Money claim unresolved - what next?

[MrsSilver]

Hi,

The company I work for made a fairly substantial claim against a customer who hadn't paid what was owed to us for work done. We had settled on a payment plan which soon broke down so decided to go the legal route.

In brief: we wrote several times asking to make further arrangements (we know all went to the correct address) which were not responded to; we filed a claim for judgment which he said he would contest but never did; we decided that an order to attend court for questioning about his finances would be a wise step before pursuing further.

We have now received the statement from the questioning and are 99% sure that some of what he said is untrue. At the end of the statement he has said he doesn't believe he owes what we are asking. (That may be his objecting to the interest added, which I guess could be waived if it helps the actual debt to be paid.)

Where do we go next? Taking the received statement at face value, attempting enforcement at this stage looks a bit pointless as he says he has no job or assets--at least one of those things we know to be not entirely true.

The letter from the court says if we are not satisfied with the information provided we can make a fresh application for questioning. Can we use that to contest his statements? Or is there another procedure that might be better?


Thank you in advance for any advice.
MrsSilver

[atticus]

he says he has no job or assets--at least one of those things we know to be not entirely true.

If you know he has a job, you can apply for an attachment of earnings order.

If you know of his assets, you can instruct a bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer to try to seize them.

[MrsSilver]

If you know he has a job, you can apply for an attachment of earnings order.

If you know of his assets, you can instruct a bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer to try to seize them.

He's self employed so can't do the AoE. Not sure on the assets, though. The current lack of all seems very convenient, with everything in his partner's name.

What I was wondering really is if there is a recommended route to come back after his statement to say 'we don't agree with what he said' - would it be to put in a fresh application to get him in for questioning and put forward some very specific extra questions?

Thanks

[atticus]

Do you have specific knowledge on which your disbelief is based, or simply suspicions?

[MrsSilver]

Do you have specific knowledge on which your disbelief is based, or simply suspicions?

We are almost certain that he is still selling the products we made for him. There are photos in an online store, showing his branding, sold as a one-letter-different name and his partner as a username. His partner is a 'she', yet the comments about the items refer to 'him'.

[atticus]

Assuming that the judgement debt is more than £600, why not pass it to High Court Enforcement Officers, giving them all the information that you have?

[MrsSilver]

Assuming that the judgement debt is more than £600, why not pass it to High Court Enforcement Officers, giving them all the information that you have?

Thank you, Atticus, I shall look into it. It's worth a lot more than £600.

As I said before, we were just a bit stumped by there not being any option to directly respond to the questioning and had no idea which way to turn next, so thank you for your input.

MrsSilver