Author Topic: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.  (Read 1721 times)

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Korting

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In January 2019, a customer gave me a company cheque for work that I carried out on their private equipment in their home.

Without telling me, they stopped the cheque.

They said they weren’t happy with the work.

I offered to return and correct it at no further charge, but they refused.

At the end of January, I sent the director a ‘notice before action’ but didn’t follow it up.

I know I have up to 6 years to issue proceedings, but do I have to issue another notice before action letter?

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Southpaw82

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2024, 09:06:53 am »
Who are you suing, the director or the company?

Korting

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2024, 10:32:14 am »
I suppose the company as its a company cheque, I could of course sue both the company and the director but do I then need to send two seperate letters action before claim?

Southpaw82

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2024, 11:49:38 am »
Well, you don’t need to send a letter before action at all, in the sense that your claim would still be lawful if you didn’t. However, it’s good practice to do so.

The claim against the company seems to be the simpler one, as there are very few defences against a dishonoured cheque. Does the company have the funds to pay if you win?

Any claim against the director runs into problems, as generally the person who signs the cheque isn’t liable, the person on whose account the cheque is drawn is liable. There are potential alternative causes of action against the director but much would depend on the facts.

DrSatan

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2024, 01:39:35 pm »
What will matter here is who your contract was with. Your post makes reference to the director's home and a company cheque, but the detail matters.

If your contract was with the director and he tried to pay you with the company's money, then it's the director who owes you payment for the work and you'd sue him.
If, on the other hand, the company hired you to do work on the director's home, then it's the company you'd sue.

I appreciate that with personal companies like this it may well be difficult to know exactly who the contract was with, especially 5 years down the line.

Also please be aware that if you do have to sue the company, depending on their asset position you may find it very hard to actually get the money out of them, especially if they liquidate.

Southpaw82

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2024, 02:26:49 pm »
Who the contract is with isn’t relevant to the dishonoured cheque. It is a cause of action in its own right.

Korting

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2024, 12:39:11 am »
What will matter here is who your contract was with. Your post makes reference to the director's home and a company cheque, but the detail matters.

If your contract was with the director and he tried to pay you with the company's money, then it's the director who owes you payment for the work and you'd sue him.
If, on the other hand, the company hired you to do work on the director's home, then it's the company you'd sue.

I appreciate that with personal companies like this it may well be difficult to know exactly who the contract was with, especially 5 years down the line.

Also please be aware that if you do have to sue the company, depending on their asset position you may find it very hard to actually get the money out of them, especially if they liquidate.

I was originally asked by the director to carry out the work, which I did.  When it came to paying the bill, she asked if she could pay by company cheque and could I make the invoice out for 'office repairs'.

I don't have that invoice, what I have is the invoice for carrying out work to her radiogram and a vintage radio.

I suppose I could sue both the director and the company.

I could also have a word with HMRC as she's obviously fiddling the tax.

The company has assetts of thousands of pounds.

slapdash

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2024, 06:19:54 am »
I could also have a word with HMRC as she's obviously fiddling the tax.

Of course she might be but it's certainly not obvious she is.

"Office repairs" is not an entirely unreasonable description for what could in fact be a corporate asset and office equipment.


666

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2024, 08:11:47 am »
What will matter here is who your contract was with. Your post makes reference to the director's home and a company cheque, but the detail matters.

If your contract was with the director and he tried to pay you with the company's money, then it's the director who owes you payment for the work and you'd sue him.
If, on the other hand, the company hired you to do work on the director's home, then it's the company you'd sue.

I appreciate that with personal companies like this it may well be difficult to know exactly who the contract was with, especially 5 years down the line.

Also please be aware that if you do have to sue the company, depending on their asset position you may find it very hard to actually get the money out of them, especially if they liquidate.

I was originally asked by the director to carry out the work, which I did.  When it came to paying the bill, she asked if she could pay by company cheque and could I make the invoice out for 'office repairs'.

I don't have that invoice, what I have is the invoice for carrying out work to her radiogram and a vintage radio.

I suppose I could sue both the director and the company.

I could also have a word with HMRC as she's obviously fiddling the tax.

The company has assetts of thousands of pounds.

On the subject of tax, shouldn't you have kept that invoice for six years?

Korting

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2024, 10:32:39 am »
What will matter here is who your contract was with. Your post makes reference to the director's home and a company cheque, but the detail matters.

If your contract was with the director and he tried to pay you with the company's money, then it's the director who owes you payment for the work and you'd sue him.
If, on the other hand, the company hired you to do work on the director's home, then it's the company you'd sue.

I appreciate that with personal companies like this it may well be difficult to know exactly who the contract was with, especially 5 years down the line.

Also please be aware that if you do have to sue the company, depending on their asset position you may find it very hard to actually get the money out of them, especially if they liquidate.

I was originally asked by the director to carry out the work, which I did.  When it came to paying the bill, she asked if she could pay by company cheque and could I make the invoice out for 'office repairs'.

I don't have that invoice, what I have is the invoice for carrying out work to her radiogram and a vintage radio.

I suppose I could sue both the director and the company.

I could also have a word with HMRC as she's obviously fiddling the tax.

The company has assetts of thousands of pounds.

On the subject of tax, shouldn't you have kept that invoice for six years?

I would have probably given her the invoice for work done on the radiogram, I don't remeber giving her an invoice for 'office work'

Southpaw82

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2024, 10:44:33 am »
Is it more than six years since the invoice (presumably addressed to her, not the company) became due and payable? If so, you’re out of time to sue the director. If you are in time, your cause of action against the director is different to your cause of action against the company.

H C Andersen

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #11 on: October 12, 2024, 10:06:53 pm »
In January 2019, a customer gave me a company cheque for work that I carried out on their private equipment in their home.

Your contract at the time this was made was with who?

Ms X, or
Company Y?

IMO, if it was with Ms X and notwithstanding whether you knew she happened to be a director of company Y, then your contract was with Ms X. The fact that she might have subsequently have revealed herself as a director after the works commenced and were substantially or totally completed isn't the point for me.

I don't have that invoice, what I have is the invoice for carrying out work to her radiogram and a vintage radio.

You issued 2 invoices for the same work? I don't follow.

As I understand it, your claim can only be against the other party to your contract. Even if you and she agreed after the event that you would not invoice her but a third party and she paid with a cheque issued to that company, I don't see how this makes them liable because you never contracted with them and as far as I can see.

There's a whole range of scenarios which could apply, but probably only one once
we've got the facts.

And why have you left matters for 5 years? Have you been diligent in pursuing this but thwarted at every turn or what? 

andy_foster

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Re: Issuing County Court proceedings 5 years and 6 months after the event.
« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2024, 11:08:42 pm »
I'm not sure why you felt that the OP, or the forum in general, would benefit from you demonstrating that you do not understand the significance of bills of exchange, or the differences between contract law and equity, or why you chose to resurrect a thread that has been dormant for almost a month to do so. I'm also not sure that I want to know either.
I am responsible for the accuracy of the information I post, not your ability to comprehend it.
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