Company law - involuntary strikeoff

CrazyRabbit

Hi all,

Last November, I paid a €1000 deposit for a new motorbike from what I though was a reputable dealership. I paid in cash as their cc machine was 'broken' that day.

In January, the company was dissolved. According to the CRO Gazette for Jan 12th, it was an 'Involuntary Strikeoff'.

Can anyone explain in plain english what that means, and what legal/civil recourse I have to try reclaim that deposit?

Thanks for any information!

Tony

Our man in Havana

The company no longer legally exists. As such you cannot reclaim any money from the company.

To be able to sue them you will have to apply to the high court for the company to be restored. You would need at least €10K for that which you would never see again.

Tom Young

Circuit is cheaper under the '99 Act. Not many people know that!

CrazyRabbit

Thanks for the replies.

Can the owner be held responsible in any way? Especially if he took the deposit with no intention of supplying the goods? Is that fraud or reckless trading?

ResearchWill

Are they still trading? Many companies are struck off every week for failure to provide accounts. Many such companies continue to trade and do so without any protection of limited liability untill they are restored to the register. If they are still trading ask for your money back. I note from other posts you put here that you paid deposit by cash as cc machine was not working if you can show that the directors did not use cc machine so that your deposit would be in cash and go into their pockets then you can possibly show fraudulently trading and go after directors personably but to be honest that's a stretch.

But the simple answer to your question strike off in many cases just means the company is no longer listed on by CRO and is still trading with out limited liability.

dats_right

You could have several option in theory, but simppe answer is that the sum of money involved will probably not justify the legal costs involved in trying to recover the monies. This is a complicated area as you would be attempting to lift the corporate veil and impose personal responsibility for the debt on the individual.

You should talk to a solicitor, who could explain these options to you. It may do no harm to send a strongly worded solicitors letter, but if this did not do the trick than it may not be practicable to take any further legal action.

CrazyRabbit

Thanks again for the replies.

As far as I can tell, they have actually ceased trading. I know another guy/company that has been trying to contact the owner as they are owed nearly half a million. The owner is somewhere in the UK now...seems to be avoiding everyone.

Our man in Havana

You can't sue the owner directly.

Someone owed €500k should be applying for restoration.

ResearchWill

Our man in Havana wrote: »

You can't sue the owner directly.

Someone owed €500k should be applying for restoration.

You can sue the shareholders or directors directly if you can show reckless or fraudulent trading pretty basic company law.

Our man in Havana

The burden would be on the plaintiff. And it would be a fairly insurmountable burden to overcome.

ResearchWill

Our man in Havana wrote: »

The burden would be on the plaintiff. And it would be a fairly insurmountable burden to overcome.

But you said "you can't sue" not it would be very difficult to sue. If you look at my earlier post you will see I said it would be difficult even based on the facts of the OP case but I can not say it is possible or impossible.

ResearchWill

ResearchWill wrote: »

You can sue the shareholders or directors directly if you can show reckless or fraudulent trading pretty basic company law.

Our man in Havana wrote: »

The burden would be on the plaintiff. And it would be a fairly insurmountable burden to overcome.

Incurring liabilities when you knew or ought to have known that you could never repay them is the most basic form of reckless trading.

The problem here isn't the legal points, it's the procedural ones. It would cost more for the directors of the company to pay for their Annual Returns to be filed with penalties (what must happen if a company is restored by a creditor as the order is made as a matter of course) than it would to pay the debt so, as often happens, they'd most likely look for liquidation although they could be disqualified as directors pursuant to s.160(2)(h) for allowing the company to be struck off for failure to file annual returns.

CrazyRabbit

Cheers again.

I could probably sort something out with the owner on a 1-1 basis, but he is not contactable. Is there any official way to find the address/contact details for a company director? I know the owners name, have his personal mobile (no answer to 100+ calls/voicemails), and I know he lives in Rathfarnum somewhere. Would love to be just able to talk to him in person to sort this out.

Our man in Havana

You can get the directors and shareholders details from the CRO. It will cost you a few euro.