Being chased for limited company debt

[breakaway]

HI AllAm unfortunately still dealing with a number of issues resulting from my business going into liquidation last summer.Possibly the most irksome is ongoing harrassment from Unicom. Ironically, it was the smallest of all the creditors at the time of liquidation as after i hadn't paid the bill for 2 months (approx £70), they cut me off! They then added a £450 termination charge.They were, of course, included on the list of creditors I sent to my IP and they were informed of the Company liquidation and invited to the creditors meeting, which they didn't attend.Five months later, I started getting letters at my home address from Universal Debt Collection threatening me over non-payment and the amount had gone up to over £750. After the second letter I wrote to them informing them this was a company account and the business had gone into liquidation and they should deal with the IP. I got no acknowledgement - just more threatening letters, amount going up all the time. I emailed them (from a new account I created) and attached a copy of the letter just in case they didn't receive it. In response I got exactly the same threatening letter.I have now received 5 letters and an email - 3 threatening court action and the latest, from Unicom, saying they have added another £150 to the account and they will apply to court for any defence to be struck out on the basis that I have not made 'any attempt to resolve the matter directly'. SERIOUSLY!??????!????? And that they will now issue court papers directly.I am tearing my hair out! Presumably if they do issue court papers my defence is simply that I am not the owner of the debt but nevertheless this is so time consuming. They appear to just not read the letters and emails.Any suggestions about how I can make them take note. I am reluctant to ring them which of course, is what they want me to do, but I know you should never do thatThanks

[toddle2u]

Although I beleive it is never advisable to speak to creditors in this instance it might just be worth trying to speak with a human being and informing them of the situation and asking them to update their records. If they ask for proof of the liquidation point them inn the direction of the Companies House website. I have used this approach previouy for clients and it seems to do the trick. I would also check that the invoices were in fact in the company name. If they were you have nothing to worry about and that is your defence if they do in fact issue proceedings

[numbers666]

HI AllAm unfortunately still dealing with a number of issues resulting from my business going into liquidation last summer.Possibly the most irksome is ongoing harrassment from Unicom. Ironically, it was the smallest of all the creditors at the time of liquidation as after i hadn't paid the bill for 2 months (approx £70), they cut me off! They then added a £450 termination charge.They were, of course, included on the list of creditors I sent to my IP and they were informed of the Company liquidation and invited to the creditors meeting, which they didn't attend.Five months later, I started getting letters at my home address from Universal Debt Collection threatening me over non-payment and the amount had gone up to over £750.

 

***** If you get a SD issued - Straight to IP - Grounds are no 1 on the form 6.5 set aside **************

 

After the second letter I wrote to them informing them this was a company account and the business had gone into liquidation and they should deal with the IP. I got no acknowledgement - just more threatening letters, amount going up all the time. I emailed them (from a new account I created) and attached a copy of the letter just in case they didn't receive it. In response I got exactly the same threatening letter.I have now received 5 letters and an email - 3 threatening court action and the latest, from Unicom, saying they have added another £150 to the account

 

********* Again Remind them to deal with only IP ************ Send this recorded, obtain proof

 

and they will apply to court for any defence to be struck out on the basis that I have not made 'any attempt to resolve the matter directly'. SERIOUSLY!??????!?????

 

****** Yeah Right! ******

 

And that they will now issue court papers directly.I am tearing my hair out! Presumably if they do issue court papers my defence is simply that I am not the owner of the debt but nevertheless this is so time consuming. They appear to just not read the letters and emails.Any suggestions about how I can make them take note. I am reluctant to ring them which of course, is what they want me to do, but I know you should never do thatThanks

 

 

There is no debt - absolute defence - it died with the company. I assume you did not PG this contract ??

 

I would ( and bear in mind I'm bullish ) send the lovely people a letter along the lines, if you keep pursuing this course of action, and attempt to enforce a debt on a liquidated company, personally on a director, then you will strongly defend any such action with application for costs.

 

Also the IP should be dealing with this on your companies behalf - its what they charge for....

 

N

[breakaway]

Thank you both so much for your replies I have today had an email response to my latest missive:-The email states that i entered into a contract in Feb 2007 on behalf of the name of the business. This is the address the bills were sent to and is not the same as the Limited Compay name ie we were ABC t/a DEF. They claim that although they were aware that it was a business account they had no contractural relationship with the Limited Company. We in fact, rebranded in 2010 so the trading name was changed although the Limited Company remained unchanged. They are therefore claiming that 'you entered into your agreement with Unicom as a Sole Trader, hence our intention to pursue you personally for payment of the outstanding debt'Can they do this? Surely the term Sole Trader is a legal one isn't it? I have never been a Sole Trader. In fact at the time of the instigation of the contract I was one of 2 directors of the Company - I was merely the one who negotiated the contract for the business so they have my name as opposed to my business partners!I am unsure how to proceed now. They claim that the original debt stands as 'valid and payable in full' but they are willing to accept a lower payment to close the matter. They have offered me a 25% reduction, which still means i need to find £500. There was only £102 outstanding when the business went into liquidation!If i've got right on my side I am prepared to go the whole way with this even if it ends up in court. On the other hand, I am already dealing with two other matters outstanding - a personal guarantee on an equipment lease and a HUGE outstanding business loan for which i am personally responsible, so I need to know the best course of action.I appreciate your time and advise - thank you

[RMJ]

Hi,

in addition to the advice you have already had, you might find good advice on the site below in particular 'Kate's' postings who has been very helpful to others having similar problems to yours

 

(I can't leave a link as I don't have enough 'posts' but if you google "I am being pressured by a debt collection agency Cleardebt" it will find it for you

You might also be interested to look at this article in the Daily Express.

(Again, I can't leave a link but if you type "Unicom Daily Express" it finds it

Good luck with them

[cat10]

Is the contract in the Ltd company name. Is the company name on the invoices. If so you are not liable for the debt.All such threats should be dealt with by the adminstrator appointed.

[brokebutnotbeatn]

the fact that they are willing to accept less indicates they know they haven't got much of a leg to stand on. As you didn't have 'sole trader' anywhere on teh contract I would refer them to the appointed administrator and let them deal with them. It sounds as if you ahve bigger things to worry about than these chancers.

[breakaway]

HiThanks for your reply. I think this is the problem. The invoices were not in the limited company name but in the trading name of the company.They have sent me the telephone recording of the call setting up the account and the customer service advisor asked me if i was authorised to make the decision on behalf of the business and I said yes and he asked me to confirm the BUSINESS NAME which i did. At no point did he ask me for the Company name so I didn't give it.I had only been in business for a few weeks at that point (this was Feb 2007) so i guess I didn't notice the significance. There claim is based on their assertion that i entered into the contract as a Sole Trader so i am personally responsble. I have never been a sole trader and they did not ask me when I took out the agreement whether i was a Sole Trader or a Limited Company. If they had, I would have made it quite clear. They only asked if i was authorised to make the decision on behalf of the BUSINESS. I could have been an Accounts Clerk!!!!

[breakaway]

I have referred them to the IP - in my original letter and subsequent email, however, they prefer to harrass me instead! I have contacted my IP but not had a response yet - it was 9 months ago so I guess they've moved on from me - plenty of other companies needing to be liquidated!Is it worth me making a formal complaint to Unicom for harrassment? Formally denying the debt and putting the matter into dispute? Asking for all the details - full breakdown of 'debt' (it keeps changing) in terms of amount and how it is made up, copy of contract, copy of phone recordings, Complaints procedure etcBy the way i am typing in paragraphs but when I press 'post thread' it removes all my spaces. i haven't had this problem before if someone could maybe explain what i'm doing wrong?thanks

[brokebutnotbeatn]

Then their recording shows they know its a business and there is no evidence you took out the contract as a sole trader. Refer them back to the IP again and say you will not enter into any further correspondence on the matter and ignore thereafter perhaps. If it ever goes to court the onus of proof is on them to prove you took out the contract as a Sole Trader. As you didn't, they won't be able to prove it. Otheres will advise I'm sure.

[cat10]

When did the business go into admin.Usually the IP looks after the dealings of the company for 12 months. Do you know if the invoices state the the ltd company or business name?

[Cadbury1879]

Hi

Please, this is a [problem]. The debt is dead, ask them to take you to court and they won't IMO .

The debt was a company debt, and should have been included in the insolvency proceedings, even if it wasnt again refer to the insolvency company.

Do not be intimidated, limited liability that's it.

Cad

[breakaway]

Just wanted to come back and update on this. Thanks to all who advised. There was some lack of clarity about the parties to the contract but I followed the advice of RMJ (thanks) and escalated it into an official complaint and they have now written to me to say they will pursue it as a Company debt with the Insolvency Practictioners.One less thing to worry about!