which can be a good way to double check who the party is.

comeandgo

Sandtree said:

Debbo1 said:

Hi,  I wish to take a company to the small claims court to recover  a deposit paid for building works not carried out and not responding to my correspondence.  The company is not appearing on Companies House however.  How can I find them?  

If they are not on Companies House then they are not a UK company. 

Only limited companies will be recorded at companies house.  Partnership and sole traders who are perfectly legally trading will not be known there.

Sandtree

comeandgo said:

Sandtree said:

Debbo1 said:

Hi,  I wish to take a company to the small claims court to recover  a deposit paid for building works not carried out and not responding to my correspondence.  The company is not appearing on Companies House however.  How can I find them?  

If they are not on Companies House then they are not a UK company. 

Only limited companies will be recorded at companies house.  Partnership and sole traders who are perfectly legally trading will not be known there.

No, unlimited companies (like this site used to be when Martin got embarrassed with how much money he was making) and Limited Liability Partnerships are also listed.

Partnerships and Sole Traders are not companies but are a perfectly legal form of business yes but aren't companies @comeandgo as a company is a legal entity in its own right whereas the other two forms of business do not create an independent legal entity

user1977

Sandtree said:

Debbo1 said:

Hi,  I wish to take a company to the small claims court to recover  a deposit paid for building works not carried out and not responding to my correspondence.  The company is not appearing on Companies House however.  How can I find them?  

What is the name of the business? It could easily be you are mistaking a sole trader's trading name as a company name. 

And it's also possible for a limited company to be known as a completely different trading name from its legal one.