CCJ brought against a new company but claim was against old company

[nicknock]

Hi

An old supplier of ours has brought a claim against my new limited company that was formed only last year, but the non payment is from 2012 for the old company which doesn't exist anymore. There was an issue at the time with poor service which got us in to trouble with our client. She knocked a small amount off her invoice to cover it but it still damaged our company reputation.

I put in a defence to say that the new limited company did not employ her, it was the old company that doesnt exist, I have received a letter off a solicitor saying the court ruled in her favour, but we have received no paperwork from the courts to say as such and it was over a month ago.

I have asked for proof of the judgement but wanted to check if she can actually bring the claim against the new limited company? We have different Directors and she wasn't employed by this company. It is essentially still the same company though but with a slightly different name and now limited.

Any help appreciated?

[jaguarsuk]

It would be helpful to understand a time line of events.

What date did you get the claim form (or what date is on it)?

What date did you file your defence?

What was the last piece of correspondence you got about this?

I ask as if the supplier had gotten a Judgement on the previous company name and the previous company had sold (with paper trail) all it's assets to the new company the judgement wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on.

As it stands the supplier could apply for a warrant of control with the bailiffs then coming to remove anything belonging to your current company as that's the one she has a judgement against.

Fighting this will require you to apply to set the judgement aside, but whether you will be able to do that will depend on what correspondence you had, why you might have missed correspondence from the court and if you were informed of the hearing date why you didn't attend?

It would be good if you posted along with the answers to the questions the particulars of claim from the claim form and a copy of your defence (with all personal/company info removed to keep you anonymous).

[nicknock]

Hi

I received the claim in November submitted my defence via e-fiing, just after 4 weeks after.

Then we haven't heard anything, no court papers, no solicitors letters, no hearing date etc.

The last piece of correspondence is a letter from February 14th off the solicitor saying that the court ruled in their clients favour and I must pay or they will start enforcement. There is no CCJ or court paperwork attached.

I have checked our company credit report and there are no CCJ's.

I don't have the court response to hand right now Im sorry.

[jaguarsuk]

Hi

I received the claim in November submitted my defence via e-fiing, just after 4 weeks after.

Then we haven't heard anything, no court papers, no solicitors letters, no hearing date etc.

The last piece of correspondence is a letter from February 14th off the solicitor saying that the court ruled in their clients favour and I must pay or they will start enforcement. There is no CCJ or court paperwork attached.

I have checked our company credit report and there are no CCJ's.

I don't have the court response to hand right now Im sorry.

When you received the claim, did you acknowledge service to allow you the extra time to file the defence? Or just file the defence after 4 weeks?

[nicknock]

Hi, we didn't no. I didn't get the letter in time as we'd moved offices. I put in a defence a day after the deadline I think.

[jaguarsuk]

Okay, so they probably got a Judgement in Default due to you filing your defence too late.

As you didn't acknowledge service you only had 19 days to file the defence (5 days from the date of the form for service plus 14 days) and the 28 days only applies if acknowledged (incidentally you also get the 5 days on top of the 28 and therefore have 33 days from the date if you acknowledge service, if you ever need to go through this process again).

If the claim came from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton call them on 0300 123 1056 to ask the date of Judgement and any further details they can give.

If it is a Judgement in Default you are going to have to make an application to the court to set the judgement aside. I very much doubt the Claimant will consent and therefore you are probably going to have to pay an application fee of £255. If successful in the set aside you can ask the court orders the Claimant pay your cost of the set aside.

Did the solicitor write to the old address or the current one to inform you of the judgement?

Have they written to you at the new address prior to this or the claim form being received?

When did you move offices?

You can make an application to set aside due to not receiving the claim pack in the timescales to file a Defence because of use of a previous address. CPR's part 13.2 & 13.3 cover this, but it may be beneficial to you if it's possible to apply to have the Judgement Set Aside and the Claim Struck out on the basis that they are claiming against the wrong Defendant. I don't know whether you can combine the two motions and someone else with better knowledge than I would have to confirm that.

There’s more info on set aside here: http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...tailed-version

[nicknock]

The solicitors letter was dated 14th feb and the original claim in November so doesn't that mean that I should have had court papers by now? And nothing is listed on our credit file. I will ring the County Court Business Centre thought thanks.

The old address was listed on our website at the time so I don't have a leg to stand on with that one ha.

[jaguarsuk]

The solicitors letter was dated 14th feb and the original claim in November so doesn't that mean that I should have had court papers by now? And nothing is listed on our credit file. I will ring the County Court Business Centre thought thanks.

The old address was listed on our website at the time so I don't have a leg to stand on with that one ha.

The court will have been sending them to the old address as you didn't acknowledge service and change the address they held for you. You'll know once you find out the date of Judgement, but it was probably all over by the time you filed the Defence and too late to amend any address in the court system.

The Claimant issued the claim on an address they believed to be correct, that doesn't mean you can't have the Judgement set aside under cpr part 13.2 & 13.3. You didn't get opportunity to defend the claim as you didn't receive it with even enough time to act.

Also, applications for set aside don't have to be based on just where you received the claim form. You can apply on the grounds that had you been able to submit a Defence you would have had a realistic prospect of succeeding in defending the claim. As they are claiming against the wrong Defendant then you do have a realistic prospect of success.

[nicknock]

Hi again, I still have access to our mail at the old address and we haven't received anything. It's very odd that we've had nothing from court?

[jaguarsuk]

Yes it is odd and you need to speak to the court. Apparently Northampton was having phone problems yesterday, so maybe try calling today.