Taking Ltd Company to court

SteveJW

Currently in the process of taking a Ltd. company to court

The company currently has over 20 vehicles for sale with an average value of £10,000

Can they close the company and transfer the vehicles to a new company, can anything be done to prevent this.

I currently have the company monitored va Companies House for any change n the status of the company

The sale of the vehicle was to a private individual as B2C sale and covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015)

The claim is for the rejection of a faulty vehicle, it had a starting issue from the day after purchase

The vehicle was also not as advertised, no spare key and no service history

Within one week I verbally and also via Whatsapp told the company I  was rejecting the vehicle under the the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015)

Within 30 days of purchase a letter  rejecting the vehicle under the CRA 2015 was sent to the registered address of the company, subsequently a letter before action has been sent.

No reply has been received

I am open to mediation

eskbanker

SteveJW said:

Within one week I verbally and also via Whatsapp told the company I  was rejecting the vehicle under the the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015)

Within 30 days of purchase a letter  rejecting the vehicle under the CRA 2015 was sent to the registered address of the company, subsequently a letter before action has been sent.

You've hopefully physically returned the car to the dealer's premises?

SteveJW said:

Can they close the company and transfer the vehicles to a new company, can anything be done to prevent this.

They could, and you wouldn't be able to stop them (except much further down the line with expensive injunctions or the like to seize assets once a debt is established by a court) - is there any evidence of such activity from the history of the company and its directors on Companies House?

bluelad1927

What difference does it make regarding the amount of vehicles they have for sale. You have no idea who owns those vehicles

SteveJW

There was nothing in the sales documentation relating to the return of the vehicle

Section 20 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 deals with issues around the right to reject, be that the 30 day short-term right to reject or the final right to reject (we will come to this in a latter update).

The law actually says:

“The consumer has a duty to make the goods available for collection by the trader or (if there is an agreement for the consumer to return rejected goods) to return them as agreed.”

It goes on to say:

“Whether or not the consumer has a duty to return the rejected goods, the trader must bear any reasonable costs of returning them, other than any cost incurred by the consumer in returning the goods in person to the place where the consumer took physical possession of them”.

The vehicle is a available for collection, the vendor has failed to make any contact relating to the return or collection of the vehicle

SteveJW

bluelad1927 said:

What difference does it make regarding the amount of vehicles they have for sale. You have no idea who owns those vehicles

Is it not resonable for a Ltd company having 20 vehicles for sale to believe they are owned by the company

It may be possible that a bank of financial institution may have a financial intrest in the vehicles, but for the amount of vehicles I think maybe not

Many of the larger groups have their vehicles on finance, this confuses people when the do an HPI check

user1977

bluelad1927 said:

What difference does it make regarding the amount of vehicles they have for sale. You have no idea who owns those vehicles

And even if they are owned by the company, they could well have a creditor who will have first bite of the cherry.

badmemory

I am sorry but the likelihood of those vehicles actually being owned by the company are slim.  If a company is going to behave in a dodgy way the first thing they do is make sure they own nothing.  A friend of mine as part of his business sold used cars.  Totally honest which is why he still had people coming back to buy after over 40 years.  But some of the cars were not owned by him.  Like mine which he sold for me to save me having people coming to my house.  He took a pre-arranged fee.  If someone is going to be dishonest the vehicles will be in the names of allsorts at an address of a rental house that keeps changing hands.

Lomast

Very few car dealers could afford to have that much stock of their own, normally they use dealer financing so they will either be owned by or used as security for a finance co

powerful_Rogue

Presuming the vehicle isn't being used anymore?

What's the difference in mileage from purchase to today?

Alderbank

@SteveJW, what date did you reject the vehicle and how had you paid for it? It is possible that there might be an easier way of recovering your money than taking them to court.

What stage are you at with taking them to court? Do you have a hearing date? If not, you will be looking at the end of 2024 or early 2025.

What is the reason behind your interest in their current stock they are advertising for sale? Is your plan to 'seize' one of those vehicles as lien for the money you believe they owe you?
Or is it to win your case, get awarded a CCJ against them and then instruct enforcement officers (bailiffs) to impound one of those vehicles and sell it to pay your costs?

Both options sound highly risky, not least because as stated above, even if the business is still trading at that time their vehicles will almost certainly be part of a vehicle dealer stock funding plan such as Black Horse or Close Brothers (there are lots of similar ones).
Bailiffs have access to their finance records and will not touch any of their stock.

@badmemory says,'If a company is going to behave in a dodgy way the first thing they do is make sure they own nothing.'

To be fair, If a company is going to behave in a tax efficient way the first thing their accountant will advise them is to make sure they own nothing.

SteveJW

powerful_Rogue said:

Presuming the vehicle isn't being used anymore?

What's the difference in mileage from purchase to today?

Not been used

Around 200 miles

Thanks for the reply