Commercial Debts (Interest) Act

[a1acrity]

Hi

 

I have been issued a summons under this act. I had previously been dealing with the company and we cancelled their service, they were always late and never had in stock what we ordered. They subsequently went off our radar and six months later we get a letter before action from a solictor claiming the amount outstanding and interest (under the act) which came to the same amount of the outstanding balance.

 

I have sent back the defence form so have the 28 days to form a defence, if there is one.

 

Here is my reasoning, please shoot me down if you think I am wrong

 

The company didn't send a final invoice, it also never sent any reminder nor made any other calls to get their money.

 

On receiving the LBA I sent the outstanding balance but said that they were not due the interest as they had not given us a reasonable attempt to pay off the amount and that it was not what the Commercial Debts(interest) Act was intended for. Also that is certainly wasn't intended to allow large national companies to double thier receipts from small shopkeepers.

 

I feel that it is reasonable and normal business pratice to expect an invoice and a statement from someone that you owe money to. I also think it is normal practice to make an attempt to recover money before engaging a solicitor and applying effectively 100% interest on a debt.

 

I have written to the company requesting information including the dates that invoices and statements were paid and also our account history which will show that we always paid on a 30 day statement, therefore (IMHO) showing that when reminded we paid

 

Comments would be really appreciated.