Claiming Court Costs

[geoffb]

Hi
I have 4 invoices that have not been paid since july, done everything in my power to get the money - but no luck.

Time to go to court.

I live in cornwall the defendent lives in cumbria, so if they challenge the court and i have to attend the hearing i will have a long trip up to the north of England.

The defendent sent me a cheque that bounced for £650 so no problem proving inability to pay.

My question - can I claim travel costs and loss of business expenses for the day i will need to take off IF i have to go to court.

thanks

geoff

 

[geoffb]

oh, and another question...

I have had debt collectors on the case for 3 months - even sent a stat demand in the hope they will pay.... do i have to resend a letter before action again (already done this before stat demand) do I need to do it again from myself ?

 

[geoffb]

a 3rd question ....

the person im claiming against is a sole trader - is he then an individual or a organisation ??

 

[yorkshirejames]

a 3rd question ....

the person im claiming against is a sole trader - is he then an individual or a organisation ??

He is an individual even though he is acting in the course fo business, so (I think) he can request that the hearing be moved to near him.

As regards costs, then there are limits around what you can claim (and I believe the limits are ludicrously low).

To be honest, if we're just talking £700, I would suggest that two days of your time is worth more than that, put this down to experience, and spend those two days either reinforcing your contracts and processes, or undertaking business development activities.

 

[geoffb]

thanks for that

 

[No-Nonsense Lawyer]

Hi there,

To use a statutory demand / petition for bankruptcy the debt must be at least £750.

Is the total claim, excluding interest, over £5,000? (i.e. was the £650 cheque only part payment).

If so, if you win, you will be able to recover your legal costs (i.e. representation and court fees etc) on top of the claim. If not, it will be a Small Claims Track matter, though this still entitles you to recover "fixed costs" (small amounts specified by rules) plus reasonable/proper expenses (including costs of attendance of witnesses).

If the defendant is an individual, as this is a claim for specified sum of money, the case will automatically be transferred to his home county court.

Steve

 

oh, and another question...

I have had debt collectors on the case for 3 months - even sent a stat demand in the hope they will pay.... do i have to resend a letter before action again (already done this before stat demand) do I need to do it again from myself ?

• What is the total amount of the debt?
• What is the debt for?

Without sounding harsh the guy will just think you are bluffing with anything you send now. I mean who on earth advised you to send a Stat Demand? Was this served correctly? I would never, ever recommend anyone does this unless they are 100% prepared to go ahead with petitioning for the debtors bankruptcy (and is costly to do this). The guy will have laughed when he recieved that.

Now, moving forward i would say it is good business practice to send another LBA (he won't respond) and then take the matter in hand with money claim. The debtor will then have a chance to respond and, if he doesn't a CCJ will be issued by default. This is only the beginning!

You then need to think about what you are going to do when he doesn't pay. Are you going to send in the bailiffs etc? Are you going to transfer it to the High Court? These all cost but you can claim these back.

With regards to travel expenses i would say you couldn't claim them.

Also if he is a sole-trader then you are claiming against him individually.

 

[geoffb]

Hi the debt with interest is £1300, the cheque was part of the debt, There are 3 invoices outstanding, which I understand I can claim £40 each for total £120 and the stat demand was £80 which I hope I can claim as well (can I ?).

The stat demand was delivered by a process server, and this was the thread I read as i was in a similar position

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=126991&highlight=stat+demand

 

Hi the debt with interest is £1300, the cheque was part of the debt, There are 3 invoices outstanding, which I understand I can claim £40 each for total £120 and the stat demand was £80 which I hope I can claim as well (can I ?).

The stat demand was delivered by a process server, and this was the thread I read as i was in a similar position

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=126991&highlight=stat+demand

So the Stat Demand was delivered correctly by a process server...not being negative BUT what makes you think he will respond to a CCJ?

Bankruptcy in many cases is an easy way out for people if they have no assets.

Realistically you need to be prepared to not recieve your money back therefore all this about claiming costs etc becomes irrelevant. Even if you send in the baliffs once the CCJ has been issued the law is on his side. He sounds to me like he is well aware of the system and of course will know what rights bailiffs have and the fact that he does not have to allow them into his property.

Lessons should be learnt from this about how you trade in future.

 

this was the thread I read as i was in a similar position

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=126991&highlight=stat+demand

Just read through the thread you took advice from and i am still at a loss as to why you went down this route????

 

[geoffb]

because of all the advice on the internet

In the minds of a creditor or a creditor’s solicitor a statutory demand is the legal equivalent of a 'warning shot from a gun'. This is because the average debtor is so scared by 'what may follow' that they usually pay up.
In fact statutory demands are so successful that in 99% of cases following the issue of a statutory demand a bankruptcy petition NEVER is issued.

unfortunatly I was the 1% that it never worked for.

Realistically you need to be prepared to not recieve your money back therefore all this about claiming costs etc becomes irrelevant. Even if you send in the baliffs once the CCJ has been issued the law is on his side. He sounds to me like he is well aware of the system and of course will know what rights bailiffs have and the fact that he does not have to allow them into his property.

Lessons should be learnt from this about how you trade in future.

This person doesnt have any CCJs against him, a credit check was taken & he is still trading.
Im sure he knows how to play the system, but what else am I supposed to do - Im not a charity.

is this life in Britain now - let them get away with it, because I have no power and neither do the courts, what is the point of moneyclaim and the courts

 

[geoffb]

a different point, we actually sent the stock to a different address than the persons home address.

It was sent to a chicken farm which runs as a ltd company, (i beleive that the debtor was the manager of this farm) I understand that balliffs / hcof are allowed to enter commercial premises - would this be allowed to inputted ?

 

[*Lexxy*]

i feel for you on this one Geoff.

so - we've got a sole trader, still trading, no current CCJ's.
very doubtful will reply to a County Court Claim as he's already ignored a Stat.Demand.
he's already tried a rubber cheque, so either cashflow issues or just part of his game.

would this be worth paying the fees for passing to a collection agency now?

i can't believe that Geoff might just have to accept this as a loss?! is this because the guy is a sole-trader & can just go bankrupt? there must be something else that can be done??

 

I think you miss my points.

I am not saying you are a charity but you need to learn lessons for future transactions.

* Do you have a correct Retention of Title in place? No, well you need to have as problems like this wouldn't occur.

* Credit Checking before supplying goods if not paying up front (i know in this case you say it wouldn't have helped)

There are things you could do now but they all cost in excess of the debt i.e. charge on property etc.

I just don't want you to throw good money after bad and come back on here when you've spent double the debt amount asking what you can do.

With regards to the commercial property - yes a bailiff can enter without permission if the premises are solely commercial BUT in this case you wouldn't be able to send bailiffs to premises other than where he is trading from.

 

Did you not get enough response from your posts in November and January?

 

[*Lexxy*]

ah, going around in circles i see! i suppose Geoff did start this thread off asking a different question to previous threads, but the answers have a habit of being the same...

Geoff - you've already said it's not an amount that will hurt the business, so why continue to pursue it when all the advice you've received says to tighten up your credit/business procedures for the future & move on?