Court claim - so worried and upset

[libby23]

Hello, I have received a court claim. I will complete this thread as advised. Thank you in advance for helping.

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 08.02.2021
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: No
Total Amount Claimed : £7300
Claimant’s Name: Cannot put as it would identify me as it is a privately owned business
Solicitors Firm: None
Original Creditor: None
Original Debt: Directors Loan Account
Particulars of Claim: The defendant was dismissed from the Company with effect from 31 December 2020. On 18 December the Defendant withdrew a total of £6800 from the Company's bank account in 4 separate amounts and paid it into her personal account. In doing so she preempted Company procedures for of payment of residual salary and other benefits due to her according to contract. It is accepted that a proportion of the money she took was due to her but not the total amount. On 21st December the Finance Director emailed the defendant to request return of the money to enable properly regulated and accounted for payment of the sums due according to contract. On December 22 the Chairman wrote to request return of the money. The defendant refused the requests on both occasions. On 2 February the Chairman emailed a final request for return of the money which she again refused. The defendant has indicated she will not engage any further on the matter
Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): No it is not
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ): No letters sent
Any Other Information or Background Details:

( Really sorry if this background info is long winded, I am just trying to make sure I give you the facts)

This is a privately owned company. I own 25% and I was a Director and employee. The other 75% is owned by a mum, dad, and son. Last year I raised internal concerns to the mum and dad relating to bullying and misappropriation of funds by the son. The son was aggressive and picked on our staff. One employee left because she was bullied. The mum, dad and son have all said that there is no truth in any of the concerns even though the employee sent in a statement. Regarding the finances of the company, they have still not responded to where money has gone.
I have been through a disciplinary and appeal on the grounds of 'breakdown in communication'. My union said it was a farce. They asked me to apologise to the son, I refused. They dismissed me. They are aware that me and my daughter ( they sacked her too) are taking them to a tribunal as ACAS is in touch with them.
On 18 December they did not pay me all my wages due and did not pay my daughters wages.
I paid my daughter from the Directors Loan Account. Making sure I paid less than was due.
I paid myself from the Directors Loan Account, paid less than I was due.
They had not paid my pension in 18 months, I paid that direct to the pension provider.
I asked them to pay what they owe me and my daughter but first deduct what is owed to the Directors Loan Account. They have not paid either of us.
They still owe me £4300 wages. They owe my daughter £600. They owe me a few thousand in bonus but I don't have that figure at the moment. They have my personal property as they will not let me in the building.

The claimant has not said in the form how much I owe them. I think this is because they don't really know as the mum and dad were never involved in the business. As I have stated above, they owe me money so I cannot comprehend how they can submit a claim form.

The claimant has mentioned company procedures, there isn't any relating to a Directors Loan Account.

I believe the claimant had no intention of paying me or my daughter anything. They are now angry because I have paid myself and her some of what is owed.

Thank you so much for any help. Me and my daughter have been through a year of hell.

[libby23]

Hello,
Is there anyone who can help me please with my post above?
Thank you so much.

[des8]

Hi
Not really my scene but first acknowledge the claim but do not enter a defence at this point.

This will give you more time to enter a defence, and obtain help from others here

[pt2537]

Hi there.

Good grief what a shocker.

It seems to me that you may well be able to bring a counterclaim here for further losses including pension payments.

I'll take a better look in the morning when I'm at work

[libby23]

Hello, Des8, Thank you for replying. I will acknowledge the claim now then.
Hello., PT2537. That's great, thank you very much.

[pt2537]

Hello, I have received a court claim. I will complete this thread as advised. Thank you in advance for helping.

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 08.02.2021
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: No
Total Amount Claimed : £7300
Claimant’s Name: Cannot put as it would identify me as it is a privately owned business
Solicitors Firm: None
Original Creditor: None
Original Debt: Directors Loan Account
Particulars of Claim: The defendant was dismissed from the Company with effect from 31 December 2020. On 18 December the Defendant withdrew a total of £6800 from the Company's bank account in 4 separate amounts and paid it into her personal account. In doing so she preempted Company procedures for of payment of residual salary and other benefits due to her according to contract. It is accepted that a proportion of the money she took was due to her but not the total amount. On 21st December the Finance Director emailed the defendant to request return of the money to enable properly regulated and accounted for payment of the sums due according to contract. On December 22 the Chairman wrote to request return of the money. The defendant refused the requests on both occasions. On 2 February the Chairman emailed a final request for return of the money which she again refused. The defendant has indicated she will not engage any further on the matter
Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): No it is not
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ): No letters sent
Any Other Information or Background Details:

( Really sorry if this background info is long winded, I am just trying to make sure I give you the facts)

This is a privately owned company. I own 25% and I was a Director and employee. The other 75% is owned by a mum, dad, and son. Last year I raised internal concerns to the mum and dad relating to bullying and misappropriation of funds by the son. The son was aggressive and picked on our staff. One employee left because she was bullied. The mum, dad and son have all said that there is no truth in any of the concerns even though the employee sent in a statement. Regarding the finances of the company, they have still not responded to where money has gone.
I have been through a disciplinary and appeal on the grounds of 'breakdown in communication'. My union said it was a farce. They asked me to apologise to the son, I refused. They dismissed me. They are aware that me and my daughter ( they sacked her too) are taking them to a tribunal as ACAS is in touch with them.
On 18 December they did not pay me all my wages due and did not pay my daughters wages.
I paid my daughter from the Directors Loan Account. Making sure I paid less than was due.
I paid myself from the Directors Loan Account, paid less than I was due.
They had not paid my pension in 18 months, I paid that direct to the pension provider.
I asked them to pay what they owe me and my daughter but first deduct what is owed to the Directors Loan Account. They have not paid either of us.
They still owe me £4300 wages. They owe my daughter £600. They owe me a few thousand in bonus but I don't have that figure at the moment. They have my personal property as they will not let me in the building.

The claimant has not said in the form how much I owe them. I think this is because they don't really know as the mum and dad were never involved in the business. As I have stated above, they owe me money so I cannot comprehend how they can submit a claim form.

The claimant has mentioned company procedures, there isn't any relating to a Directors Loan Account.

I believe the claimant had no intention of paying me or my daughter anything. They are now angry because I have paid myself and her some of what is owed.

Thank you so much for any help. Me and my daughter have been through a year of hell.

Ok well i note that youre going through ACAS, im surprised they have issued a claim, especially if there's a tribunal case on the horizon. Im not an employment lawyer so im not really able to help with that side of things, but the Claim appears to be quite frivolous and speculative, and i believe from what you say you have grounds to defend it at least. Also if they have your goods, you can seek a delivery up order under TIGA or if the goods have been disposed of then a claim for conversion too.

It certainly sounds as if youre on firmer ground that the employers. However, you must deal with their claim properly, you must file a defence and ensure it complies with the Civil Procedure Rules. I see many cases fail not because they are bad in law, but because they arent set out properly, and dont comply with the rules etc.

There certainly sounds like theres a case there to pursue by way of a counterclaim, although i do have to say that trying to advise when there is only a limited amount of info can be difficult

[libby23]

Hello PT2537,
Thank you for your reply.
I believe they have issued a claim to try and scare me away. Okay re the delivery up order i will bear that in mind.
I will make sure I comply with the CPR rules. I have just been reading them and it seems that the claimants have not followed these rules at all.
What I do not understand is how to defend the claim properly when I actually do not know exactly how much they are claiming for because in the POC they state 'it is accepted that a proportion of the money she took was due to her but not all of it'. Its ridiculous.

With regards to my employment claim, is it more advisable to put that on a separate thread?

Thank you for helping. After a year of upset it is nice to get some help so it is really appreciated.

[libby23]

Hello,

I am preparing my defence now and would like some advice please. I have used the template from here. I have three questions if that's okay:

1. I am not sure what to write for point 6.The Claimants POC states that they know they owe me money (please see first post, they have not paid my final salary). Do I centre on the fact they haven't paid me or do I focus on the fact they have claimed an amount that is incorrect?

2. The claimants have said that I 'preempted Company procedures'. It was me who wrote the company policies and procedures and no such policy and or procedure that the claimant suggests exists. Do i state this?

3. Do I mention that the claimants knew I was submitting an Employment Tribunal claim?

(I have my ACAS certificate now so I am submitting an Employment Tribunal Claim regarding this matter but I will start a separate thread on this)

Thank you

[libby23]

Hi, Is there anyone who can help me with the above post? In addition to the above post I sent a CPR request in relation to their POC that they intend to rely on a 'procedure'. The claimant has just sent me a typed up word document that never existed before. How do I challenge its authenticity and actually it bears no relevance to what they are claiming.
Thank you

[libby23]

Hello, Is there anyone who can help me with my post?

[MIKE770]

Des-8

[des8]

Can you post up the defence as you have so far drafted, please?

Was the "procedure" just one typed sheet?
Presumably the policies and procedures were bound as one document, or did they work off loose sheets?

[libby23]

Hello Des8,

Please find attached my defence. The procedure was just one typed sheet sent by email. The procedure that they sent has never existed and is not part of the company's policy and procedures. (The claimants have made it up)
The claimants have not sent any policy document that relates to a Directors Loan Account. ( We never had one)

Thank you,
Libby.

[des8]

Will get back to you tomorrow

[des8]

Bear in mind this is not my normal sphere of operations,, but you needed more structure to your defence and counterclaim.
A lot of what you used would normally be in a witness statement
I'm sure others could do it better.

I note your basic salary claim is in excess of £10,000 and you have further unspecified amounts you want to claim.
These have cost implications, both in filing the claim and expenses.
If the other side use solicitors/barristers and you lose you could land up paying their costs.
I just wonder if you shouldn't look to making an employment tribunal claim rather than county court as the risk of adverse costs is minimal to zero



However below is a Defence draft:... fill in missing bits and use correct font, size and spacing etc

Sections 8,9,10 &11… have you a response


1). The Claimants statement of case neither states the amount that the Claimant is alleging is owed by the Defendant, nor gives adequate information to enable the Defendant to properly assess their position with regards the claim.

2)The statement of case has no numbered paragraphs, so for ease of reference the Defendant repeats the statement in this defence in italics

3) .Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.

4))The defendant was dismissed from the Company with effect from 31 December 2020.

Agreed

5) On 18 December the Defendant withdrew a total of £6800 from the Company's bank account in 4 separate amounts and paid it into her personal account.

Agreed the amount was withdrawn from the Directors Loan Account.

6) In doing so she preempted Company procedures for of payment of residual salary and other benefits due to her according to contract.

it is denied that any such procedures were in place and the claimant is put to strict proof

7) It is accepted that a proportion of the money she took was due to her but not the total amount.

It is denied that an amount in excess of what was owing to the Defendant was withdrawn from the Directors Loan Account

8)On 21st December the Finance Director emailed the defendant to request return of the money to enable properly regulated and accounted for payment of the sums due according to contract

9) On December 22 the Chairman wrote to request return of the money.

10)The defendant refused the requests on both occasions.

11)On 2 February the Chairman emailed a final request for return of the money which she again refused.

12)The defendant has indicated she will not engage any further on the matter.

It is denied that the Defendant has refused mediation


Counterclaim particulars



1. At all material times;

i) The counterclaimant was a director of and employed by Company name

ii) Company name was and is a private limited company registered at companies House under numberxxxxxxx engaged in the business of ?????

2.The Parties entered into an agreement of employment (“the agreement”) by which the Company name undertook as from dd/mm/yyro employ the counterclaimant at [Enter rate of pay etc]

3 The Counterclaimant was appointed director of the company on dd.mm.yy

4The written contract was signed by both parties on dd.mm.yy

5. On dd mm yy the counterclaimant left the employ of xx

6The counter claim is for i) breach of contract following failure to pay salary, bonus and dividends according to the contract.

Ii)alternatively withholding the final salary and benefits due to the counterclaimant contrary to Section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. as admitted by letter dd.mm.yy

iii)for return of counterclaimant’s personal items (list them)wrongfully detained by the company contrary to the Torts (Interference with Goods) act 1977

7. accordingly the counterclaimant claims;

I(the contractually due sum of

2 court costs

3 interest under section 69 etc etc

4 return of personal items