At a loss now..

SnowyWoodland

Hey all,

I'll try and keep this short. I have learnt my lesson and in a big way currently. 

I found a builder online for a project, who then did half a day's work and vanished with a lot of money last summer. I paid by bank transfer.

We have used solicitors. We have got the CCJ. It now transpires that the address they use for correspondence is their parents house, they don't live there anymore. They are ignoring bailiffs calls.

I know they live on a traveller site in a static home in the same area. 

I don't believe they were ever going to do the work, so is this fraud? The original page I found them online has been taken down. Can I claim via their insurance? (They apparently have this on check a trade)

Total sum is £15k+

I am at a complete loss. 

eskbanker

SnowyWoodland said:

I don't believe they were ever going to do the work, so is this fraud?

How would you prove that, to the standard required for criminal charges?  Even if you did though, it wouldn't get your money back.

SnowyWoodland said:

Can I claim via their insurance? (They apparently have this on check a trade)

It doesn't sound particularly likely that business insurers would pay out for a dispute like this, that's not what such policies generally cover.

I can see why you'd be exploring any and every avenue but don't see either of these as being viable, although don't have any better ideas, I'm afraid, if successful court action was ultimately fruitless....

SnowyWoodland

I just think it's crazy that people are able to get away with this. 

SpudGunPaul

SnowyWoodland said:

Hey all,

I'll try and keep this short. I have learnt my lesson and in a big way currently. 

I found a builder online for a project, who then did half a day's work and vanished with a lot of money last summer. I paid by bank transfer.

We have used solicitors. We have got the CCJ. It now transpires that the address they use for correspondence is their parents house, they don't live there anymore. They are ignoring bailiffs calls.

I know they live on a traveller site in a static home in the same area. 

I don't believe they were ever going to do the work, so is this fraud? The original page I found them online has been taken down. Can I claim via their insurance? (They apparently have this on check a trade)

Total sum is £15k+

I am at a complete loss. 

What do you think your chances are of seeing the money again?

Write the money off and move on. 

SpudGunPaul

SnowyWoodland said:

I just think it's crazy that people are able to get away with this. 

That's the chance you took when hiring them. 

user1977

SpudGunPaul said:

SnowyWoodland said:

I just think it's crazy that people are able to get away with this. 

That's the chance you took when hiring them. 

Well, it's the chance they took by choosing to pay them in advance by bank transfer...

tightauldgit

SnowyWoodland said:

Hey all,

I'll try and keep this short. I have learnt my lesson and in a big way currently. 

I found a builder online for a project, who then did half a day's work and vanished with a lot of money last summer. I paid by bank transfer.

We have used solicitors. We have got the CCJ. It now transpires that the address they use for correspondence is their parents house, they don't live there anymore. They are ignoring bailiffs calls.

I know they live on a traveller site in a static home in the same area. 

I don't believe they were ever going to do the work, so is this fraud? The original page I found them online has been taken down. Can I claim via their insurance? (They apparently have this on check a trade)

Total sum is £15k+

I am at a complete loss. 

I don't think the wrong address should be an end to it here - the CCJ is presumably against a person or a company so if you can track down the individual it can still be enforced. The question of course is whether this person or company has the assets to pay you.

If they're dishonest then the likelihood is they don't have any insurance in reality, and in any case I don't think insurance would cover businesses in these cases. 

I don't really see what more you can do.

It may or may not amount to fraud but that's not going to help get your money back  

SpudGunPaul

tightauldgit said:

SnowyWoodland said:

Hey all,

I'll try and keep this short. I have learnt my lesson and in a big way currently. 

I found a builder online for a project, who then did half a day's work and vanished with a lot of money last summer. I paid by bank transfer.

We have used solicitors. We have got the CCJ. It now transpires that the address they use for correspondence is their parents house, they don't live there anymore. They are ignoring bailiffs calls.

I know they live on a traveller site in a static home in the same area. 

I don't believe they were ever going to do the work, so is this fraud? The original page I found them online has been taken down. Can I claim via their insurance? (They apparently have this on check a trade)

Total sum is £15k+

I am at a complete loss. 

I don't think the wrong address should be an end to it here - the CCJ is presumably against a person or a company so if you can track down the individual it can still be enforced. The question of course is whether this person or company has the assets to pay you.

If they're dishonest then the likelihood is they don't have any insurance in reality, and in any case I don't think insurance would cover businesses in these cases. 

I don't really see what more you can do.

It may or may not amount to fraud but that's not going to help get your money back  

You need the correct address to obtain a CCJ. 

tightauldgit

SpudGunPaul said:

tightauldgit said:

SnowyWoodland said:

Hey all,

I'll try and keep this short. I have learnt my lesson and in a big way currently. 

I found a builder online for a project, who then did half a day's work and vanished with a lot of money last summer. I paid by bank transfer.

We have used solicitors. We have got the CCJ. It now transpires that the address they use for correspondence is their parents house, they don't live there anymore. They are ignoring bailiffs calls.

I know they live on a traveller site in a static home in the same area. 

I don't believe they were ever going to do the work, so is this fraud? The original page I found them online has been taken down. Can I claim via their insurance? (They apparently have this on check a trade)

Total sum is £15k+

I am at a complete loss. 

I don't think the wrong address should be an end to it here - the CCJ is presumably against a person or a company so if you can track down the individual it can still be enforced. The question of course is whether this person or company has the assets to pay you.

If they're dishonest then the likelihood is they don't have any insurance in reality, and in any case I don't think insurance would cover businesses in these cases. 

I don't really see what more you can do.

It may or may not amount to fraud but that's not going to help get your money back  

You need the correct address to obtain a CCJ. 

They've already got the CCJ though. Now they're trying to enforce it. That being the case, provided you can establish its the same person then it should still apply. Otherwise everyone who got a CCJ against them would just move house. 

SnowyWoodland

Perhaps a third party debt order is a  route.  As I've said I've learnt my lesson for future prospects. I'm just trying to figure out if there are any other ways to get my money back that I'm missing, before I give up. 

SpudGunPaul

SnowyWoodland said:

Perhaps a third party debt order is a  route.  As I've said I've learnt my lesson for future prospects. I'm just trying to figure out if there are any other ways to get my money back that I'm missing, before I give up. 

Is your CCJ against an individual or a company, do you know they have the means to pay?