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Wilsons demand £100.000

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Comments

  • dopester
    dopester Posts: 4,890 Forumite
    It took me 4 minutes on this PC to get that far, then they wanted me to register, so bugg4h that for a game of tin soldiers. What an evil system that viewer is.

    It's covered in a few local Kent newspapers by the looks of it from PressDisplay.

    I'm a member there, but not a subscriber, and couldn't be bothered to pay the £1 fee this time, to read about his complaint. Probably a very vague story.

    Grabbed the thumbnail pic from one of the stories which all use the same pic, and enlarged it a little.

    100kfergus.jpg
    PROPERTY ROW: The block of flats being built at the back Fergus Wilson’s homes in Lodge Wood Drive has resulted in Mr Wilson, inset, demanding compensation
    Picture: Gary Browne
    Kentish Express Ashford & District | 3 Feb 2011 | UK | English | Released: 2d. 21h. ago | Page: 9
    Should have spent more time managing his 'business' than at the gee-gees or doing interviews for the press. Would have seen the paperwork .... not that he'd have probably been able to object.

    Exactly.. but lol.. how similar that sounds to Fergus himself. You probably did that deliberately.
    “Agents know to come to me if they think people are prepared to drop the price,” Wilson boasts. In a few instances, he has bought properties from people in financial difficulty and rented them back to them. “It’s sad sometimes, but we’re in the business to make money, not to house people,” he says. “People end up in financial difficulty because they don’t pay attention. They’re busy watching the rugby rather than doing their paperwork.”
    He doesn't made having a go with the claims though. For that bathroom suite case where they were seeking big money from tenant, because the replacement seat (or whatever it was) didn't match and supplier no longer stocks the colour... I can't understand why the tenants didn't just tell him to claim on insurance. See what their loss adjusters had to say about the matter. That's what house insurance if for isn't it? Accident / breakage.. not wear and tear.

    In another case he did successfully bring an action against a boiler manufacturer.
    Parts of Kent have the hardest water in the country, claims Fergus, who won a court case against a boiler maker when new combi boilers in his properties broke down after failing to cope with chalky water.
  • Generali
    Generali Posts: 36,411 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    From the Kent Express Ashford and District (can't link sorry):
    PROPERTY ROW: The block of flats being built at the back Fergus Wilson’s homes in Lodge Wood Drive has resulted in Mr Wilson, inset, demanding compensation.

    Fergus Wilson, who is worth an estimated £70 million, has written to the council’s insurers asking for the sum claiming a “diminishment in value” as he says the council permitted nine flats to be built “too close to my four houses”.



    He and his wife Judith own hundreds of homes, mainly in Ashford and Maidstone.



    The 62-year-old said: “A previous application was made which I knew nothing of. “I contacted the council who put in place a mechanism so that if there was another application I would be notified and have the opportunity to object.



    “However, for whatever reason, the chief executive failed to pass it to the planning people who, under normal circumstances, would have contacted me.



    “These flats are located too close to my houses and it is overpowering and I have lost money.”


    The nine flats were granted permission back in April last year and they are all two-bedroom homes.



    Deal


    Mr Wilson says he has had viewings of his houses in Lodge Wood Drive but received an email from a letting company stating they were

    having difficulty securing a deal.



    The agent said: “Prospective tenants are being put off by the apartment block being built behind and have commented that it is overbearing due to its close proximity to the boundary fence and is unpleasant to look out on to.”



    The council said it could not comment as the matter is being dealt with by the Local Government Ombudsman.

    He doesn't seem to have filed anything in court yet so at present this is just a threat, ie 'This is how I interpret the law and it says you owe me £100,000. Are you going to pay up or do we ask a judge?'

    Personally, I'd refer him to Arkell vs Pressdram (1971):

    Letter to Private Eye
    From Goodman Derrick & Co., solicitors:
    We act for Mr Arkell who is Retail Credit Manager of Granada TV Rental Ltd. His attention has been drawn to an article appearing in the issue of Private Eye dated 9th April 1971 on page 4. The statements made about Mr Arkell are entirely untrue and clearly highly defamatory. We are therefore instructed to require from you immediately your proposals for dealing with the matter. Mr Arkell's first concern is that there should be a full retraction at the earliest possible date in Private Eye and he will also want his costs paid. His attitude to damages will be governed by the nature of your reply.
    Letter from Private Eye
    We acknowledge your letter of 29th April referring to Mr J. Arkell. We note that Mr Arkell's attitude to damages will be governed by the nature of our reply and would therefore be grateful if you would inform us what his attitude to damages would be, were he to learn that the nature of our reply is as follows: fck off.
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