Very complicated MCOL court money claim - can you help please?

Davvo_100

Hello. I've had recent advice here about a section 75 claim for a used car, and the help was very reassuring in that regard. Thank you again to those who helped me.

Sorry this is a long read and complicated...

I was advised prior to have a section 75 claim running alongside a Money Claim Online claim (MCOL) then cancel whichever is no longer needed.

The MCOL will be for over 5k, but under £10k.

I've followed all court procedure re letters for car rejection / letter before court action etc.

My problem is with the actual defendant(s) to sue, and there are address problems (I'll need to have this info correct for the section 75 claim too)

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible..

I purchased the car from the car traders dealership premises. It is a LTD company.

The dealer jointly owns another LTD business which does car repair works.

My car had a fake service, (fake MOT elsewhere) and brakes work done at the repairs business day of purchase.

The work done left the car unsafe (this was only picked up on a follow up MOT shortly afterwards)

The balance payment (99% of the purchase price) had to be sent to the dealers repair business. Instructions on this were on the VAT receipt handed to me. That is the only paperwork I received, which states both businesses...

On one side of the sheet, though hidden under my staped on credit card deposit receipt, is the repairs business stated in full with its vat reg no. That checks out ok.

On the other side is the car dealership logo, whereI bought the car, but it only has their old trading address very faintly underneath. They stopped trading at that address last July.

To complete the MCOL, I must state the business registered address as given on Companies House, which has not been updated either. It's illegal, but really leaves me in a mess completing the MCOL defendant's details...

I have called the MCOL helpline and explained this. The call handler said this was a tricky situation, and that they can't advise me.

If I add the C.H. address, the dealer will not receive the court docs, and the case would likely go to default. Problem with that, is I know the address is incorrect. Then apparently the dealer can get the defaul overturned.

I'll either get into bother not following court procedure by giving the actual known address, or risk the scenario just above.

I don't know how to go forward with this problem.

There's info on the court justice website for situations like mine, which is too jargonese for me to be sure of.

I know that if I don't do this right, I can lose my case.

I also don't know if I should be suing the repairs business and it's co-owner too, and not just the dealership (I only visited the car sale premises, but the money didn't go there, only my deposit)

The repairs business co-owner was involved with the car though, as he physically did the botch job on the brakes (he called me to say he'd done the work)

Can anyone with the knowledge help me untangle either parts of this mess please?

Thank you for your time.

HillStreetBlues

Be very careful using a court claim before  a S75

I remember reading a Ombudsmen decision.

The person took the trader to court and won the case,
The trader did not pay even when an CCJ  was issued,

So the person used the S75 to try and reclaim the money

It went to the Ombudsmen after the credit card company refused to pay.

The appeal wasn't upheld.

The reason was that the person was legally entitled to the money from the trader via the  court.
If the credit card company paid out the person would still be entitled to the money from the trader via the court. (a s75 wouldn't change that).

This risked the person being pay out twice, so because of that it wasn't upheld.

Alderbank

To complete the MCOL, I must state the business registered address as given on Companies House, which has not been updated either. It's illegal, but really leaves me in a mess completing the MCOL defendant's details...

I have called the MCOL helpline and explained this. The call handler said this was a tricky situation, and that they can't advise me.

If I add the C.H. address, the dealer will not receive the court docs, and the case would likely go to default. Problem with that, is I know the address is incorrect. Then apparently the dealer can get the defaul overturned.

I'll either get into bother not following court procedure by giving the actual known address, or risk the scenario just above.

I don't know how to go forward with this problem.

My understanding is that you use the CH address. The business has the duty to keep the address correct and to ensure they receive any business correspondence if they move. Failure to respond to their registered address is not a defence.

I do not believe you should pursue a s75 claim in parallel with a court claim. Apart from any complications you would not recover any fees paid into court.
Pursue the s75 first. There are no fees and the process is less formal. If the bank finds against you you still have the option to sue the dealer then the bank.

fatbelly

I agree. Court is the final option if all else fails.

This also fulfils the court ' overriding objective' which says effectively the same thing

Davvo_100

Wow thank you posters! This takes some of the pressure off my shoulders for now.

I called the credit card company a couple of days ago, as the online portal for a claim only gave tiny boxes to respond, and only allows a small amount of file upload space for evidence. I couldn't even get a 1/4 of the docs uploaded.

They said they'd send out a paper form to complete instead and it's worse. It's a single sheet of paper and half of the questions don't apply (how / when did you return the item / supply tracking / proof of return / have you cancelled the service / why did you cancel the service etc etc.

Gawd! I'll just have to write everything out on reams of separate paper and hope they read everything.

The top of the dispute sheet they've filled in states the merchant as business I bought the car from, as I didn't mention the repair business saga over the phone, just who I paid the CC deposit to.

I'm guessing for section 75 CC claim, I didn't need to state the other business as the merchant, as I paid the CC deposit to the car dealership?

I will state who / where the balance went to in my supplementary sheets. I won't miss any info out.

Thanks