Quick question - small claims court

nottsmw · 15 May 2018 at 2:03PM

Hi all

New poster - so hope I am in the right place, but feel free to direct me elsewhere.

I consider myself to have been recently defrauded. Signed up to a migration firm, who looked at my CV and said I could qualify for Visa for work in Australia. They would try and find me a job and then do the relevant Visa. However, soon after I became seriously concerned by the standard of work and when I complained saw it for what it was.

Reported to Action Fraud and my Bank who are going to use some drawn out process to try and get the money back (was advice to by someone else to take these approaches) - including writing to them.

I consider I have enough proof of breach - such an e-mail saying the Visa they would offer me up for if I found a job, which I subsequently researched was in the process of being abolished, so I never could have qualified for it.

Lost £1100, would have been more if I hadn't cancelled half way through the payments.

Question is would you take them to small claims court now or wait for Action Fraud and the Bank to do it's job.

unholyangel · 15 May 2018 at 2:40PM

Where are the migration firm based?

nottsmw · 15 May 2018 at 3:29PM

Hi - they have offices in London.

eddddy · 15 May 2018 at 3:46PM

nottsmw wrote: »

Question is would you take them to small claims court now or wait for Action Fraud and the Bank to do it's job.

So it sounds like you're claiming for misrepresentation.

So I guess you've asked your bank to do a chargeback (if you paid by debit card or credit card), or perhaps you've made a 'section 75' claim (if you paid by credit card).

If you like, you can wait to see if the bank refunds you before starting a claim through the small claims court.

If you paid by credit card, because of 'section 75', you can use the court to claim your money back from either/both the bank and/or the firm.

If you didn't pay by credit card, you can only claim from the firm.

If Action Fraud/the police investigate, they will be focusing on a criminal conviction, rather than getting your money back.

nottsmw · 15 May 2018 at 3:57PM

Thanks edd..one payment was via debit card, the other via bank transfer. The bank are aware of this and are attempting to get the money back. So your informal view is let the bank do it first?

Cheers

Mike

KeithP · 15 May 2018 at 4:16PM

The Financial Ombudsman Service will not touch a case that has already been to court.

You would be best advised to wait for your bank's final decision, and it it is not in your favour, go to the FOS.
Any FOS decision is not binding on the consumer.

Do that before considering court.

steampowered · 15 May 2018 at 4:36PM

If this company is trading from premises in the UK, personally I would take them to court straight away.

This involves sending a 'letter before action' giving the company 14 days to respond, then issuing a claim through the moneyclaimonline system.

Personally, I would not muck around waiting for the bank. The bank will take ages. If you are not happy with the outcome of the bank's efforts, you need to complain, then wait up to 8 weeks for a response, before you can even start to issue a FOS complaint. You are then waiting months more for the FOS to look at the complaint.

Through the bank, if this does not get resolved in a couple of days, it will end up being a never-ending process.

Through court you will have to pay a fee, but you will get a fast and effective process. Plus if the company doesn't pay you can send bailiffs to their offices.

You are under no obligation whatsoever to go through the bank or the FOS first before going to court.

eddddy · 15 May 2018 at 5:07PM

nottsmw wrote: »

Tone payment was via debit card, the other via bank transfer. The bank are aware of this and are attempting to get the money back.

So they might be able to do a chargeback on the debit card amount.

But they won't be able to do anything about the amount paid by bank transfer - that will have to be done via the small claims court.

nottsmw · 16 May 2018 at 10:50AM

Thanks everyone for the advice - very grateful as a first time poster.

I am inclined to go through to court, as it such a clear case of misrepresentation, and as other posters have said I might not be able to get all the money back via the Bank.

SteamP - I have pm'd you with a couple of questions about the process you mention

unholyangel · 16 May 2018 at 2:44PM

nottsmw wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the advice - very grateful as a first time poster.

I am inclined to go through to court, as it such a clear case of misrepresentation, and as other posters have said I might not be able to get all the money back via the Bank.

SteamP - I have pm'd you with a couple of questions about the process you mention

What steampowered neglected to mention is that theres no guarantee of getting any money at court either (even if you send bailiffs to their offices) and that courts can take up to 6 months just to give a hearing date depending on how busy your local court is.

However, your bank will only be able to help with the debit card payment. The FOS will usually expect a bank to try and get bank transfers back (depending exactly how the payment is made) but usually theres a very short window where this is possible.

You should do your research into the company and see what accounts they last filed and what capital & assets the company has. If its not enough to cover what you paid them then chasing them through the courts is unlikely to be anything other than throwing good money after bad.

Quick question - small claims court

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