I'm about to win a Money Claim Online case. What are my next options?

garethpick

Based in England (north). I have no legal representation.

This claim is from myself in my personal name against a limited company (let's call it "XYZ LTD")

1) I entered into a contract with an interior designer for a design of a house that I was about to purchase. The price agreed was £5,000 + VAT.

In her own terms and conditions, there was an allowance for a cooling-off period of 14 days during which the entire amount would be refunded for any reasons if I emailed her.

I had this red-lined and instead we had this extended to 30 days as the conveyancing solicitor hadn't completed the searches yet. She was happy to do this and she initialed the new clause and sent it back. I paid £6,000 to her limited company (XYZ LTD)

2 ) The house price sale fell through and I sent an email to XYZ LTD requesting the money back. This was done after 21 days of signing the contract (so well within the amended t&c's).

3 ) Thereafter there were a huge list of excuses for not paying the money back, including but not limited to, being on holiday, mother being in hospital, away on a big job in London, etc etc.

She then send one last email, saying I'd breached the Terms and Conditions by going over the 14 day period and I wasn't entitled to a refund. I tried to email back a copy of the contract she initialed but heard nothing from her.

Also, during business hours I visited her house where I'd first met her to discuss the job (the limited company is at her home address) with a female friend as a witness and recorded everything on a GoPro in case she alleged harassment but she refused to answer the door (her car was on the driveway).

4 ) I was patient for 2 months trying to correspond with her bu  then sent her a Letter Before Action demanding the full return of funds within 14 days or I would begin Money Claim online proceedings.

I don't have a solicitor but I did some reading and followed some templates on how to draft a Letter Before Action to stay within the Pre Conduct protocols.

There was a great piece of advice somewhere on MSE to send all correspondence via First Class Post (with a Proof of Posting receipt) and NOT Signed For or Special Delivery as U.K. courts will consider papers served if you use ordinary first class post. I also sent a PDF of the letter via email and WhatsApp but am pretty sure I'm blocked on both.

5 ) She refused to reply to any more of my calls and emails so I made Money Claim Online application and paid the court fee £455 by card. The Defendant is XYZ Ltd. Unfortunately I made a mistake in calculating the interest. In the box where I had to put the daily interest (£1.32) I accidentally put the full interest owing up to that date. I'll come back to this point later.

6 ) I then sent a bundle of documents which back up my claim to BOTH the Defendant (First Class post with  Proof of Posting) and to the Money Claim Online in Northampton (Special Delivery). I wasn't sure I had to send it to the Court but I did it anyway.

There wasn't much paperwork, it was mainly the proof of the bank transfer, the red-lined contract with her initials and my signature, the emails chasing payment and the Letter before Action.

She's ignored everything and the deadline for her to respond will be Friday and it's unlikely I'll hear anything from her.

I have a couple of questions please:

------ According to Money Claim Online, my next step will be to apply for a Default Judgment.

Thereafter I can use the following as enforcement (I've listed these in order of preference I'd like to use):

i) Third Party Debt order (I have her XYZ Ltd business bank account details that I paid to)
ii) Instructing High Court Enforcement Agents (but which is the best firm to engage in the North of England please?)
iii) Applying for a court order to compel the Defendant to come to court and explain the limited company's finances
iv) Have the company wound up.

Of the 4 options, the best seems to be the Third Party Debt order as I know from companies house filings that she's in profit for each of the last 3 years that she's filed and I regularly see her making Instagram videos of new clients that she's taking on and designing for. However, she might have anticipated this and moved all her money into a 2nd bank account (like a Starling or Monzo that you can open same day on your phone app) that I'm not aware of.

a ) My question is, can I do a Third Party Debt order AND instruct High Court Enforcement Officer AND apply for a court order to compel her to come to court and disclose her finances all at the same time?

Or is it just 1 enforcement action each time and that if one fails (or only partially succeeds) that I move to the 2nd one on the list?

b ) Also secondly, should I inform the Court I made an error in calculating the Daily Interest and ask them to correct it? How should I do this?

c ) Could this set my application back or have it thrown out so that I'd have to start a new one? Or would the Judge make an allowance for a litigant in person to make a mistake?

I'm aware that not all Money Claim Online applications succeed and I may well be losing more money in paying for applications that might not succeed but I'm in a very good financial situation so am happy to proceed on the basis I might not get anything back in return.

Thank you for any assistance.

fatbelly

It's the defendant that should point out any mistake on your application.

Assuming you do get a judgement in default, there is not much point in paying for multiple enforcements.

My understanding is that you would usually do an order to obtain information where you do not have sufficient information. It sounds like you do not need to do That.

Bailiffs and 3pDO I think (someone can correct me if wrong) is not an allowable combination. If you know that her business has identifiable assets I'd use an HCEO. We have found that banks do not always play ball with 3pDOs

Phoenix72

What does the companies house accounts say about any assets the company may have? Profits does not equal assets.
If they have none or very little then you are throwing good money after bad. You do realise any personal assets/bank balances that she has are distinct from the ltd company.

DullGreyGuy

You need to look at the net balance sheet on Companies House, factoring in its age, to see what state the company is in. She is trading from home so it's likely the business has very few assets of worth. These are the types of things you really should be considering before paying court fees otherwise it will just be like the majority of court claims and never satisfied. 

PHK

Just to point out this is a consumer rights forum. It might be better to get something important like this checked over. Either on a legal advice forum or through a solicitor or Citizens Advice 

garethpick

fatbelly said:

We have found that banks do not always play ball with 3pDOs

That's very surprising. 

Can banks (and other institutions) really ignore U.K. court order without any sanctions?

garethpick

PHK said:

Just to point out this is a consumer rights forum. It might be better to get something important like this checked over. Either on a legal advice forum or through a solicitor or Citizens Advice 

Which legal advice forums do you recommend?

garethpick

Phoenix72 said:

If they have none or very little then you are throwing good money after bad.

I've already addressed this point in my original post. I'm happy to continue

born_again

garethpick said:

fatbelly said:

We have found that banks do not always play ball with 3pDOs

That's very surprising. 

Can banks (and other institutions) really ignore U.K. court order without any sanctions?

Do you have to go back to court to get a 3rd party debt order?

Remember you have to have all their details exactly correct for a bank to take any action.

There was another thread a while ago, where there was a major issue on this due to wrong bank & wrong details.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/third-party-debt-orders-and-charging-orders-ex325/apply-for-a-third-party-debt-order