Small Claims Problem ?!?

[syvonne]

It seems very odd ... he’s Director of an “Annabella Catering Ltd” that’s dormant but also Director of “Annabella Ltd” that appears active and trading !? .... I will see if he will confirm by company number !!

[ostell]

Did you see the changes to post #45? I edited quite a lot.

[efpom]

Your correspondence with Andreas is getting you nowhere. He is blowing smoke in your eye. Don't inhale it!

You have strong evidence pointing to your contract having been with the hotel.

Andreas says the contract was not with him, but is with a limited company So far, he seems to have deliberately obfuscated who that limited company is.

One purpose of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 is to put a stop to traders obfuscating who the consumer has contracted with. The trader's penalty is no entitlement to be paid, if he does not comply with the Regulations. r. 36(c)

It remains unclear whether the hotel, as a business, is a 'sole trader' with Andreas or Bobbie as that sole trader, or whether there is some form of legal partnership operating the hotel business.

If I was in your shoes I would now serve a statutory demand on each individual* i.e. Andreas and Bobbie. They will have 21 days to answer that demand.

If they do not make any answer, you file a bankruptcy petition.

If they do make an answer, that could flush out who exactly, they say, your contract was with.

on issuing a court claim, there are 3 prospective defendants - Andreas, Bobbie and the Limited Company. You cannot issue that claim on line via MCOL because the limit via MCOL is 2 defendants. You MUST issue a claim where there are more than 2 defendants by post via County Court Money Claim Centre in Manchester.

*- My advice was bad - the minimum for individuals is £5,000, not £750

[syvonne]

Ok, thanks ....

I will email Monday asking for a confirmation of business name and company number as well as asking for a detailed breakdown of services rendered and costs for said services relative to our booking

is it worth quoting any legislation acts or statements at this stage, such as obfuscation highlighted by Efpom ?

[efpom]

I would confine myself to a simple clarification asking for the company number of "Abnnabella" and nothing else, for now.

[syvonne]

Sent email Monday morning, requesting confirmation of business name and company number .... as of now, Tuesday 2pm, I’ve had no response !?!

[syvonne]

Still no response at all to confirm business name and company number !! .... would appreciate suggestions as to next course of action ? ... thank you

[ostell]

Wait a week and initiate claim against directors and company (not catering). Things might start moving out of the company as they prepare for the claim

I think someone has previously given info about how to do this

[efpom]

The claim is for:
Refund of monies paid over.

Grounds
a) frustration of contract
b) Pursuant to Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 r. 36(c)

Application for Costs x hours at lip rate of £19 p.h.
Grounds - unreasonable conduct cpr28.14*

As there are more than 2 Defendants claim must be made on paper via
County Court Money Claim Centre in Manchester.
*Should be CPR 27.14 (2)(g)

[syvonne]

OK, thank you ...

So I'm going to use the paper option.

In the section "Defendants" do I list in the same box:

Mr Andreas Kalavanas
Mrs Bobbie Kalavanas
Annabella LTD

Plus the address for each entity registered with companies house ?

[efpom]

For Bobbie and Andreas - the address of Moxhull Hall
For the legal persons i.e. the Ltd companies - the title and company number of each company and the addresses as given by Companies House
There are two companies - Annabella Limited and Annabella Catering Limited
( A company ceases to be dormant immediately it makes any trading act, not when it notifies Companies House that it has ceased to be dormant.)
You have now 4 defendants.

[syvonne]

Ok, so just to be clear, I can list all 4 on the one claim ?

[efpom]

Yes - you list all 4 on the same claim form.

[efpom]

Further, and regarding Annabella Limited Company number 04644507
there is a floating charge in favour of the Bank of Cyprus Limited, secured on the assets of the company, secured against the assets of the company. See Attached.
It might be worthwhile downloading the land registry documents from the land registry, for Moxhull Hall to see if there is an a entry in the Charges Register – “No disposition.. in favour of Bank of Cyprus..”
That would provide strong evidence that the hotel is owned by Annabella Limited and not by Andreas and Bobbie as individuals. That bit of forensics is not relevant to your claim against all four defendants – You should not have to carry out any forensics.
The deliciousness of this is that it is open to you to a) demand payment from Annabella Limited forthwith, relying on Andreas’s “incomplete” identification of the company, and b) if not forthcoming, to c) state that if you are forced to issue a statutory demand, you will also notify the floating charge holder i.e. the Bank of Cyprus.
That might provide a much cheaper route to you getting your money.
I suggest holding off on issuing proceedings, for the moment, as I would like other contributors to comment on that proposed tactic.

[syvonne]

That’s impressive !! ... but I will hold my hands up, I have not entirely followed what you’re saying !?

is that charge a debt of some kind that they are attempting to swerve ?