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Help Please.

Several years ago a relation of mine ended up in court over a similar type issue (not supply and purchase).

What saved my relation in court was that she kept the paper trail , converstion / phone logs of her RESONABLE attempts to resolve the issue.

The judge (or whatever he was) decided that the other party was just not interested in settling, but just hoping for a big payout in court, so my relation got awarderd costs and the debt was cleared.
 
Clog II The Avenger said:
Unfortunately if this goes to Court; it is a lottery of whom you get for a Judge. I have known several cases where really dodgy supplies that have lied, cheated, and supplied crap goods to retailers and the innocent party has lost the case. Dissolving a limited company is easy but it is better to start-up or purchase other companies before hand. Some people I know are having twenty to thirty companies running at the same time with turnovers of around £10k per year for each company. Spread your risks. Have one limited company for buying the goods. Have another limited company to own the lease. Have an offshore company to do you consulting. Spend all of your profit on consulting. Have you AGMs in the Caribbean.

You need to be exceptionally careful when dissolving a company due to debt as you can open charges of fraudulent trading, wrongful trading, or preference which go via the criminal route after insolvency. For this to happen the creditors need to gain control of the liquidation proceedings and appoint their own receiver - it is very expensive for them to do this.
 
Fraudulent trading

Fraudulent trading

“You need to be exceptionally careful when dissolving a company due to debt as you can open charges of fraudulent trading, wrongful trading, or preference which go via the criminal route after insolvency.”

Fraudulent trading or more akin to companies that take payments from the pubic to supply furniture and then hold on to the money for months and then spend it on other “expenses” (like directors fees and consultancy ) and then go into liquidation,. These companies normally advertise half price sofas on TV
 
I just spoke to the guys solicitors and they said that they can't advise me but in certain circumstances directors are personally liable for the companies debts. Any idea what these certain circumstances are?
 
DGK said:
I just spoke to the guys solicitors and they said that they can't advise me but in certain circumstances directors are personally liable for the companies debts. Any idea what these certain circumstances are?

fraudulent trading is one reason

trading whilst knowing the company is insolvent would be another

i am sure there are plenty more reasons !
 
Well first of all arrange for the goods to be returned, with a letter stating as agreed your are returning all goods that weren't sold. In other words you're within contract. Whilst you have the goods the supplier can legitimately claim you owe him.

There is no contract, so you have a good chance of getting out of this (nothing signed), and do this through a lawyer.
 
DGK said:
I just spoke to the guys solicitors and they said that they can't advise me but in certain circumstances directors are personally liable for the companies debts. Any idea what these certain circumstances are?

this is not one of them.

forget about it as an issue.

tim
 
DGK said:
How long after taking delivery can you return goods?
You're in a b2b arrangement so consumer protection laws don't apply. It all comes down to what was in the contract or, in this case, what was orally agreed.
 

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