Pheonix business debt - Small claims query

[cococo]

I've now got my court date (November) and

 

have until tomorrow to file all documents and evidence with the court.

 

If any other victims can provide statements of their experiences with Phoenix, that I can use as evidence in court

(misrepresentation, overvaluing, etc)

please get in touch (I can be contacted via ............

 

Also if anyone knows of any other court cases involving phoenix other than the one noted above please reply here.

 

Note to moderators

- I know you're no supposed to ask for people to contact outside of forums

but how else am I supposed to get evidence and written statements that contain personal details?

[dx100uk]

they can redact them and attach them as a pdf here

 

why don't you lot start a yahoo invitation only group up

 

many like groups of people have done that.

 

we are happy for the group name to be posted.

 

that way you can verify who people are before they are allowed to join the group

 

dx

[cococo]

I've started up a yahoo group for victims of Phoenix -

 

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/phoenix_victims/

 

 

Please join up and invite anyone else you know who has fallen victim to this company.

[cococo]

Does anyone know if I'll be allowed to use the Rip Off Britain segment as evidence in court?

[dx100uk]

make SURE you screen members [not an open membership group]

you don't want insiders getting inside info...

 

dx

[adeelrana]

Hi cococo

You stated in your previous post that in April they were taking you to court but you didn't update about this. Did you win or not? Please provide some more information so we can use as reference. Kind Regards

[cococo]

Only just received the court date this week, and it's not until November. Looking for other victims who can help provide evidence (written statements). If you can help, please join yahoo group as above.

[Gothikdesigns]

They've told me the same and then threatened me with court action. What happened?

 

QUOTE=vanity nails;3649447]Thank you for your information. But we've been told (by them) that because we were signing on behalf of our company, the agreement is a business to business one. Therefore, the consumer act regulation doesn't apply. Is that correct ?

[Gothikdesigns]

I saw this clause to pay them the 3000 and when I pointed it out to peter abbot he said it was just 'admin and as he had agreed zero marketing/ admin fees then it would nbot apply. No sale no fees he kept saying so long as I caNcelled AFTER the time li in the contract. Which I did. Then I hit the invoice and the tel calls first offuce the amount - no figug given but then threatd with court action.

 

QUOTE=Toby Erlam;4106390]I was approached over 6 months ago to sell my restaurant business through a company called Phoenix Business Agents based in Oxfordshire. A representative came out and valued my business for sale. He told me that there would be an up front fee for marketing the business and then a one off fee of £5,000 to pay from the sale of the business. He valued my business at £100,000 and it was to be on the market for 6 months. At no point was I told of any cancellation fee for removing the property from Phoenix.

 

After 2 months I had had no interest in the business and had received little or no information from Phoenix with regard to any viewing etc..

Phoenix told me there was plenty of interest in the restaurant but they would only contact me if someone wanted a viewing. Still nothing. On calling and hounding Phoenix, I told them I no longer wanted to sell the business through them because I didn't feel they were doing a good enough job, they informed me they thought the business had been over valued and I should therefore reduce the asking price by £20,000 to £80,000 which I did.

In the 6 months it was on the market I had two viewings. I ended up having all correspondance with the potential buyers personally as it became apparent despite daily phone calls to Phoenix nothing was moving. In fact both the potential buyers chose to contact me directly as they were getting little joy through contacting Phoenix direct.

 

By late November it became apparent Phoenix were not going to sell the business for me, and after finding out my agent had gone on holiday for a month leaving no one at the office dealing with my property, I told Phoenix I wanted to leave. I was advised to tell them in writing and the policy would be cancelled, at no point was I told of any cancellation fee.

 

It was to my horror that the very next day I received a bill for £3,000 plus VAT!

I then received constant phone calls from Phoenix (ironic considering the lack of calls whilst the business was for sale) demanding the fee was paid in full or I would be taken to court.

I explained I couldn't pay this fee as I didn't have the money, and Phoenix allowed me to pay half the fee that day and the other half a month later.

Sadly I agreed and paid half the fee. I then discovered that many people had experienced the same treatment from Phoenix, and there had actually been a programme on television called "Rip off Britain" all about Phoenix and there fees, which tantamount to fraud!

 

I have decided not to pay Phoenix a penny more and they are threatening to take me to court. Will I end up having to pay?

[cococo]

I am defending a claim in the small claims court. I wanted to provide written evidence from other victims of the same company. The claimant's solicitor has said that the evidence from other witnesses will be inadmissable unless they attend court. Is this true?

 

Thanks

[Mike_hawk]

Not strictly true, although there would almost certainly be a question mark regarding the reliability of the witness if they were not available for cross examination. CPR 33 would apply when relying on hearsay evidence.

 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part33

[cococo]

Many thanks

[steampowered]

Not true in small claims - CPR 33 does not apply to small claims track (stated at CPR 27.2)

 

Hearsay evidence is admissible in small claims and there is no need to serve a hearsay notice. However the evidence might not be given much weight by the judge. Strictly speaking, what happened to other people is probably not legally relevant to your claim against the company (although in certain situations it might be persuasive).