Sue an individual if company no longer trading

[atticus]

We may infer that the other party's lawyers have not communicated an interest in early settlement.

The OP would do well to consult lawyers about his various claims.

[Northmark]

Thank you. I would prefer not to have to do that unless absolutely necessary. It would be much more stressful for me if this was dragged out for a long time and would prefer not to have to be subjected to "psychiatric evaluations" and things like that.

I would prefer for now to communicate directly myself to try and reach an agreement, as I find that easier to cope with and less stressful. I don't see how that could cause any harm? They are only incriminating themselves with their communications anyway.

Would anyone be able or willing to help with any ideas for how I should respond to their letter?

[Northmark]

The letter received today is quite brief and dismissive. It just states that all communications should be addressed to the solicitor and not directly to the other person.

With regard to my complaint they refer to previous letter and state "That remains his position". In their previous letter they stated that the company was in liquidation and that their client denies any liability and claims other individuals within the company are liable, one of whom is now deceased.

I also made a data request and their response to that is "Our client will not be responding thereto as the dispatch of a SAR to him is wholly misconceived."

Should I ask them to identify their insurer? Should I ask them to clarify and explain exactly why they believe other individuals are liable? Should I ask them to confirm the details of their data controller?

I am aware that the company still has records of employees dating back even as far as the 80s, so I know they have records relating to myself in more recent years. Are they allowed to refuse a data request at all?

Its very confusing, as he forwarded our email exchange to the active solvent company, so isn't that admitting that my claim is relevant to the current company, rather than the liquidated one? Should I send data request to the current active company?

He also asserts that he is not liable for employees or members of office staff at his company, which seems very confusing. He is the director and owner and was also the director and owner of the now insolvent companies, so surely he would be liable for his staff?

[R0b]

Sorry if have offended by the level of damages I wish to claim, but certainly haven't just plucked some random figure out of the air. If a specialist personal injury solicitor suggested my claim is worth merely a few grand, when it is worth much more, then I certainly would not bother employing them to act for me.

I'm not offended, I just can't comprehend why, despite several of us telling you that your best chance is to seek independent legal advice, you refuse to do so on the premise that it will be stressful for you. If you're going to find legal proceedings stressful then you shouldn't even be sending a letter before action as that implies you have the intention to do just that if your demands are not met.

You want to play communication ping pong with the other side and expect them to play ball. They will eventually just stop responding to you and if you persisted, I wouldn't be surprised if they threaten harassment against you or seek an injunction to either put up or shut up.

You also want us to help you play along whilst drip feeding information and refusing to provide the full details surrounding the dispute. How do you honestly expect us to tell you what your options are or how to respond when we know next to nothing. Based on your recent posts it seems to me this is a case of you thinking you have all these claims against your ex-employer but underneath it all, you have no idea what you are doing and yet you keep on going.

I'm sorry if I am coming across as a bit curt, but I am not willing to give this thread any more air as it is a pointless waste of time since your not helping us or yourself. I suspect you are on of these vexatious types and tI could be wrong but that's just my opinion.

I'll bow out at this stage and leave it to others on the thread who might wish to continue helping you on this merry-go-round, good luck.

[Northmark]

I'm not offended, I just can't comprehend why, despite several of us telling you that your best chance is to seek independent legal advice, you refuse to do so on the premise that it will be stressful for you. If you're going to find legal proceedings stressful then you shouldn't even be sending a letter before action as that implies you have the intention to do just that if your demands are not met.

You want to play communication ping pong with the other side and expect them to play ball. They will eventually just stop responding to you and if you persisted, I wouldn't be surprised if they threaten harassment against you or seek an injunction to either put up or shut up.

You also want us to help you play along whilst drip feeding information and refusing to provide the full details surrounding the dispute. How do you honestly expect us to tell you what your options are or how to respond when we know next to nothing. Based on your recent posts it seems to me this is a case of you thinking you have all these claims against your ex-employer but underneath it all, you have no idea what you are doing and yet you keep on going.

I'm sorry if I am coming across as a bit curt, but I am not willing to give this thread any more air as it is a pointless waste of time since your not helping us or yourself. I suspect you are on of these vexatious types and tI could be wrong but that's just my opinion.

I'll bow out at this stage and leave it to others on the thread who might wish to continue helping you on this merry-go-round, good luck.

Thank you. I'm not sure why you have taken those views. I don't think sending a letter of claim amounts to harassment, but maybe you have taken those views due to your judgement about health conditions.

I have already explained that I am not able to disclose certain information, as it would easily identify the other person. That is more frustrating for me than it is for you. I am sure you wouldn't advise that I should reveal such info on a public forum?

[atticus]

I slept on post 63 in frustration that the OP shows every sign that he has either not read or not understood the numerous points made by the several of us who have posted replies. I share ROB's suspicion about the OP.

The OP says that he wishes to avoid sharing details on a public forum. That is another reason to consult lawyers, to whom he can divulge full details on a confidential basis.

I too am stepping off this merry-go-round.

[Northmark]

I slept on post 63 in frustration that the OP shows every sign that he has either not read or not understood the numerous points made by the several of us who have posted replies. I share ROB's suspicion about the OP.

The OP says that he wishes to avoid sharing details on a public forum. That is another reason to consult lawyers, to whom he can divulge full details on a confidential basis.

I too am stepping off this merry-go-round.

Yes I have read and understood, although not sure why there s now some kind of "suspicion". Yes I am well aware I can consult solicitors. Just because I haven't done so immediately when you tell me to raises suspicion?

I can't drip feed you info about letters received before they have been received.

I think the harassment is coming from the other party, as they are treating me with derision and deliberate misinformation, which is hugely insulting to me.

I have a right to the records and data held to help build my claim, which they are clearly being obstructive.

I do not see why you would need me to divulge any identifying details in order to suggest how I should respond to the the solicitors denial of any liability and also failure to comply with a data request?

I assume liquidators are not responsible for dealing with a SAR. There is no information on the company website regarding how to request data and their privacy policy page is blank. I have the email address of the office at the currently active company, as the director copied them in to one of the emails exchanged. So seeing that the director has not bothered to pass my data request to the relevant person, should I send the SAR directly to the active company?

[wales01man]

Any reason to think this other company holds any info on you unless you have been involved with them?

[Northmark]

Any reason to think this other company holds any info on you unless you have been involved with them?

Yes, they are the company I was employed with and I know they have data and records about me.

[wales01man]

Hi,

If a company has either ceased trading, has recommenced trading in a different name, or is in liquidation can I sue the owner of the company directly?

Many Thanks

OK send them a SAR

[Northmark]

Ok I will.

I am not sure if there is any particular reason you have quoted my first post.

I am confused by the director denying any liability and suggesting that his other employees are liable instead? This relates to people who were/are employed as his office staff and also actions of another person who was employed by them on a freelance/self-employed basis, who I think would be considered to be an "agent" or "contractor" of the company? I think his argument is that as this person was only employed on a freelance basis, he should be directly responsible rather than the director/owner of the company.

To avoid disclosing identifying info, for example, if the company was a yacht builder/manufacturer, he is saying that I should be suing the "yacht manufacturer", but he is the yacht manufacturer.

Could anyone confirm that a director/owner of a company is liable for the actions of any of their employees, whether full time employed staff, or freelance agents of the company?

[Northmark]

Having taken some time to step back and reflect on some of the replies to my post and with the greatest of respect, I think some of your members would benefit from taking a step back and reflecting on how they speak to people who might be particularly vulnerable.


I have been genuinely very grateful for some of the thoughts, advice and suggestions, but then it seemed to take a bit of a different turn. Such as being berated and told to "stop dithering", called a troll, accused of being "suspicious", being "vexatious", "drip feeding" and various other inappropriate, offensive and very personal, poorly judged remarks.

I assume those who made those remarks had already read the previous posts about some of my health conditions and really think some of your members should be very careful to not underestimate the potential sensitivity and severity of mental health conditions. I would urge you not to ever underestimate the damage and harm that can be caused by online bullying.

Despite being an anonymous forum, it can still be difficult for somebody to even post in the first place and to treat them in a manner that is clearly going to cause them more stress is perhaps not the best idea.

I assume you rely on donations from "customers". I can't think of any kind of business where customers would be very happy to be spoken to like that.

If there was a Gordon Ramsey of the legal industry, I would hope you would seek their assistance and hope you are able to take my thoughts on board and perhaps make some changes to how you run your forum.

That is all.

[R0b]

I do not regret anything that I have said to date. At the end of the day, you have come to the forum seeking help, and our advice on multiple occasions was for you to get professional advice and you have chosen to ignore that. I have experienced situations like yours before where one thinks they can get a settlement without going to court and it goes absolutely nowhere other than the claimant becoming a nuisance, as well as wasting the other side's time and costs being spent on legal representatives by sending repeated letters or dragging the dispute out longer than it should be and then doing absolutely bugger all at the end of it.

I don't accept that some of the language used can be categorised as bullying. I believe that sometimes you have to be frank about things and that was simply what I was doing. You may disagree or not like what I have to say but it is purely my assessment of the situation and I would like to think I'm entitled to my opinion on that as are you. I do genuinely believe that you are being vexatious due to your refusal to get professional help and to move this along given the gravity and seriousness of the allegations you seem to be making. Had I not said what I needed to say, I have no doubt this thread would be venturing into double digit pages and you would still be no further forward than where you are now.

We are a community of volunteers and give up our own time to help others out s the time we have on here is quite scarce. If we are telling you to seek professional help then you should really take stock of that but if you choose not to, you can't expect us to keep helping you through your legal situation that (a) we have hardly information about your dispute and (b) it appears the other side's position remains unchanged from before so any further correspondence is not going to gain you anything and (c) you don't actually want to start legal proceedings because of your health conditions which may make things more stressful in which case why are you even bothering with this since it will simply trigger more stress.

None of us on here can help you due to the limitations on your part so you either should seek proper legal help as you are clearly out of your depth, start the legal proceedings yourself and go it alone or give up and move on with your life.