Enforcing Court Judgment

[mayflower232]

So long story short; I took an ex-employer to a tribunal and was awarded around £7k. The employer did not even bother to turn up at the hearing, they have failed to submit to companies house and are now in the grace period before being struck off. To further this the two main directors have removed themselves from the company leaving one remaining. However, they are still operating out of the same office with the same former employees, most likely under the radar.

Is it worth me passing this on to a county bailiff to go knocking on their door or shall I just give up. Has it now gone past the point of realistically being able to get a penny out of them?

 

[daniel.benson]

Hi, Who's name is on the Judgment just the company name or any of the directors names, Does the award state ltd or limited after the name?

Have you thought about using the services of a High Court Enforcement Officer?

 

[Legalbeagle]

Agree with Daniel, a HCEO will be able to have that judgement transferred up to the high court and then enforce by taking the company's goods.

Alternatively, a CCJ can be used as the basis of a winding up petition.

However, my worry is that their conduct in not filing, and essentially letting Companies House strike them off means that they have no regard for the assets of the company, which means they may be limited.

It is possible to credit search a limited company to see if its strong enough to proceed against, and a lot will turn on your appetite for spending money against the possibility of getting paid.

 

[yourcreditmanager]

Hi

Be mindful that if they're (as the in the people behind the company) are still based at the offices even when the company is the process of being struck off for non compliance, then there's a possibility that they've incorporated or in the process of forming a "phoenix company" in order to take over the existing customer base/assets of the old business.

If you try to enforce the judgement by instructing Bailiffs/HCEO the new company may make a third party claim on any tangible assets (say, stock, furniture, equipment etc) in order to thwart the attempts of the court official from levying on any assets at the premises. Sneaky I know but I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen this happen!

Best way to check this is to a Director's search on the previous and remaining Director to see if they have any new Directorships of recently formed companies and if there is a newly incorporated company on the Registrar that has a very similar name to the company you've secured the judgement against... and with the same registered office...

Agree totally with the other posters on doing a credit check as well before trying to enforce the judgement in the first place, if they've got a stack of prior unsatisfied CCJ's in the first place then you've got real problems.

Michael

 

[daniel.benson]

PM me the company number and I will run a check for you, then at least you will know where you stand on that front.