Claim against Sole Trader - Name Issue

[will1984]

Hi all,

 

Wondering if anyone can offer advice on an open small claims I have currently against a sole trader.

 

The defendant has not filed a defence on a small claims issued against them even though it has nearly been 14 days. It has surprised me as they were so adamant they were right during our dispute. It has led me to think that perhaps I have not filled out the claim form correctly with the trading name possibly being incorrect. From their website they have a few different names listed, one for correspondence and one for their retail shop. There is also a third name which just appears on a few of their web pages. The dispute is over an order made over the phone using their website as reference.

 

Their correspondence name had headed Great Asian Gifts and Souvenirs followed by a residential address, presumably their home address. Their shop is called Great Asian Memories followed by their shop address. The third reads Great Asian Memories and Gifts. (The actual names are rather more distinctive but similar to this).

 

I put Mrs Ann Smith trading as Great Asian Gifts and Souvenirs, however I possibly should of put trading as the retail shop name as that is who the order was placed with. I did make a note of the retail shop name in the POC if that makes any difference.

 

The pre action protocol letter was sent to the correspondence name and residential address which they acknowledged as receiving so I would be surprised if they could say they never received it.

 

However could the claim be struck out since the trading name I put may not be the correct one (it may not even exist) even though the named individual is correct as is their home address? An annoying technicality if so but my fault which is fair enough. Do you think it is likely they're just going to leave it till the last minute in the process, whenever that may be, to mention this? Since the claim is fairly small, would it be best to just start over again if this happens?

 

Grateful for any advice.

[BankFodder]

If you have issued a claim against the name you have used in prior correspondence and which has received replies without objection to the name, then I don't think you need to worry.

 

If later on there is an objection then it would merely be a technical objection and you could ask the court either to disregard the objection because of the previous correspondence or else simply to allow you to amend the claim.

 

The most important thing is that you have the individuals name – because whatever his or her trading names are, because it is not a limited liability company then that person is personally liable and the trading names are not massively important – or not fatally so anyway

[Ganymede]

It hasn't even been the full 14 days yet! Has the Court told you the date your claim was issued?

 

I wouldn't worry about the trading name as you've got the individual's name.

[will1984]

Thank you both for your replies.

 

It is 14 days today from the date my claim was issued so I will wait to see if anything has arrived (may wait a few days for postal service though).

 

It's the first time I've filed a claim so I'm a bit apprehensive about it since I've read documents need to be filled in accurately; however thank you both for reassuring me that for this particular query, it should not matter as the individual has been named correctly.