Small Claims Court

[mysteryman30]

A year or so ago I paid a deposit of ~£550 to what I thought was a reputable double glazing company. Turns out the directors are known scammers and have done a runner with my deposit. After much effort I managed to get £200 returned however they have since disappeared from the face of the internet. I went down the money claims route (for a fee of £79) which progressed through the various stages with no response from the defendant in question, ultimately resulting in a court date being set (which requires a fee of £89) - which I have zero confidence the defendant will be present at.
My question to you good folks is is it worth the time and additional money to go down this route of a court hearing? Like I said I have zero confidence the defendant will be present and not sure of the best choice of action. I dont want to have to pay another £89 if I can help it. Anyone else been in a similar boat before?

[myothernameis]

I would say, find out how many other persons he has scammed, and how much scammed for.  As for chasing him, dont think you will get your money back, so might be better to cut your losses

If you chased him through the small claims court, might be a good idea, to find out what happens if you win your case.  So how do you enforce the judgement, and what happens if he ignore this

[Davey Dykes]

I would say just accept it now and move on.

I have in the past been due money for work and the company has been Liquidised. The Liquidators will send you a letter telling you they will be taking £80 K or whatever for their services and if anything else can be clawed in you might get 10% of what you're owed if you're lucky.

Seems you've already done better than that so ask yourself if it's worth the stress and frustration of chasing it up

[AnthG]

Seen this topic luckily when I was signed into the forum. I went through all of this about 10 years ago when I bought a car from a used car seller from hell.

If the defendant has not filed a defence or an acknwowledgement of service (basically a written document saying he intents to file one but needs more time). And the deadline has passed for the defendent to submit the defence.

You don't have to go to court. What you want to do is seek a default judgement from the court.

External Link/Members Only

Meaning of ‘default judgment’
12.1 In these Rules, ‘default judgment’ means judgment without trial where a defendant—

(a) has failed to file an acknowledgment of service; or
(b) has failed to file a defence or any document intended to be a defence.

Claims in which default judgment may not be obtained
12.2 A claimant may not obtain a default judgment—

(a) on a claim for delivery of goods subject to an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 19741;
(b) where they use the procedure set out in Part 8 (alternative procedure for claims); or

12.2 B [a] is your only worry, if that is what you have brought your claim under - i.e the law you brought the claim under on your particulars of claim.

If its not then

Procedure for obtaining default judgmen 12.4

(1) Subject to paragraph (3), a claimant may obtain a default judgment by filing a request in the relevant practice form where the claim is for—

(a) a specified amount of money (Form N205A or N225);
(b) an amount of money to be decided by the court (Form N205B or N227);

So basically the above form depending on your claim. File it and the judge will give you a judgement without a hearing.

Then you have the fun of getting the money, the defendant gets given a date to pay. And if the deadline passes, then comes the annoying part.  There are various ways of getting the money back off the other person. You decide what method you want to use. But its going to need another application sent to the court (and if memory services another £255)

That one the defendant may likely try and fight.

If you win your case, you are legally entitled to the money. The only thing the other person can do is submit an appeal saying the claim form was sent to the wrong address. So make sure 100% its the correct address for the defendant.

But if he appeals and wins the appeal, the claim just goes right back to square one and you have the trial.

It can get expensive, but as long as you keep winning all that money gets added onto how much the otherside has to pay. In the end for me for a £600 car, I ended getting back £1400 off the other side due to all the addons needed for various applications.

The bailiff's had to be sent to his house though.

[DastardlyDick]

First off, I will say that I am not a Lawyer/Solicitor and have no Legal Training.
As others have said, you, as an Individual, have very little (if any) chance of recovering any of the remaining losses, simply because any Commercial Creditors, such as Banks, Suppliers etc will have "first dibs" on any assets this Company may have left. I would just put it down to an expensive experience.

[daviemac]

Getting a county court judgement in your favour and getting the money owed can be two very different things. If the bloke you're claiming off has no assets you're fucked.

[jackdaw]

Getting a county court judgement in your favour and getting the money owed can be two very different things. If the bloke you're claiming off has no assets you're fucked.

Or used fake id so untraceable. Or operating via a limited liability company which is liquidated with few assets.

Basically being a con artist is probably safest criminal profession for any one willing to constantly move around.

[RandomGuy99]

Basically being a con artist is probably safest criminal profession for any one willing to constantly move around.

It might take a long time for the Police to catch up with them.

[mysteryman30]

Much appreciate everyones input, my gut feeling is that I would be throwing more money away and the best course of action would be to write it off. Love this site, thanks again.

[Rayray23k]

Im in the same shoes as you where and posted a question about a company trying to do a runner.
I've settled on just writing it off and moving on as I really do not have the energy to be chasing tail.

[diver ted]

mysteryman30 - I've got some experience with County Courts (won a couple, lost a couple) - can be expensive with little chance of success.

Sorry if you already know this -
Except for punting I always use a credit card to pay for anything over £100 and under £30,000. Used to purchase car, double glazing, new kitchen etc. - Gives you free cover as credit card covers you in most circumstances. Normally put a £50 deposit down and pay the balance through debit/loan whatever...

From Martin Lewis MSE site
External Link/Members Only

Section 75 is your secret financial superhero – buy something costing more than £100 and less than £30,000 on your credit card, and your card company has a LEGAL responsibility to come to the rescue if there's a problem. So if something you've paid for has turned up broken or faulty, or perhaps didn't arrive at all, you may be able to get your money back through a Section 75 claim. And we've a free tool to make it easy.

Top tip – pay the deposit by credit card and you're covered for the whole cost of an item or service
The law's clear on this – you get the protection for the whole cost of an item or service, even if you only pay for a part of it on credit. The only condition is that what you're buying must cost more than £100 and less than £30,000 in total. As long as it does, you'll be covered for the full amount, even if you only pay 1p of it on your credit card.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Watts.E.Dunn]

Leave it mate for a few hundred quid thers no point chasing after these toe rags..

All very well sueing someone but if thay ain't got the bunce anyway no point:(

[Adoniron]

Have you tried contacting your local trading standards department? Won't get you your money back but could cause them some grief.

Also if the company has gone bust contact the liquidator.  If they've done it to enough people the Insolvency Service may bring director's disqualification proceedings.

[fredhiggins]

Don't bother chasing it.

But remember, revenge is a dish best served cold. If you see a chance to screw them over at any time then take it.

[sir wanksalot]

You are now down to a loss of £ 271 after recovering some money and then paying court fees.

Consider that amount as a lesson in never paying a deposit unless you're buying from a high street store, car dealership or buying a house.

[mysteryman30]

mysteryman30 - I've got some experience with County Courts (won a couple, lost a couple) - can be expensive with little chance of success.

Sorry if you already know this -
Except for punting I always use a credit card to pay for anything over £100 and under £30,000. Used to purchase car, double glazing, new kitchen etc. - Gives you free cover as credit card covers you in most circumstances. Normally put a £50 deposit down and pay the balance through debit/loan whatever...

From Martin Lewis MSE site
External Link/Members Only

Section 75 is your secret financial superhero – buy something costing more than £100 and less than £30,000 on your credit card, and your card company has a LEGAL responsibility to come to the rescue if there's a problem. So if something you've paid for has turned up broken or faulty, or perhaps didn't arrive at all, you may be able to get your money back through a Section 75 claim. And we've a free tool to make it easy.

Top tip – pay the deposit by credit card and you're covered for the whole cost of an item or service
The law's clear on this – you get the protection for the whole cost of an item or service, even if you only pay for a part of it on credit. The only condition is that what you're buying must cost more than £100 and less than £30,000 in total. As long as it does, you'll be covered for the full amount, even if you only pay 1p of it on your credit card.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Very good info, thank you! and thank you again to everyone who responded, much appreciated!