Ltd company county court

[Jzee81]

Hi
I need a little advice....
my husband is director of a ltd company, a kitchen fitting company, to keep the story short a customer has ordered a kitchen paid a deposit. The first date for fitting was put on hold by the customer so another date arranged which my husband couldn’t do as he is already working on another job so basically she has requested a refund of her deposit and has filed a claim for it against my hubby to county court? There would be no problem in her having a refund but the supplier has been paid. Very foolish there is no contract and the deposit was paid by BACS. Would it be the company or my husband liable for this? So sorry to ask but never had anything like this before. Thanks for reading.

[jaguarsuk]

Hi
I need a little advice....
my husband is director of a ltd company, a kitchen fitting company, to keep the story short a customer has ordered a kitchen paid a deposit. The first date for fitting was put on hold by the customer so another date arranged which my husband couldn’t do as he is already working on another job so basically she has requested a refund of her deposit and has filed a claim for it against my hubby to county court? There would be no problem in her having a refund but the supplier has been paid. Very foolish there is no contract and the deposit was paid by BACS. Would it be the company or my husband liable for this? So sorry to ask but never had anything like this before. Thanks for reading.

If the money was paid into the account of the limited company and she instructed your husband in a capacity of the limited company then it's the company liable not your husband.

If she has filed a claim against your husband personally then it should be dismissed as she has made a claim against the wrong defendant.

[Jzee81]

Thank you for your reply.
She has issued the claim in my husbands name trading under company name?
Thanks again.

[jaguarsuk]

If you husband has registered his company with Companies House as a Limited company and has a certificate of incorporation then the company is a separate legal entity to him.

If he uses a company name and is not registered with companies house then he is a sole trader and the company is not a separate legal entity.

She has filed as if he is a sole trader and whether that is correct is dependant on whether his business is a sole trader or limited company.

[Amethyst]

Has there been any pre-action communication at all ? From what you've posted the customer ordered and a date was arranged for fitting, the customer cancelled and requested an alternative date which couldn't be done due to other commitments and rather than sorting out a suitable date just chucked a court claim in ?

The claim should be against the Ltd company - are the company details on the deposit receipt ? and was the bacs payment made to the company bank account ?

[Jzee81]

Thanks again for your reply’s.
Yes the ltd company is registered with company house, there was no recept provided and the deposit was paid into my husbands bank. We were found through the company website. I’m sorry as I’m writing this it sounds ridiculous

[Jzee81]

No pre action. Phone call by customer on the 24th demanding a refund, claim filed on 25th

[jaguarsuk]

So limited company, but money into husbands personal account?

Just to clarify

[ostell]

But the order has already been committed to a supplier so the company is not without cost. It's more than just a return of a deposit, work has already commenced.

[Jzee81]

Yes deposit into personal account, transferred into business account...

[jaguarsuk]

I think you need to post here the Particulars of Claim (with personal information removed).

[Jzee81]

Yes thank you. As soon as I’m home from work I will upload.

[Amethyst]

Bugger. You might have a problem if hubby was trying to keep it off the books ( can't think of another reason why not to have given her co account details to pay by bacs ) plus no receipt for deposit ... not great if something goes wrong. It sounds like the purchaser has simply changed mind or maybe had a panic that something might go wrong with installation if she's nothing in writing nor receipts.

Does your hubbys website /advert have terms on it for cancellation etc ? Discuss it with her? How long after the order was placed was the cancellation ? Order placed at her home ( measuring up and quoting her presumably? ) - any written quote with terms on ?

In future he needs terms, contract, receipts and payments to company account only. You live and learn xxx

[jaguarsuk]

Bugger. You might have a problem if hubby was trying to keep it off the books ( can't think of another reason why not to have given her co account details to pay by bacs ) plus no receipt for deposit ... not great if something goes wrong. It sounds like the purchaser has simply changed mind or maybe had a panic that something might go wrong with installation if she's nothing in writing nor receipts.

Does your hubbys website /advert have terms on it for cancellation etc ? Discuss it with her? How long after the order was placed was the cancellation ? Order placed at her home ( measuring up and quoting her presumably? ) - any written quote with terms on ?

In future he needs terms, contract, receipts and payments to company account only. You live and learn xxx

The crux of this is going to be when your husband gave the woman the account details what account name did he give her?

Usually when giving bank details you give account name, sort code, account number and reference. He must have either emailed or sent a message with these written down, so check what was given.

Plus post up the particulars of claim (this can be a photo or scan of the form) or you can just type them out as they are written on it.

Once in possession of the full facts then a strategy can be advised.

[Diana M]

Does your husband have business LPI (legal protection insurance) which may provide cover for the legal expenses of any court action brought against him?

What are the cancellation terms with the kitchen supplier so he can mitigate his loss and possibly Counterclaim if the customer is not entitled to a refund etc.

Di