Being sued but no "letter of action" - will they not get costs?

CK2012

I am being sued by a company who claim I owe them money for work I did not commission using a "agency by necessity" argument.

They sent me an invoice in February 2011, and this invoice does threaten legal action, but I spoke to them shortly afterwards and heard nothing more for over 18 months. Then a formal claim via County Court came through the post this week.

Citizen's Advice said that because they sent no "letter of action" before filing the court papers, they would not be able to claim costs. Is this correct? If so, is that just the legal costs?

Their claim says the firm send reminders after the invoice but I received none. CAB also told me that a letter of action should be sent by recorded post. Is this correct?

I am being properly screwed over here so would really like to be able to throw at least some of it back at them, so any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

bod1467

Letter Before Action is what you (CAB) mean.

Whether this is a NECESSITY prior to court action I don't know, but it is usual practice.

keyser666

There is a neccessity to send a LBA. IF not the court has many powers if the protocol has not been followed, like staying the case until the protocols are followed, striking the case out with the party bringing the case having to bear the costs.

It doesnt mean that the case cannot go forward and it is at the courts discretion.

Can I ask what was the work commissioned as such that they say you commissioned

paddyrg

Small claims costs are pretty negligible anyway - bigger question is if you owe them money. Costs could be as low as £30-odd so don't get distracted by them when there's loads more at stake

CK2012

keyser666 wrote: »

Can I ask what was the work commissioned as such that they say you commissioned

Thanks.

The work was fitting a padlock to my flat following a burglary, even though the external door was undamaged. The police called them out without my knowledge, or agreement, and they had finished and left before I got back to discover I had been burgled. They are chasing me (rather than the police) by 'agency of necessity' to get round the fact I never agreed to have the work done.

Also, what about the recorded delivery? The firm has already claimed to have sent reminders which they never did (or certainly weren't received, at any rate). They can't make such claims if the Letters Before Action have to be sent recorded.

CK2012

paddyrg wrote: »

Small claims costs are pretty negligible anyway - bigger question is if you owe them money. Costs could be as low as £30-odd so don't get distracted by them when there's loads more at stake

They have hired a solicitor so costs will be quite a bit more than court fees, etcetera.

InsideInsurance

Solicitors fees typically cannot be included in the small track of the county court process so these will be purely at their own expense (assuming the claim is less than the £5,000 limit (or did the change to £10k go through already?))

Small track cases are intentionally straight forward as the idea is that you are intended to be able to do them yourself (hence solicitors fees being excluded). As such the rules are much more flexible and I personally would argue a LBA is not strictly necessary however the claimant would have to show that reasonable attempts to resolve the matter before going to court had occurred if cost allocations were challenged by the defendant

Under English Law, with few exceptions, a party only needs to prove that they sent something not that the other party had actually received it - Royal Mail is basically considered fairly infallible and it also assists with the issues of defendants refusing receipt of mail thus frustrating attempts to resolve the matter.

somethingcorporate

It will be up to them to a) prove you owe the money and b) sent the letters.

If they cannot prove it they will be on a very sticky wicket plus I don't think they can hold you accountable for the costs incurred by the third party (the police).

I am pretty sure you won't be charged for their legal representation, even if you lose.

wealdroam

CK2012, are you related to Chris2011?

Coincidently, he started this thread three days ago.

Might be worth reading that thread anyway.

arcon5

I guess they can argue they advised you of their intention in 2011 and gave you ample opportunity to respond to it.

Had they not done the work how would you have repaired the door? I'm assuming your would have needed a locksmith anyway so should make them an offer equivalent to what it would have cost you had they not done the work (that's assuming their bill isn't already a reasonable value).

societys_child

If you'd been robbed why didn't you pass the £170 bill to the insurance company?