Wrightway Trouble Shooting Ltd, R (On the Application Of) v County Court At Leeds

The claimant sought renewed permission for judicial review of a county court judge's refusal to allow an appeal against an order requiring payment of late filing penalties to Companies House. The primary legal issues were whether a document described by the claimant as a "credit draft" constituted payment (or a valid tender) and whether the "pound sign" had any legal significance such that the document could discharge the debt. The court held that the debt remained unpaid, that the document was not a cheque or a bill of exchange but an unenforceable promise to pay, and that Companies House was entitled to require payment in the forms it had stipulated. The defence of tender therefore failed. The application for judicial review was dismissed.

The claimant company, represented by its company secretary, had failed to file company accounts on time and Companies House issued a late filing penalty totalling £1,650 under the relevant statutory instrument. The claimant sent a letter and a document described as a "credit draft" purporting to tender payment of £1,650, omitting reliance on the pound sign as legally meaningful and arguing the document itself satisfied the debt.

The late filing penalties appeals officer initially acknowledged receipt but Companies House's bank would not cash the document because it was not an acceptable form of payment. Proceedings in the small claims court resulted in an order that the debt remained unpaid and must be paid. A county court judge (His Honour Judge Gosnell) refused permission to appeal, marking the application "totally without merit". A Deputy High Court Judge (Robin Purchas QC) refused permission for judicial review on grounds including delay and application of authority including R (Sivasubramaniam) v Wandsworth County Court and R (Strickson) v Preston County Court.

The claimant renewed the judicial review application. The Administrative Court (Ouseley J) considered three principal issues: (i) whether the pound sign had no legal meaning and therefore allowed the claimant to avoid payment, (ii) whether the credit draft amounted to a valid tender or payment, and (iii) whether there was any procedural or jurisdictional error amounting to a significant failure of justice. The judge concluded the pound sign is commonly understood to mean pounds sterling and that there was no legal basis for the claimant's radical conclusion. The document relied on was a mere promise or IOU and not a cheque or bill of exchange drawn on a bank account; no effective mechanism to transfer the funds was provided. Companies House as a Crown creditor was entitled to stipulate acceptable forms of payment, and the defence of tender failed. The judge also declined to grant an extension of time for the earlier application because the substantive arguments had no merit. The application was dismissed and the judge warned the claimant about further repetitive litigation, though he did not at that time impose a civil restraint order.

The application for judicial review was dismissed. The court held that the late filing penalty remained unpaid; the document described as a "credit draft" was not a cheque or bill of exchange and did not constitute payment or an effective tender; the pound sign denotes pounds sterling and the creditor was entitled to require payment in stipulated forms. The claimant's arguments were without merit and did not demonstrate jurisdictional error or a significant failure of justice.

The underlying small claims proceedings resulted in an order that the debt remained unpaid (Deputy District Judge Healey, order dated 7 January 2016). Permission to appeal that order was refused by His Honour Judge Gosnell in the County Court at Leeds on 23 February 2016 (marked "Totally without merit"). A prior application for permission to apply for judicial review was refused by Robin Purchas QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) on 24 October 2016, in part on grounds of delay and applying the principles in R (Sivasubramaniam) v Wandsworth County Court and R (Strickson) v Preston County Court. The renewed application considered here was dismissed by Ouseley J on 29 November 2016.