How to get rightful compensation (not PPI)

quickstepqueen · 15 March 2018 at 3:20PM

Hello.
Firstly, thankyou for taking the time to read my post.

A large well known company made a big error which resulted in loss of earnings etc to our business. They successfully rectified the error (although it took nearly 6 weeks) and to be fair, their customer service has been excellent. However, they have only offered us 2/3rds of our requested compensation.

Firstly, they wrote and said that their "full and final settlement" was to the value of £x. When we asked them how they'd arrived at this figure, they replied "We would like to confirm our offer to refund you a total of £x, as gesture of goodwill without prejudice in relation to your claim for loss of income."

Our request for compensation in our opinion was incredibly fair. It was purely for loss of income, cost of phone calls/fuel etc to try and resolve this issue. We included nothing for stress and inconvenience. I'm not the kind of person to "fleece" a company.

Surely, as they admitted they had made the error at head office, and are happy to offer a "refund", why would they only offer 2/3rds? How can we persuade them that our figure was reasonable? We can't afford to hire a solicitor, and the local free sessions they offer are for wills and family law only?

Does anyone have any ideas as to how we can now approach this please? Perhaps a way of wording a new letter?

Thankyou in advance, and thankyou for reading this.
Regards
qsq x

[Deleted User] · 15 March 2018 at 3:36PM

If you want more, I expect you'll have to take the firm to court which will then decide what compensation is "fair".

If you want further comment I suggest you detail exactly what happened and how you are out-of-pocket.

Any reason why you posted this "not PPI" related topic on the PPI board?

quickstepqueen · 15 March 2018 at 4:18PM

Thankyou for replying Moneyineptitude.

In relation to my place of posting I wasn't entirely sure where to post it. As the thread was called "Reclaim PPI and other insurances" I thought this was the most suitable place. I am happy for it to be moved to a more suitable place on the forum though.

The reason I put "(not PPI)" was that people could see at a glance that the post was about reclaiming money owed, but not actually about PPI. It might just save people clicking to read it only to find it doesn't relate to them.

Thankyou for your post however.
I'm reluctant to go into actual specifics in case this does go to court. But to work out loss of earnings we used an average figure and used recent work patterns and last years work diary to see what income he had lost. We then noted the phone calls we had made, the time taken to rectify this problem (a lot of time on the internet, telephone and driving to offices in town), parking costs, mileage.

I was just hoping that there may be a way to resolve this without going to court. The stress of the initial error was bad enough, and whilst I believe we would be awarded the full amount, I know my partner would not physically be able to cope with the stress of a court case.

I apologise if my post isn't detailed enough. Thankyou though for taking the time to read it and reply.
qsq x

[Deleted User] · 15 March 2018 at 4:29PM

quickstepqueen wrote: »

Surely, as they admitted they had made the error at head office, and are happy to offer a "refund", why would they only offer 2/3rds?

The simple, and only, answer is that they disagree with you on the value of compensation due.

You can attempt to negotiate, but ultimately, if you are unhappy with the offer, then court is your next step.

dunstonh · 15 March 2018 at 4:35PM

But to work out loss of earnings we used an average figure and used recent work patterns and last years work diary to see what income he had lost.

Loss claims dont work that way. The person or firm suffering the loss has to take action to mitigate as much of the loss as possible. So, you never get back 100% Did you deduct any mitigating figures from your calculation?

We then noted the phone calls we had made, the time taken to rectify this problem (a lot of time on the internet, telephone and driving to offices in town), parking costs, mileage.

So, you have claimed for loss of earnings AND out of pocket expenses using a car. You are expected to use cheapest travel means. So, how does bus compare? Time on the internet is something you cant prove but as you are claiming loss of earnings, that doesnt really matter. That looks like double charging.

quickstepqueen · 15 March 2018 at 9:49PM

Thankyou everyone for your replies.
Unfortunately there was absolutely no way we could have avoided these losses. And I do mean that sincerely. To be fair, 2 trips to town via the bus would have cost more than the charge for the car. I'm sorry that I can't go into more detail but it looks like we're going to have to carry the loss in income. When I was working out the loss of income my partner was telling me to mention the periods of work when he earned a lot more. But I wouldn't do that. I said we had to be fair and try and work a like-for-like figure out. Like I said earlier, I would never set out to gain more from a company than was acceptable. It just seems a shame that in this situation, a worldwide company can offer whatever amount they like, without explaining why they picked this amount. Perhaps they think we'd inflated the figure quoted, so offered a lower amount. But I can guarantee that we didn't. Taking them to court seems the most favoured option, even though we can neither afford a solicitor, nor cope with the stress and anxiety of a court case.

Thankyou again for all your comments.

[Deleted User] · 15 March 2018 at 10:23PM

quickstepqueen wrote: »

It just seems a shame that in this situation, a worldwide company can offer whatever amount they like, without explaining why they picked this amount.

I'm guessing they've decided around two thirds of what you've "claimed" is all they are prepared to pay.

The fact that they describe the offer as "goodwill", means that they don't have to explain any further how they reached the figure.

In your position, I'd just accept what has been offered and realise (as Dunston said) that much of what you claimed was in fact a double charge.

quickstepqueen wrote: »

Taking them to court seems the most favoured option

Naw, that's just the only possible way you will receive a better offer. Still unlikely, I'm afraid.
Even if you could afford a solicitor, a court would be unlikely to award more than you have already been offered. You might also find that you are not awarded costs.

quickstepqueen · 15 March 2018 at 10:28PM

My sincerest apologies for bothering you all with my dilemma. But thankyou for replying.
I'll get the post closed.

McKneff · 15 March 2018 at 10:58PM

No need to apologise. Most people are only too glad to help.
Good luck as you move forward

quickstepqueen · 2 March 2019 at 12:02PM

Just an update: We decided to accept the "goodwill gesture" offered. At the time of writing the original post my mother-in-law had a terminal illness. Whilst we wanted to fight the company in question, we couldn't cope with the additional stress, so reluctantly took the offer. (And not long after, mother-in-law sadly passed away.)

How to get rightful compensation (not PPI)

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