To whom do I direct County Court Claims forms?

[allington-marketing]

Hi All
I have a sticky non-payer who's trying to avoid paying, without valid reason or an actual amount that she's disputing. Letters have gone back and forth from her solicitor, to no avail.
She runs three companies, for whom I undertook work, but I have in writing that she wanted all invoices to be sent to company No 3 (below).

1. A charity
2. An IFA (not a limited Co)
3. A counselling firm (not a limited Co)

To whom do I address court papers? Can I submit court papers for the three companies to No 3 on the list above, since previous invoices were paid from that company and they had asked that all invoices were sent. Since the companies are non-limited, can I just issue a claim to her personally (although not sure how that works with regards to the chairty, which is a registered charity, and the fact her sister MAY be a partner in the counselling firm).

Or should I, for the sake of tranparency, divide the outstanding amounts up by company?

many thanks
Terri

 

[Mpg]

Address them to whichever the Invoice is issued to.
Its that company/business thats not paying. The others wont ever pay as you've not issued them with Invoices

 

[daniel.benson]

You'll need to address them to the person/company on the invoice.

Do you think her company might be in trouble, money wise?

 

[allington-marketing]

Hi All

MPG - that makes my life a lot easier! Thanks!

Daniel - I was just filling out one of your forms for the other non-paying companies (there's a trend here!). I don't know if they're in trouble money-wise. All I know is they commissioned a service, knew the cost upfront and are now questioning everything, without cause or reason!

Terri

 

[daniel.benson]

Hi All

MPG - that makes my life a lot easier! Thanks!

Daniel - I was just filling out one of your forms for the other non-paying companies (there's a trend here!). I don't know if they're in trouble money-wise. All I know is they commissioned a service, knew the cost upfront and are now questioning everything, without cause or reason!

Terri

Which form mate?

If you want to pm me over the company name or number Ill have a quick look to see if I can find anything that may help you.

 

[Cicero]

Sorry to throw a spanner in the works, but if she asked you to send invoices to a partnership which she runs with her sister, that won't mean the partnership is automatically liable, particularly if the debt has nothing to do with partnership business.

I think you need to get some legal advice before you start incurring issue costs, allocation costs and potentially (depending on the value of the claim) listing fees and opponent's costs if you lose.

Even if the claim is under £5,000, you are entitled to fixed solicitors costs on issue, see CPR Part 45.

And for goodness sake, get yourself some written Ts & Cs with a customer signature box.

 

[allington-marketing]

Hi
Surely the contract is with the partnership, since they asked for invoices to be sent to them? The debt is to do with the partnership business. At a guess, 75% of the outstanding debt is from that company.
I can claim £80 of solicitors' fees, but there's no chance I'll find a solicitor for that amount!
I do have terms and conditions, but that's not going to stop someone from paying who has no intention!
Terri

 

[daniel.benson]

Hi
Surely the contract is with the partnership, since they asked for invoices to be sent to them? The debt is to do with the partnership business. At a guess, 75% of the outstanding debt is from that company.
I can claim £80 of solicitors' fees, but there's no chance I'll find a solicitor for that amount!
I do have terms and conditions, but that's not going to stop someone from paying who has no intention!
Terri

There is a chap on here offering this service from free Ill try and find his details for you.

 

[Cicero]

Hi
Surely the contract is with the partnership, since they asked for invoices to be sent to them? The debt is to do with the partnership business. At a guess, 75% of the outstanding debt is from that company.
I can claim £80 of solicitors' fees, but there's no chance I'll find a solicitor for that amount!
I do have terms and conditions, but that's not going to stop someone from paying who has no intention!
Terri

Whoa, slow down. You initially said "... she wanted all invoices to be sent to company No 3 ..." Now you are saying the partnership (i.e. she and her sister) wanted this. If you don't understand the difference, then you really need a solicitor. You also keep referring to the partnership as a company. It isn't a company. You need to take stock of the situation, go through the correspondence and understand, for example, who told you to send the invoices to the partnership and whethe rit was said with the authority of the partnership.

Let me give you an example. Let us say that Mr Runn is a partner in the law firm Nicket, Grabbit and Runn. He also owns flats which he lets out, operating under the name Runn Properties (a firm). One day he buys a new kitchen for one of his flats and he tells the supplier to invoice his partnership. Do you think that Messrs. Nicket and Grabbit should have to pay for this?

Another example. Mr Runn orders some stationery with the partnership logo on it. He tells the suppliers to invoice the partnership. Here, even if his partners didn't agree to the new stationery, it's pretty obvious that Mr. Runn bought it on behalf of the partnership and had what lawyers call apparent authority to place the order on its behalf. But that is very different from the first example.

I'm not saying that the partnership is not liable. I am simply telling you to slow down and evaluate all the facts before issuing proceedings. Indeed, form what you say now, it may be that the partnership is only liable for 75% of the total debt and that you need to consider suing the lady herself for the remaining 25%.

 

[allington-marketing]

Hi
1. I am not certain it is a partnership. I know her sister works there.
2. I am aware of the difference of legal structure, but referred to it as a company, as most people would.
3. She is on the FSA register. Similarly, her name is on the charity's registration. Thus it is only the counselling practice which MAY or may not be a partnership.
4. Thus she is authorised to state to whom invoices are directed.

Thanks for your help; I hope this clarifies everything
Terri