Court Judgement against company that has now ceased trading

[Nerfhurder]

I have recently been awarded a judgement against a local 'franchised' company through the local court that was due for payment by today. As no payment was forthcoming I called the shop - there was no answer. I then called the head office which told me that the local franchise had ceased trading. The judgement is against the company name but with the local town name aswell - what can I do. The courts won't advise me. I don't know if the shop is in administration - I will check at the shop this evening but don't hold out much hope. Any help would be appreciated

[assisted blonde]

Companies house web site will tell you if the company is still trading or in administration. If administrators are called in to wind up the company then creditors will be invited to submit details of monies owed to them, if the company has any assets then they will be allocated according to a strict criteria. I wouild think you have very little chance of getting your money as most places cease trading when they have nothing

[Nerfhurder]

Companies House only has one company listed with their name - I think the local shop is just a franchise so isn't listed. This is where my problem lies because the main company is still trading but my action was against the local shop - so I'm not sure of my position.

[toddle2u]

In most cases iti s the norm for a franchisee to be a seperate legal entity from the franchisor. Have you any paperwork from the local shop that should show you the correct Limited Company name or Company number that it traded under then you could check companies house for that name to see if it is entereed into an insolvency arrangement.

If the Company has simply ceased to trade rather than entering into some sort of insolvency arrangement you would still have some (though very small) chance of getting something. Has the shop got any stock left in it or fixtures and fittings that might have any value?

[Nerfhurder]

So I checked the shop on my way home tonight and there is a notice on the window that say's the shop is temporarily closed and looking for a temporary manager. This isn't what I was told by 'head office'. The shop is still intact, full of stock, but currently closed. I can pay to have the council bailiffs in (again no one will give me advice) but does anyone know what the bailiffs legal rights are with the shop closed - and how many times will they try to collect with the shop closed as it may re-open in a week or six months - I don't want to throw good money after bad, but if I can collect the judgement then obviously I will go through with it. Thanks to those that've posted already.

[toddle2u]

Personally i would have it 'transferred up' for enforcement by a High Court Enorcement Officer. |t costs £50 and they have far more powers than the Council bailiffs - they have a right of forced entry on business premises. Their fees are added to the debt for them to collect and they are a lot more tenacious than council bailiffs. If you google HCEO transfer up you should get more information opn how to do this. Is a failry simple procedure where you just need to fill in on eform and then send it off to whoever you choose to collect it for you

[palomino]

It sounds as though the local business was on 'sole trader' basis or something like. Companies House only handles companies.

 

You will need to find the real owner of the business, and you may be able to find this out from the head office.

If you can find the owner's home address then you can serve any documents there, however I suspect that that person has either disappeared or cannot pay his bills because of a lack of income from the business. Hence your chances of recovering the amount owed may not be great.

Note that bailiffs and HCEOs can be quite tough if they need to recover their fees from the debtor. If they are getting fees from the creditor then they commonly make only a token effort.