Dissolved company advice

[Monki]

Hi

I purchased goods from an internet business, however at the time I was unaware that Company House had issued the first strike action on dissolving the company.

It's now 5months since this, and goods are still not received and to be honest I believe I have been conned.

I understand that I can claim the money back from the individual director for failing to deliver goods as he knew the company was closing, but is there anything else I would be able to do?

Thanks in advance, have not had to do this before and I am uncertain on my rights as a consumer

[Piglet]

If you paid by credit card your cc company should be your first port of call for reimbursement.

If you didn't pay by credit card make it a learning point for the future!

I would imagine trying to actually make a claim against a director stick would be very expensive and difficult, IIRC you need to prove they were trading whilst insolvent or whatever the other "crimes" are that allow you to lift the veil of incorporation.

How much did you lose?

[Monki]

I have a collection of emails showing that they were trading whilst insolvent, and that they still continue to trade. Sadly I paid by cheque as it was a "trusted business" on the car forum.

[jamesuk28]

What you are talking about is wrongfull trading, which is far easier to prosecute than fraudulent trading. The legal definition regarding trading whilst insolvent is when the directors have continued to trade a company past the point when they:
"knew, or ought to have concluded that there was no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation"; and
they did not take "every step with a view to minimising the potential loss to the company’s creditors".

You need to contact the liquidator with your evidence, who will in turn report the matter to the DTI. Technically the directors may be personally liable for the debts but its a long process with no guarantee of success.

Feel free to PM me

[trunnie]

Are we talking about the same thing here - do you mean that Companies House had filed a strike out for failing to file Report and Accounts or something else? If for failure to file something then the Company is not necessarily insolvent.