Company claiming a bill's not been paid....... ?????

[wooslehunter]

Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Need some advice from the legally minded amongst the forum.

In April 2002 we had some sewer work done. The work was subject to an insurance claim and we believe, settled promptly by our insurance company since we had a loss assessor round and following that, a letter to approve the claim.

The company concirned are now sending letters claiming that one of the bills was never paid but have admitted verbally that their credit control was not as good as it should have been. The chances are we no longer have the documentation and have also changed insurance company so it will be quite long winded to prove.

Seeing that this is nearly three years ago, do I really have to prove the bill was paid?

There must be some "reasonable" time that a creditor has to complain if a bill remains unpaid.

 

[gcwhite]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

5 years

 

[wooslehunter]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Thanks.

 

[plombier]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Refer them back to the original insurance company unless your policy included an excess in which case you would have to pay the company that portion of the claim.

 

[duncan]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

if they were paid direct by the insurance company, as you suggest, then it would seem straightforward for you to suggest they take the matter up with them in the first instance.
Only if the correspondence, including physical routing of the payment, went through you are you in a position to be able to respond to them - so duck it.
Note I am not trying to suggest the liability (if it exists) is the insurers - only the capability to respond to the query.

 

[heartlander]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

You have my sympathy as we are going through the same in respect of a car purchased from a main dealer just under 6 years ago.
We have spent an inordinate amount of time dealing with a very aggresive firm of debt collectors who were instructed by the company to look at a large number of invoices for which they have not retained, or lost, records of payment. Not surprisingly we are really hacked off at spending our time sorting out their problems and have been treated as debtors from the start of this process.
The bill was of course paid at the time - they would hardly have let us take the car away without doing so - and the car loan has subsequently been repaid. Producing evidence of payment has involved getting our bank to confirm clearance of the cheque to the loan company but I still have no confirmation that the matter is closed.
There was an article in the Money section of the Sunday Times last week that has some advice on dealing with debt collectors - we will complain to the OFT if they continue to chase us.
Best of luck.

 

[jfm]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Eyeno's 5 year answer isn't correct. The statute of limitations is 6 years but that's a different matter

You have to prove nothing. The onus is on them to prove they are owed the money (only to a "balance of probability" level of proof, not "beyond reasonable doubt").

You should:
1. Make a detailed file note NOW of the conversation in which they said their CC was duff. Note the time of the call, who you spoke to, etc. Just save this bit of paper.

2. Tell them the bill has been paid (don't say you merely think it has or anything implying doubt. Say it's been paid). Tell them if they wish to continue with this preposterous claim you will resist and they will be put to proof that the bill wasn't paid

They will likely not go to court. If they do the judge will have massive sympathy for you given the time lapse, and will force them to a pretty high standard of proof

How much £££ is it? Because this affects whether you are in county court or small claim territory.

Meantime if you can find out more from the insurers that would be helpful

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Who placed the order on the company?

Did your insurance company place the order?

If so, surely, it is they that are liable for any outstanding invoices, not you?

I guess any lawyer type folks on this forum will now tell me how horribly wrong I am....

 

[Parsonsheath]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Yes! In this instance you are horribly wrong to think you are horribly wrong.

Even the idiots who make our laws (politicians!) sometimes miss things and let the law be sensible, but don't worry, they don't do it too often.

 

[Otto]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

call their bluff.

 

[wooslehunter]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Thanks for the advise.

 

[jonjo]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

Count yourself lucky that you are still dealing with the original company that thinks it is owed money.

The fun will really start if this matter is farmed out to the junk-bond end of debt recovery industry. A internet search for stories involving "Westcot Credit" will give you some idea.

 

[tcm]

Re: Company claiming a bill\'s not been paid....... ?????

this is what Court is for. Their poxy records would weigh against them, imho. You could never "prove" that yoiu had paid all their bills because of course, they might produce an unpaid one, or it migth not have been delivered. But your records/ systems should be able to track back to all invoices, and the cheque numbers which paid them, certainly to 3 years or perhaps 10.


As far as i know, if you owe me £20 quid, you owe me £20 quid FOREVER. Otherwise i mean mortgages and stuff might be subject to the har har too late rule.

As far as the "forget about it" rukle i think that applies to tax matters.


Only the 1st of these has been tested in Court, by me.