Used car seller not on Companies House and I've no confirmed owner name. Lost cause?

[Kyraena]

Hi all,

Hoping you can help! I bought a used car on 20th May 2026 from a trade seller on Autotrader at a distance, BACS transfer payment and had the car delivered. It has an extremely large windscreen crack and an oil leak. Reported to the seller who told me to claim the windscreen on my insurance and the oil leak on the AA Warranty they sold me. I rejected the car but they are refusing to refund me and have stopped responding.

I sent an LBA, but now we're getting closer to 14 days wait I've realised if they're not on Companies House then I need to sue the owner and I don't know who that is. I have one name from the company email but no idea if that's the owner or not or if it's even the name of a real person. There is no mention of an owner anywhere on documentation, and they have started to change their trading name on their website now.

I posted in a local community social media group about them and soneone told me they had the same issue when the business traded under a previous name.

Is there any recourse here at all? Can I pursue small claims if I'm not sure of an owner's name? It seems like they're just repeatedly getting away with this and there's no way to stop it. I've contacted Citizens Advice and the AA (supposedly the seller is part of the AA Cars Standards scheme, ironically).

Is there any way I can sue [Name from email] trading as [would I put their old trading name or the new one]?

Thanks in advance for your time in reading this. I really appreciate it.

[atticus]

Iwould want to look at everything you have - advertisement, invoice, order forms, emails, details of bank account payment sent to, etc - in order to identify the seller against whom your claim lies.

[Kyraena]

Thanks Atticus. Unfortunately, none of the documentation provides a confirmed owner. I have a name on the email I received but no way to know of that's the owner, a staff member or potentially just made up.

I've heard from 3 other people who were also sold faulty cars by this business and are in the same position as I am, but no one can take action because we can't sue the trading name (which keeps changing anyway) and the owner's name is not disclosed.

I've contacted everyone I can think of and searched everywhere online. It seems that they may be practiced in avoiding court action and my money may be lost.

[atticus]

That is why I would want to look at everything, to piece things together.

Whose account did you pay into?