Cornerstone Removals Ltd ducks court pay-out order

An investigation into Cornerstone Removals Ltd, which says it has served thousands across South and Eastern England, also revealed the industry Ombudsman has awarded against it six times since 2019.

The company was taken to court by Paul Rogers, 75, who claimed it damaged furniture and threatened not to deliver it if not paid in full during a move in June 2021.

Mr Rogers claims Cornerstone Removals Ltd damaged furniture during the move. (Image: Paul Rogers)

Plymouth County Court ordered the firm, named as “Cornerstone Removals” in the judgement form, to pay him £5,801 in November last year. But Mr Rogers says omitting “Ltd” from the order has caused problems, as Cornerstone has claimed it does not name a legal entity and is therefore unenforceable.

Other legal documents with the same claim number as the court judgement, seen by the Watford Observer, name both Cornerstone Removals Ltd and Cornel Ilea, the company’s director at the time.

Bailiffs

Having failed to cough up, on March 13 Mr Rogers paid bailiffs to visit 21 Pinner Road in Harrow, the contact address on Cornerstone’s website. Upon arrival, they were told Cornerstone does not trade from there and it was occupied by another separate business, whose director is Mr Ilea.

In an email to Mr Rogers, Quality Bailiffs said: “We have been threatened with legal action due to the attendance and given the evidence received there is no longer reasonable belief the defendant [Cornerstone Removals Ltd] is trading from the property.”

Paul Rogers says he is at his wits' end after the ordeal. (Image: Paul Rogers)

Mr Rogers, who worked as a chef lecturer at Cassio College for 29 years, claims the ordeal has left him and his 62-year-old wife needing anxiety counselling while having to scrape by on his pension and savings.

“My wife has a number of chronic illnesses and does not deserve to suffer any more,” he said. “I am at my wits’ end. How can this company continue to behave like this.” 

New director, address and name        

On February 28, Mr Ilea transferred all shares in Cornerstone Removals Ltd to another man, based in Scotland, who was confirmed as the new director. It meant all liability to Mr Rogers went with the business. The new director is registered on Companies House as a director for 24 other active businesses and one in liquidation, and is an LLP Designated Member for three more firms, one in liquidation.

The following day, Cornerstone’s registered office address was also changed to 18 Fisher Street, Carlisle. A firm’s office address does not have to be its place of business, and Mr Rogers believes this new site is “a drop box and not anywhere that is helpful for bailiffs to gain entry”.

It was the third time since August 2020 that Cornerstone’s registered office address was changed, with other former bases including 4 Longcliffe Path and 48 Hallowes Crescent, both near South Oxhey Playing Fields.

On March 28, a day after being approached by the Watford Observer, Cornerstone changed its company name to Man And Van Removal Service Limited.  

Guild claim and Ombudsman awards

Cornerstone has come under fire for claiming on its website it was a member of The National Guild of Removers and regulated by The Removals Ombudsman. The company terminated its membership on February 15 this year, but until March 30 still had messaging stating otherwise.

A Guild spokesperson told the Watford Observer: “We wrote to Cornerstone last week [week commencing March 20] telling them it had been brought to our notice they were still purporting to be members and that they must immediately ‘Cease and Desist’ from doing so.

“After receiving our Cease and Desist letter, Cornerstone provided a timetable for the deletion of all references to membership that undertakes to complete the work by 6th April 2023. We responded that we were dissatisfied with the timeline.”

It is believed the messaging was removed on March 31.

The Removals Industry Ombudsman also confirmed that since 2019, when Cornerstone joined the Guild, he has made six awards against it totalling £6,854. That will not include the court judgement involving Mr Rogers.

“I can confirm that the sums awarded were paid in full other than one further determination that is current and has not yet been settled,” the Ombudsman said. “Cornerstone have chosen to resign their membership, so they are no longer under my jurisdiction and can no longer claim oversight by my office.”

What now?

Mr Rogers has so far been unsuccessful chasing Plymouth County Court for an updated judgement with “Ltd” added. However, he fears even that may not suffice – as he believes Cornerstone, now Man And Van Removal Service Limited, already knows it has been ordered to pay, but has not done so on a technicality. The company failing to confirm where it is trading from adds to his worry, as if bailiffs are still required, the only registered address he could send them to is somewhere he believes to be “a drop box”.

“The whole judicial system seems not to be supporting us because you have a court that sits, makes a decision, yet the court themselves can’t uphold the decision. Then you have companies like this changing names, changing addresses. I do not know how they can go to bed at night knowing they’re doing what they’re doing.”

Contact

The Watford Observer initially contacted Cornerstone for responses by phone on March 27, before being asked to email Mr Ilea. Following lengthy email exchanges, Mr Ilea said publishing any content in those emails would be without consent. The Watford Observer asked Cornerstone and Mr Ilea for responses to include in the article, but none were received. Both were repeatedly asked for the new director’s contact details, or for our questions to be forwarded to him. No details were provided, and we were advised to contact him “through the means available”. There appears to be no website, email address or phone number online, just the Carlisle postal address on Companies House. A letter has been sent.