I E Legal Solicitors formal demand letter advice

bery_451
bery_451 Posts: 1,797
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edited 15 December 2017 at 4:26PM in Consumer rights
Hi,

I received a letter via email from the above legal firm today. They are demanding £8000 on behalf of their window company client.

Our main dispute ground is that their client has breached the contract by asking payment upfront from us before completion. They left the job half complete and unsatisfactory.

The 2 page letter from the legal firm can be seen in the link below:

https://imgur.com/a/8ZaGR

From this what are our choices? Am i obliged to reply back to the letter or do I have the right to ignore it? If I reply back do I acknowledge the alleged debt with them and enter a contract?

How does this work and what is the sensible way legally to deal with this as I do not want to go through the hassles of courts even though I believe I have a strong dispute case defence.

Can I kindly request MOD to relocate this thread to CAB debt board as I tried to post their earlier.

Much appreciated,
«134567

Comments

  • bris
    bris Posts: 10,548
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    edited 15 December 2017 at 4:36PM
    If the job was half complete then of course its unsatisfactory. The point is to be satisfactory when complete.


    The terms of the contract is what we need to see, not the solicitors letter. What does the contract say about payment?


    Responding to the letter doesn't admit liability if you don't admit liability in the reply, although you have clearly entered a contract by the fact half the work is done.
  • bery_451
    bery_451 Posts: 1,797
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    bris wrote: »
    If the job was half complete then of course its unsatisfactory. The point is to be satisfactory when complete.


    The terms of the contract is what we need to see, not the solicitors letter. What does the contract say about payment?


    Responding to the letter doesn't admit liability if you don't admit liability in the reply.

    They are claiming under the 'Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998' what does this mean?

    Yes contract says £2000 deposit to in which we paid on credit card and the remainder £8000 to be paid upon completion however half the house is unsatisfactory completed and other other half incomplete.

    Please advise,
  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298
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    Are you a business?
  • bery_451
    bery_451 Posts: 1,797
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    waamo wrote: »
    Are you a business?

    No a consumer/customer buying new windows/doors from a window company.
  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298
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    The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 is a law that says how much interest one business can charge another.
  • bery_451
    bery_451 Posts: 1,797
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    Confusing as I am not a business :huh:
  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298
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    bery_451 wrote: »
    Confusing as I am not a business :huh:

    Indeed very confusing. As said earlier it would help to see the contract you signed.
  • bery_451
    bery_451 Posts: 1,797
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    Hi yes I managed to upload the 2 page contract as can be seen in the link below:

    https://imgur.com/a/5Tn0U

    I omitted personal info. Hope this helps.
  • bris
    bris Posts: 10,548
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    To defend the action you just need to get an independent expert to state the job is incomplete and until completed then nothing more is due.


    Your defence is simple, the contract is clear. Are they saying the job is complete and your just not wanting to pay? if this isn't the case then they don't have a case at this point and any solicitor would know this, so there must be more to this.
  • bery_451
    bery_451 Posts: 1,797
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    I have photos showing/proving its incomplete or do I still require an independent expert for this?

    They just saying were not wanting to pay and believe were not wanting to pay however in numerous emails I sent to the window company stating I stick to the contract by paying them upon completion. They believe were not wanting to pay because of the unsatisfactory issues of the products/install I raised with them during the works but I did not say I won't pay them at all.

    They wanted £5000 upfront during mid works which is breaching the contract. We replied that we stick to the contract however they walked off with the job incomplete.
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