Chasing a company for an unpaid debt

regular_joe551

Hi, I'm just after some advice about next steps in a consumer rights situation. A small company sold a multi-year maintenance plan for renewable energy generation system to my elderly parents. They have really failed to deliver the contract so after >1.5 years of frustration we have asked for a refund. They played hard-ball and refused. So we filed a case at the small claims court and we won. They were ordered to pay a reasonable refund, but they have not responded to the court or to us. We found out through the bank (used to pay them) the details of at least one of the company’s accounts. So we requested 3rd party debt order from the court, which has now been granted on an interim basis. But unfortunately the bank dealing with the interim court order has advised us that the company has already closed that account. It is proving very difficult to recover the money as the company has adopted multiple strategies to avoid being contacted and may be acting under a pseudonym. I strongly suspect their official address (which changes most years) is just a front, and will not contain valuable items which a bailiff could use to pay this debt. The options we think we could follow are: (1) Quit. (2) Try the bailiff, but risk losing more money through court fees. (3) Try a debt-collection agency (e.g. no-win-no-fee) and let them do the chasing. At the end of the day, it’s not a life-changing, vast amount of money lost. But the thought that this shady person sat down with my parents and extracted a few thousand pounds in up-front payment and then basically ghosted them makes me want to take this all the way. Any advice appreciated. Thank you. 

Aylesbury_Duck

How much is the debt?  That will determine if options 2 or 3 are sensible, or more trouble than they're worth.  A few thousand was the original price, what amount of that was deemed refundable by the court?

regular_joe551

£1700 and rising with any interest and any additional court fees. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Option 3 looks the best to me.  Option 1 guarantees nothing, option 2 risks more money lost, option 3 at least gives the chance of something with minimal effort, and if the amount your parents actually receive is relatively inconsequential (after fees), at least the trader has been penalised.

regular_joe551

Thanks, I was thinking along the same lines. Just wanted to see if I missed another option. Happy to hear anyone else's thoughts or a recommendation for a decent NWNF debt collection agency. Cheers.