Being chased for payment

[wornout]

Hello everyone, I hope someone can answer this for me.

We own a business and used a private company to collect our rubbish. It worked by us buying large bin bags at about £1.30 each and then the collection was made when the bags were left outside. Last year we ordered new ones but the collection company went bust.

We never received the invoice for the last load of bags nor did we use them as the collections were no longer being made. We still had lots of bags already paid for that could not be used either.

I have now received a demand for over £200 from the liquidator!

So they want the money for the bags but cannot collect them.

As they have not fulfilled their contract can they demand the money?
Should I just return the unused bags to them?
Can I make a claim against them for the bags already paid for but not collected?

Hope someone can enlighten me. Thank you.

 

[thelegalstop]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing this here. I'm sorry to hear about your issues.

First of all, I think you should write to the person who issued the letter (the liquidator) explaining the situation and stating that you should not be charged to the service that was not delivered.

They may be quite reluctant in this case, but it is always nice to ask first to make sure both sides know the details of this issue. I understand that you have also paid for the bags that was meant to be collected, i.e. pre-paid for the service not delivered.

You are thus entitled to a refund on this basis, provided you have satisfied all other collection costs (which I think you did, given your bags were paid for upfront).

Obviously, the chances of getting your money back are almost none, as the company is likely to have left a lot of debt. However, you can use that as a leverage in your negotiations with the liquidation company.

I hope that helps, any further questions, please let me know!

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

If you never received the orginal invoice then just ask the liquidator to prove the debt exist by supplying you with a copy of the agreed invoice and terms of the contract. You can also detail that the service you contracted for was not delivered.

- they normally only want to get involved in the easy debt collection cases, they will not chase very hard for £200!!

 

[Alan R Price]

Remember the liquidator's staff will be charged out at about £125 per hour (or more, if it's one of the big firms), so as UK CA says, it's unlikely they will chase very hard.

The liquidator is in no better position than the company contractually, and the company is clearly in breach of contract, so a polite letter back, outlining the facts, pointing out the breach of contract and saying you have no intention of paying, should do the trick.

 

[wornout]

Thank you for your replies.

I have now written a letter pointing out that as they went bust just a few days after receiving the goods they were in breach of contract and as we had many bags we had already paid for and didn't get the service, we should be on the list of creditor, we should call it quits.

Be interesting to hear what they say.

Thank you again for your help and I will let you know what happens.

 

[wornout]

Thought I would update the situation.

I heard nothing again from them for a while and then got another letter threatening legal action if I didn't pay within seven days. I pointed out that I had written previously and enclosed a copy of the letter. Again I heard nothing for a long time but got another letter last week, this time from a debt collection agency (they said they were not that but a firm of accountants who look at debts and see who actually should be paying up………)

I rang them this time and spoke to a very sensible person who told me I was about the tenth person that morning to ring up and give her the same story, that they had not fulfilled their contract. She agreed I was not liable to pay and I could throw out all the bags I have left. Don't think I will be doing that for a while, just in case.

Thanks again for all your advice.