Hi all,
New on here but have been reading a lot - I need some help with a claim for I have had through in the post.
I used to run a business 4/5 years ago that dealt with various suppliers. The business closed in 2012 and hasn't traded since.
I had a letter around 2 months ago from an old supplier stating that the business had been sold to someone else and that there was an outstanding balance on my account from 2011,
it came with an attached statement of invoices spreading across 18 months - first thing I knew about it,
I was not aware I had a balance outstanding as the business has been closed since mid 2012. I was also shocked that the invoices spread across such a long time period.
when I was trading with this company I normally paid for my good on collection or delivery.
If any payment had been missed i'm not sure why it was not bought up at my next order?
I simply wrote back to this letter stating that the business was closed now and I was not aware of any balance outstanding at the time.
On the 12th Sept I had a claim form though the post from a company I did no recognise
- I was only on seeing the suppliers name on the bottom on the form I realised who it was from. This old supplier of parts with whom I have not spoken or ordered since 2012.
The particulars simply state - "Claiming payment for goods supplied on credit for which payment has not been received"
I assume the company that is claiming is the new company that has bought out the supplier? - However it is signed by the guy who I dealt with back in 2011 so not sure.
my question really is how to deal with this
- The business that closed caused me a lot of grief and money at the time and my credit is still, even if its slowly, recovering from it all closing.
Last thing I want now is to have another CCJ on my file and be back to square one!
- I'm still waiting for the others I incurred (I probably would not have got them in the first place if I'd have been part of this forum then as I didn't even reply to claim at the time and they were just awarded as default!) to drop off!
The main defence I think I have is that I was never aware until recently that there was an outstanding balance.
I always paid for my deliveries or collections at the time of ordering.
I did not have a "credit" account which I had a limit for and paid off as you would with a normal supplier.
The company (although it was me as a sole-trader) closed in 2012
I am still unsure why, if the claims are true, I was allowed to keep ordering for a period of 18 months if this balance was due.
It seems to me that there must be an admin error or their part or something?
Any advice or suggestions?
Cheers Chris