court notice for non paying a bill

[tire1]

Hello,

I used a freight forwarding company to import some goods from far east. I was quoted sa

£700 by the company which I agreed, they delivered the goods and sent me invoice for

£780.00 I was not told about £80 charges till I received invoice from them. When I enquired about it, they said it is for ‘security check’. I objected to the charges as I was not informed till I received the invoice, neither they took my approval for the extra charge. I wrote them several mails objecting to extra charge. I did not receive any reply. 3 months passed and I heard from their sales rep. that the charge has to be paid as it is stated in their terms and conditions (though I am not aware of any such terms and conditions) when they opened my company account.


Objecting to that, I sent them a cheque for their actual amount £700 which they banked and got the money from my account. I received an e-mail from their accounts that £80 are still to be paid.



Two days after that, I received a Claim Form from Northampton (CCMCC) Court stating my company name and address as defendant. It states that I owe to the clearing company a totals of £780 (invoice amount), plus £24 (interest on invoice) plus £70 (court fee) plus £70 (solicitor’s cost) to be paid.


Can someone please suggest me what my options are? I do not feel I should pay any of these charges. In fact it has caused me lot of stress, loss in business (had the company informed me of the extra charge, I would have chosen the supplier carrier as it was costing me less). The company has already took cheque from me banked it and cashed it. I have a photocopy of the cheque that was sent out to them.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[Tempest Financial]

Submit a defence to the court, stating that there are no signed terms and conditions and the extra costs was never mentioned. In the defence state that you are willing to go through court arbitration. If the court arbitrtor cannot resolve this it would go to court, If they do not cancel the ccj at that stage as they most probably will not attend over a mere £80 then go to court, and claim expenses when you win. Make sure that the court hearing is local to yourself as it shpuld always be closest to the defendant. If the ccj is settled within 30 days it is wiped from your file, if it is on for longer you will need to get it set aside to get it removed.

 

[tire1]

thanks for your reply. If I wish to hire someone who could that to me, how much do you rackon it would be? And if so, would you suggest me someone?

 

[Geoff T]

Hang on... there's more to this than meets the eye from the OP's 1st post...

on £24 interest, we're talking an invoice that was raised sometime in September last year by the looks of it... that's a lot of time that hasn't been accounted for...?

Secondly is the legal "crux of the matter"... did the OP sign anything, or even just reply to an email that had their T's and C's attached saying "ok, let's do it" or something similar? (If you did OP - you lose)

As for defending, Tempest makes some good points, but I'd also suggest that the claim is wrong because they are still claiming the full invoice value (from whats been said) which is clearly wrong, plus interest on the full amount (also wrong) - so I'd just stop messing about and go for a dismissal of the case for the reasons above...

for further note - filing at Northampton CCBC suggests an MCOL claim, but for the amount OP suggests the figure for the filing fee looks wrong too! (as a £70 fee should only apply on claims of over £1000, and it doesn't look to me from the OP that the claim adds up to more than £944)...

trying it on methinks!

 

[Tempest Financial]

It also plays a large part as to whether you imported this as an individual (consumer or sole trader) or as a business, as rules are different relating to charges for companies and individuals.

 

[tire1]

Thanks. It was imprted as ltd company

 

[Ian J]

Submit a defence to the court, stating that there are no signed terms and conditions and the extra costs was never mentioned. In the defence state that you are willing to go through court arbitration. If the court arbitrtor cannot resolve this it would go to court, If they do not cancel the ccj at that stage as they most probably will not attend over a mere £80 then go to court,.

Firstly there doesn't have to be a signed contract and it's quite possible that the OP received a quote which stated that it was subject to their terms and conditions and it was then up to the OP to read them.

Secondly the OP doesn't have a CCJ and won't have until such time as the court rules against him

 

[SolutionLab]

Hello Tire,


First of all, I'm not a legal professional and whatever seems like legal advice in my post, you should take with a pinch of salt.


That said, having been in your situation, it really depends on the size of their company, how exposed they are and what sort of person you are.


You could, needless to say, take the legal route, which would involve hiring a solicitor, going to court and so forth. I guess it depends on the degree of trust you have in the legal system. In my case, it's none, so I'd advise paying up. Yes, it's point blank blackmail, unfair, unjust and a hit in the solarplex. However, at the end of the day, it's just GBP1000, a small price for not having to deal with the law, in my opinion at least.


The second variable being the company that's doing this. If they're a fairly large company, they would also have IT security and personal security, not to mention that you never know who's a nephew of some government official and that's not a can of worms you want to open. However, if they're fairly small, it wouldn't be that hard for you to take the Samson approach and strike back to the extent that they'll never bother you again. Plus, if you don't want to get your hands dirty, there are plenty of East European gentlemen who are more than happy to deal with them at a fraction of the cost.


What route is best will come down to you. If you trust the legal system, go for it, you might very well win since justice is on your side and I wish you the best of luck. However, if you don't, you can either take the hit (GBP1000 is not the end of world) or hit back until there's no business to sue you.


That being my two cents, having been in a similar situation, but, maybe, with a different approach to these things.

 

[Ian J]

What route is best will come down to you. If you trust the legal system, go for it, you might very well win since justice is on your side and I wish you the best of luck. However, if you don't, you can either take the hit (GBP1000 is not the end of world) or hit back until there's no business to sue you.

You don't get "justice" from the UK legal system but you do get "law" and the law is on the defendant's side if he can show that he paid £700 out of the £780 before the summons was issued so even if he loses the case the most that the courts will award is £80 plus the interest on that figure plus costs

 

[CH Freight Services Ltd]

I am a forwarding agent & I'm interested to know what kind of security check costs £80?

I am wondering if the charge is 1) even valid or 2) if valid, wildy overcharged!

Which port was this through & was this a full container or just a part load?

What was the exact type of security check - HMRC Xray exam, Border Force partial exam or full out-turn. Some ports do not charge for some kind of exams because they collect an "exam fee" on every customs entry made regardless of if it gets examined or not. That way if your consignment does get examined you won't get charged as the port have already collected the costs for the examinations via this exam fee I mentioned earlier.

 

[Tempest Financial]

Ian J - What i meant was the application for the CCJ.

 

[Geoff T]

Firstly there doesn't have to be a signed contract and it's quite possible that the OP received a quote which stated that it was subject to their terms and conditions and it was then up to the OP to read them.

Very true Ian - but experience has shown me what a general waste of time it is to try and explain the concept of "contractual law" to those who enter into binding commercial contracts.. hence my question... with respect to the OP, as no doubt they read the small print before signing up for the deal...

 

[tire1]

It was not even an aie shipment from china. Gross weight approx 300 kilo. Arrived at heathrow.

 

[tire1]

I have been weighing various options. I have decided that I do not want any CCJ judgements against my company. Should I talk to the vendors solicitors? Or as the Claim Form from Northampton (CCMCC) Court have been received by me, It can only be sorted though the court now?
Can someone please advise me the best route I can take to avoid any CCJ Judgement against the company.

 

[Tempest Financial]

I have pm'd you.

 

[mhall]

I don't think CCJs against a company are particularly damaging for most. City Electrical for example have loads. Unless you are hoping to get funding from a bank that is.....

 

[Ian J]

I have pm'd you.

With respect the idea of a forum is that answers are posted publically, firstly for the benefit of all and secondly so that others may comment if the advice given is poor

 

[Ian J]

Should I talk to the vendors solicitors? Or as the Claim Form from Northampton (CCMCC) Court have been received by me, It can only be sorted though the court now?
Can someone please advise me the best route I can take to avoid any CCJ Judgement against the company.

It needs to be sorted through the courts now but judgements are only registered if you lose the case then don't pay within a set period. If you lose the case then pay up straight away the judgement will not be registered

 

[Tempest Financial]

Thanks for pointing that out Ian. Perhaps you could recommend that PM's should just be removed from UKBF completely, nevermind whether the OP asked for a recommendation and is open to PM's on his profile page.