taking personal cheques

[pebbythedog]

My dodgy builder who I'm taking to court is using as his defence that the work was done by his limited company not him as a sole trader.

One piece of evidence I have is that I paid using cheques to him personally (not the company). He has admitted this and said that as sole director, he took them in lieu of payment from teh company.

I know this is indicative of tax avoidance/ evasion but is it evidence of who I was contracting with?
Grateful for your opinions

[MASSEY]

well i took a large sum peronal cheque the other day even tho they contacted us from an advert of a ltd company, but were not dodgy.

The way you paid him is irrelevant because how he runs his company has nothing to do with you even tho tax dodging is kind of highlighted.

If he has done poor shoddy work that doesnt meet regualtions then he should give you your money back.

[Synergy Accountancy]

Did he give you an invoice? or anything written before he did the work?

Regards,
Dev
Synergy Accountancy LLP

(http://www.synergyaccountancy.com/)

[Spongebob]

If he has done poor shoddy work that doesnt meet regualtions then he should give you your money back.

Of course he should repay the money but you are missing the point somewhat. The OP is having to take legal action.

It all comes down to who your contract is with. Did the quotation and/or contract come on a limited company letterhead or did it just have the bloke's name at the top? Or was there no written contract at all?

The name on the cheque, while suporting your case somewhat, is of secondary importance. If my company name is J. Bloggs & Co Ltd and a client gives me a cheque made out to Joe Bloggs I may have to pay it into my private account as my business bankers will not accept it. I would then transfer the funds into the business account and everthing is than accounted for correctly. The name on the cheque doesn't affect the nature of the contract between my company and the client, however.

[pebbythedog]

thank-you all. Yes I did have a quote/ receipt which was on headed paper. This was from the sole trader firm and did not have LTD after the name, nor the company address (just his home address) He signed the quote to show that I'd paid the deposit. In this case teh company name and the sole trader name is the same except for the "limited" . I do have copies of other docs which show the diference though, including font/ colour etc as well as address etc.

I also suspect he's charged me VAT when he's not VAT registered- Any way of finding out?

[Spongebob]

It sounds like you may just have him by the goolies! :)

I would get a solicitor to write to him pointing out that your contract is clearly with him as an individual; not with a limited company bearing the same name.

I would also get your solicitor to ask him for his VAT registration number. I suspect that this will cause him to soil his jeans. If you are right in your suspicions then he faces possible imprisonment for VAT fraud. He may well suddenly get more reasonable.

You could do this yourself but 100 quid or so for a solicitor would add a lot more weight.

[Zeno]

Have you looked up when he formed this company on Companies House?

[pebbythedog]

Zeno
yes I have. That's all a sham- he's never filed accounts etc and now they have issued first gazette to de-list him. I hae objected but even that's no dead cert. Everything seems to be loaded in his favour despite the fact that he's so obviously a crook and con man/ confidence trickster. Bizzre system of justice we have!?

[pebbythedog]

It sounds like you may just have him by the goolies! :)

I would also get your solicitor to ask him for his VAT registration number. I suspect that this will cause him to soil his jeans. If you are right in your suspicions then he faces possible imprisonment for VAT fraud. He may well suddenly get more reasonable.

You could do this yourself but 100 quid or so for a solicitor would add a lot more weight.

I LOVE the idea of him soiling his jeans! :eek:. Lets hope he's feeling rather uncomfortable and stinky right now. I just cant spend anything extra on this tho. If it really would just be £100 but it wont will it- it will escalate. He's stung me for £40K and event the tiny small claims court fee is costing me about £600. I need to spend money putting the problems right and taking care of my family.

I will write and ask myself though;)

[Jaykay]

Obviously I would not recommend that you mention to him that the tax man and VAT man may be interested in his business practices. That would almost be blackmail so I would not recommend that you find out how to contact the Inland Revenue fraud department!

[Dawg]

I don't know, and have a suspicion that the law has changed, but if you involve HMRC and the builder does go broke, will not the HMRC claim on his assets be superior to yours, risking you getting zilch?
Worth checking.

[yorkshirejames]

I don't know, and have a suspicion that the law has changed, but if you involve HMRC and the builder does go broke, will not the HMRC claim on his assets be superior to yours, risking you getting zilch?
Worth checking.

No, this did change a few years back.

If I do a contract to Mr. Joe Bloggs, then my legal relations are with Joe Bloggs - not some limited company that happens to include Joe Bloggs in the name.

If you gave him a cheque saying Joe Bloggs A/C only, but he wanted to pay it into Joe Bloggs Plumbing Ltd, he should have asked for a new cheque.