# issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y ago



## jerry2623 (22 Feb 2008)

I have been issued with a summons to attend the district court over non payment of invoices going back over 4 years ago. 

I have spoken to my solicitor who tells me it is up to me to prove that I did not owe the money.

I have dumped all of the invoices and cheque stubs, the first I heard about this is when i got the summons in the door I had had no communication from this company previously about this debt.

I rang the debt collection company and asked them to send me evidence I have heard nothing since.

What should I do now ?


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## Welfarite (22 Feb 2008)

*Re: Bad Debt*

Are you saying that you do not owe this money?


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## jerry2623 (23 Feb 2008)

*Re: Bad Debt*

most definetly yes ... they say I owe them 3k I reckon I might owe them about 200 euro at the very max


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## Lorraine B (23 Feb 2008)

*Re: Bad Debt*

Are you saying that you dumped all your invoices and cheque stubs from 4 years ago?  Are you not aware that for tax purposes you must keep records for 7 years?


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## ajapale (23 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

Are you a sole trader, a limited company or an ordinary individual?

What does your solicitor advise?


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## jerry2623 (23 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

yes unfortunelty took a chance and dumped all old invoices . i was a sole trader had a small corner shop. i threw out boxes upon boxes of invoices after moving house last year shop now closed over 4 years.solicitor told me that the onus was on me to prove I do not owe the money however the company has to make all effort to get what was owed before resorting to legal action ... clearly they have not done this ...


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## mercman (24 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

They must likely will be able to prove that they tried to contact you. You mention that you moved house - this is why you heard nothing. You will be in serious bother if the Revenue want to do an inspection and you ain't got the records. It is a major offence to dump your records before seven years. Normally debt collection agencies do not take on chasing an account unless all information is correct, so if you haven't got paperwork i see a headache coming on (for you).


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## jerry2623 (24 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

thanks Mercman .. do they still not have to provide me with the evidence  ?


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## mercman (24 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

Yep. I'm quite sure that they will have their heap of paperwork. They wouldn't be able to get this far without a legitimate claim - all dates and details etc..


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## jhegarty (24 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

Can your bank not help with records ?


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## mercman (24 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

Did you ever think of contacting the actual company that is chasing you for the money ??


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## aircobra19 (25 Feb 2008)

*Re: Bad Debt*



jerry2623 said:


> most definetly yes ... they say I owe them 3k I reckon I might owe them about 200 euro at the very max



Would there be interest? Legal costs etc.


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## jerry2623 (25 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*

yes they can but can you imagine what they will charge me to get copies of each cheque i have written this company over 8 years also i can get my accountant to dig up his files, but what annoys me is Why is the onus on me to prove i dont owe the money .. I presume I can go after the debt company for costs if I am right. The guy told me he would get back to me with proof but so far have heard nothing. What I wonder happens next ..do i go and start putting all the information together to discover the debt company withdraws the case at the last minute . if they do where do I go to from there ???


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## jerry2623 (25 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*



mercman said:


> Did you ever think of contacting the actual company that is chasing you for the money ??


 
The company I used do business with was taken over and all staff were paid off .It is now part of a large mutinational 
Surely the onus is on them to make contact with me, before I closed my business I gave everbody about 8 weeks verbal notice. It was quiet obvious to all in sundry as I  was running  the stock down as well.  I also used an post mail forwarding for 3 months but never heard from this company in that time


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## Welfarite (25 Feb 2008)

*Re: issued with summons to attend district court over non payment of invoices over 4y*



jerry2623 said:


> I reckon I might owe them about 200 euro at the very max


 


jerry2623 said:


> Why is the onus on me to prove i dont owe the money .. I presume I can go after the debt company for costs if I am right.


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