Small Claims Court guide

Maz2013

Hi everyone
I need a bit if advice. I moved into a rented property 15th october last year. From the moment i moved in i had issue after issue. I had no heating for 4 months and was constantly flogged off by letting agent and landlord. Also i barely had any hot water for 7 months. To make matters worse when i first moved in i was heavily pregnant and then had to baby in winter with no heating.
Each time i complained the landlord threatened to evict me and he is now kicking me out next month after me sending him a letter saying i deserved to be compensated for all the emotional stress hes put me through being on my own with a new baby. I am now thinking small claims is my only option. But am so scared of the process and also worried about losing and having to pay out money i dont have.
If anyone has any advice or if anyones been in a similar position would love to hear back from you. Thanks

thiennga

Hi,

I made a booking for a holiday home in the UK. The manager gave the quote with inclusive of the cleaning fee. I paid 50% of the rent as the deposit. I made the payment into the home owner's account and it was a UK bank account.

4 months later, the manager told me that she made a mistake and wanted to charge extra for the cleaning fee (not a small amount). I didn't agree with her. She told me to pay extra for cleaning fee or to cancel the booking. As I didn't agree to pay more, the booking was canceled but she didn't agree to refund me fully. She claimed that I canceled booking and only part of the deposit would be refunded. I didn't agree for that.

The home owner contacted me with the same argument. I didn't agree with her and so far none of the money has been sent back.

I am about to take the small claim court action. I found the holiday home's address. However the home owner claimed that she didn't receive mail there. She gave me her US address.

I looked into the procedure. It seems it is still possible to use her US address but it is quite complicated. I am still not sure how to do that. I wonder if I can use the holiday home's address in the UK for the small claim court? It seems a bit odd for not being able to use the UK address as she is the home owner and that is also the business address.

Thanks,

Computersaysno

Not 100% sure, but you should be able to use the address in the UK.

Good news that she owns the building....she has assets!!!!

Send her an LBC [was LBA], explaining how you will win etc...once she realises you are serious and that she is stuffed she should be smart enough to pay up.




Good luck.

ukhazz

Frustrated and annoyed....
At a small claims hearing today. Originally scheduled for late April, we submitted our evidence correctly nothing from defence. We were asked if we would agree to the actual hearing being moved due to medical grounds - we agreed. Defendent produced evidence for case 28 days prior to the new hearing date after having our evidence since April. We assumed (wrongly it seems) that as the defendant had failed to provide evidence anything they submitted now would not be looked upon favourably. The judge accepted the evidence - which in itself was not an issue as there was scope for challenge, however to my disbelief the defendent sought to change the original defence document submitted before allocation for hearing - removing the two statements that showed his knowledge of the agreement in question - and the judge allowed this ammendment. We have a postponement now to consider the change however as this changes the whole basis for the case I am frustrated as a lot of time and effort went into preparing the case and now it appears the defendent can change their mind about what they submitted as a true and factual account with no recourse.

Very frustrated and now have no faith in the small claims system.

tonyhamm

The supply of goods and services act 1982 - the accountant would have to peform his services to a reasonable standard unless you have an agreement saying different. Unfortunately because you are a business you cannot benefit from other consumer laws but this will also help you if you read it (outlines what accountants are fearful of)

http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-members/2012/2012p/Prof_liability.pdf

stroosioo wrote: »

Hi All,

Looking for a bit of your advice before filling the court papers.

I'm self-employed. HMRC investigated my tax returns for the years 2008-2009, they found lots of accounting mistakes done by my accountants - the letter from the investigator clearly states 'due to the mistakes made by your accountants'. Because of that I become liable to pay around 3k of unpaid tax for those years. Investigation finished last year and I had to pay that. Unfortunately my business went down and I did not have the money and had to sell my van (part of my business) to cover the tax.

Firstly contacted the accountants - they ignored my complaint.

Complained to the IFA - my accountants' governing body - asking for the accountants to cover the bill - they found the accountants liable for the mistakes, fined them, but decided they did not have to refund me anything.

I then sent the accountants the 'Letter before action' asking them to cover that - they refused to cover anything falsely claiming they paid the interest on the bill as a good will gesture - which is not true.

I do understand I am liable for my taxes but I also paid for their serviced to do it properly so I could pay all the necessary tax when it was due. They clearly failed to do it. They were not helpful at all during the investigation.

Because of the situation I was in I started working as an employee (so now I am self-employed and employed) to get back on tracks with money. It was a huge bill for me to pay (two kids as well - one very premature).

Do I have any grounds to take them to court on the basis they failed to provide the services I paid for? The investigation lasted almost two years, I spent numerous hours preparing the documents, writing letters to the investigator, and lost a part of my business, lots of stress during the investigation - and I am the only one who had to face the consequences of their negligence.

Many thanks for any advice.

Cheers

tonyhamm

I would write a letter or two, and ask to claim from their insurance for damages under the Occupiers Act 1984. But they may have a valid defence if it was a standard radiator and its simply not reasonable for most people to foresee that this object could cause such damage.

Jewel184 wrote: »

At the end of last year, my 2 week old, North Face jacket was ripped on a church building's radiator. The school was using the church building for a concert. The church was very packed and chairs had been placed. I ended up having to sit next to a radiator which I didn't think would be a problem. On standing, I heard a rip; my coat. On inspection I saw that a bolt on the radiator had a sharp edge. Due to the nature of the material the jacket cannot be sewn; therefore I have lost a whole panel of the jacket.

I have written to the school and the church. Neither will take any responsibility for the 'sharp edge' that ripped my coat.

The coat cost £240 in the North Face store, but I got them down to £200.

I went back to the church to take a photograph of the bolt. I found that it had been covered by a piece of blu tac.

I have two questions:
Can I use the small claims court for this kind of thing? and
Is it worth my while?

I look forward to any responses. Thanking you ....

tonyhamm

What was the address of the business? Has it a head office?
I assume you are a consumer. I would try to contact Trading standards in the first instance.
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/manchester/bus1item.cgi?file=*BADV015-1111.txt

But as for the law, the business (manager) is completely in the wrong, as they have broken the contract you initially made and upset your plans.
They certainly cannot claim damages or fees because of this, or keep hold of your deposit!

A contract is just that - and it actually works both ways. You should looking to claiming damages from having to making other arrangements and changing your plans. The contract was broken and furthermore you may feel you were dealt with in 'bad faith' which is to say the other party made a agreement with you that they didn't or couldn't honour by a unreasonable level of negligence or by intent.

At the very least, you look to have a claim under the Sale of Goods act, check out the other rights you have as well by reading the small claims guide (there is a link). Remember nothing in their contract can ever take away your statue law rights (i.e. protection under sale of goods act etc..)

thiennga wrote: »

Hi,

I made a booking for a holiday home in the UK. The manager gave the quote with inclusive of the cleaning fee. I paid 50% of the rent as the deposit. I made the payment into the home owner's account and it was a UK bank account.

4 months later, the manager told me that she made a mistake and wanted to charge extra for the cleaning fee (not a small amount). I didn't agree with her. She told me to pay extra for cleaning fee or to cancel the booking. As I didn't agree to pay more, the booking was canceled but she didn't agree to refund me fully. She claimed that I canceled booking and only part of the deposit would be refunded. I didn't agree for that.

The home owner contacted me with the same argument. I didn't agree with her and so far none of the money has been sent back.

I am about to take the small claim court action. I found the holiday home's address. However the home owner claimed that she didn't receive mail there. She gave me her US address.

I looked into the procedure. It seems it is still possible to use her US address but it is quite complicated. I am still not sure how to do that. I wonder if I can use the holiday home's address in the UK for the small claim court? It seems a bit odd for not being able to use the UK address as she is the home owner and that is also the business address.

Thanks,

tonyhamm

It is not easy to take someone to small claims court.

It is quite a task writing a particulars of claim with no legal training, and many companies will bully you claiming they will apply to strike out and get costs awarded from you for incorrect particulars even when they are quite correct and in order. Most people will panic and fall at this hurdle.

There is no 'verification system' over the format of Particulars, which would reduce court costs, or even help by example of common situations and guidance on how to draw up particulars. Do you know what expenses you can claim for? Can you claim for your time? etc...

In the modern age you will be surprised how backwards (and no doubt taxpayer costly) the system is. Many (read all) of the routine forms will not be online fillable and you will find handwriting on some forms as they are processed between courts and the parties - forget smooth I.T. systems - an actual clerk will have written back to you - even using the MCOL service.

In fact the MCOL system was largely, and no doubt grudgingly brought about because of Martins Campaign on Bank Charges meaning the volume of claims jumped.

Another thing not in the guide - there is also a set of legal terms which apply between offers made to you by a defendant, and you have to watch out for in advance - one of which 'Without prejudice (Save as to costs)' can very adversely affect how costs are distributed between the parties after the case judgement (see CaulderBank offer), when you WIN - so if an offer has been made by the defendant which is greater or equal to the judgement value, and its perhaps a low cost item, this means you can win the case and the 99p dog toy the case was about, but you end up paying large costs (£90 per day off work, £££ costs of court) to the defendant, meaning you will LOSE on the basis the defendant at one stage made a fair offer to you already and you should have accepted already.

Lastly, the small claims limits are not attached to inflation or reviewed each year. They are absolute amounts £5000 in 1998 is quite different to £5000 in 2011. They jump about in real terms between governments and only tend to be changed every decade by some government review.

Computersaysno

tonyhamm wrote: »

Lastly, the small claims limits are not attached to inflation or reviewed each year. They are absolute amounts £5000 in 1998 is quite different to £5000 in 2011. They jump about in real terms between governments and only tend to be changed every decade by some government review.

I agree.

IIRC the limit is now £10,000.

tonyhamm

But £3000 in N.Ireland and Scotland. To show how crazy it all is.
£10000 in England, and Personal Injury is still a paltry £1000 at the moment.

Computersaysno wrote: »

I agree.

IIRC the limit is now £10,000.