Unpaid Brewery Bill

[StressedAndy]

Whilst working as a barman I signed for a brewery delivery as the owner was on holiday. This bill did not get paid and since then the owner of the pub has gone bankrupt. The brewery sold this on to a debt collection agency who have been chasing me for payment of this bill (�1,500). I agreed to pay them by installments as they threatened me with legal action as I was the one who signed and I was liable. The owner of the pub told me it should have been written off when he went bankrupt.

Is it worth me seeking legal advice about this?

[dot.hawkes]

wait until they try to get a county court judgement against you and then contest that, nit will be less hassle than dealing with a debt collection agency, well that's my advice, probably wrong tho lol

[chrissa1]

I would have thought that you signed for the delivery on behalf of the owner and not for yourself. How did and why did the brewery opt to chase you, (no offence), a lowly barman and why did you agree to take responsibility for this hefty date. I would have told them to go and jump.

[Buenchico]

There's no point seeking legal advice because such advice is only necessary when there are potential grey areas. Your case is clear cut: YOU DO NOT OWE A SINGLE PENNY..

Here's an analogy:
An airline takes delivery of a new Boeing 787 airliner. Before it's officially 'signed for' it has to undergo a large number of tests but eventually the airline's head engineer is satisfied with the quality and signs the document formally taking delivery of the aircraft. The following day, before Boeing has been paid, the airline goes bust. Would you really expect the guy who signed for the aircraft to have to pay the 130 million dollar bill? If the law worked that way, nobody would ever sign for anything on behalf of their employer!

You were acting as the publican's agent, not signing on your own behalf. The debt is (or was) the publicans, not yours. The brewery should have petitioned the receiver for payment. (The chances are that they'd have either got nothing or just a tiny percentage of what was owed to them, but that's got nothing to do with you).

Tell the debt collection agency that you don't owe them anything and you're not paying them anything.

Chris

[dot.hawkes]

Chris as a matter of interest, was my advice to Andy a litte bit good or too drastic?

[Buenchico]

Hi Dot

I'm hoping that by telling the idiotic wally, who's trying to chase Andy for payment, that he'll get no money, will result in the matter being passed to someone more senior. That person ought to realise that it would be totally pointless taking court action against Andy.

However, if the matter did come before a court, Andy could attend with complete confidence in the validity of his case. (The 'Woolwich' once told me that they were going to court to get a repossession order for my house, because I'd allegedly not kept up my mortgage payments. I wasn't in the least bit worried because I'd got the receipt which showed that I'd paid off the mortgage in full several months earlier! We never got to court because I made the Woolwich see sense. Andy's case is every bit as strong as mine was).

Chris

[terambulan]

I suggest you inform the police, (get a URN no. from the police for your records & proof of complaint) that you are being harrassed by debt collectors with whom you have no debt. Tell the police the debt is with your employer.

Inform the debt collector, by letter, that you have contacted the police, quoting the police URN No.

[chrissa1]

Good O. The cavalry has come charging over the hill just in the nick of time I hope.
Great advice all round!!

[Oneeyedvic]

I agreed to pay them by installments as they threatened me with legal action as I was the one who signed and I was liable.

Have you paid them anything - as per previous answers you are not liable for anything - and may have a counter claim if they have attempted to extort money from you.

[chrissa1]

Come on stressedandy. You've been given great advice. Let us all know how you're getting on.

[StressedAndy]

Thanks for all your great advice. Yes Oneeyedvic, I have paid them, about �400 so far. They sent me a letter a couple of weeks ago wanting a payment review that's when I thought I'd query it on here. Got no intention of giving anymore of my money to them, the thieving gits! What are the chances of me getting this money back and does anyone know how I go about this? Or should I just leave it/ignore them and put it down to experience?!