HELP NEEDED regarding removed property

LozBingley

Hi – I need some advice

I was renting a garage off a local housing trust and I moved, the housing trust failed to update my details on their system and I got in arrears on the rent.

Finally they did manage to catch up with me and I made about a 50% contribution towards the arrears but then fell on hard times and was unable to make further payments.

About a year later I found out that the garage had been demolished and my property (namely a classic car chassis) had been removed and disposed of! (I still have the engine, windscreen, wheels, seats, etc)

The trust had failed to inform me of their intent as they did not have my correct address.

I was advised by their Insurance Manager that the Trust was liable and a senior member of their accounting staff agreed with that too. I was also told I would have a better chance of claiming if I did it as an individual rather than involving a solicitor. (Their solicitor does not know this yet!)

Late last year I started to pursue this claim directly to no avail and after 6 months I used the MCOL system to chase this up and get compensation.

However I have today received a defence from their solicitors asking that the claim should be struck out as I have “not set out any cause of action against the Defendant” and “The Particulars of the Claim do not comply with Part 16.4 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 and is already obstructing the just disposal of these proceeding.” What does all that mean?!?!?

Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place - I couldn't see where best it fit

wecanhelpu

Does any of the following apply?

Contents of the particulars of claim
16.4 - (1) Particulars of claim must include -



(a) a concise statement of the facts on which the claimant relies;

(b) if the claimant is seeking interest, a statement to that effect and the details set out in paragraph (2);

(c) if the claimant is seeking aggravated damages(GL) or exemplary damages(GL), a statement to that effect and his grounds for claiming them;

(d) if the claimant is seeking provisional damages, a statement to that effect and his grounds for claiming them; and

(e) such other matters as may be set out in a practice direction.


(2) If the claimant is seeking interest he must -



(a) state whether he is doing so -


(i) under the terms of a contract;

(ii) under an enactment and if so which; or

(iii) on some other basis and if so what that basis is; and


(b) if the claim is for a specified amount of money, state -



(i) the percentage rate at which interest is claimed;

(ii) the date from which it is claimed;

(iii) the date to which it is calculated, which must not be later than the date on which the claim form is issued;

(iv) the total amount of interest claimed to the date of calculation; and

(v) the daily rate at which interest accrues after that date.



(Part 22 requires particulars of claim to be verified by a statement of truth)

LozBingley

Err Kinda

Any ideas as to how to move on? I think I got an Ace with the admission of liability by the Insurance Manager and it being witnessed, what you think?

Thanks

katepnlo

......i am not knowledgeable on this, but surely if failed tp pay in full....then moved on leaving no contact details..i would have thought its your own fault! you werent using the garrage or paying for it. you never collected you stuff, they obviously waited a reasonable amount of time
kate

LozBingley

I did leave details but they failed to record them correctly on their system

I did use the garage, for storage of my classic car chassis, from 1990. OK I was not visiting it daily or even annually but there was nothing in my orriginal contract that said I had to do that either :think:

CB1979_2

go see a solicitor and get some proper help

silvercar

you had rent arrears, they couldn't get in touch with you, seems to me that they assumed you had abandoned the garage.

If they do accept a claim for disposing of your goods, don't be surprised if you get a bill for rent arrears at the same time!

olly300

LozBingley wrote: »

I did leave details but they failed to record them correctly on their system

I did use the garage, for storage of my classic car chassis, from 1990. OK I was not visiting it daily or even annually but there was nothing in my orriginal contract that said I had to do that either :think:

Hope you can prove everything.

If the housing trust can't strike out your claim there next step will be to threaten to or actually counter sue you for the rent arrears and interest.

Your best bet is to put in a concise statement for the amount you want and get proof of how much the car chassis is worth, and say you want to mediate with them.

LozBingley

Thats OK as the arrears only total around £80 and the car value is around £6,000. In fact my claim allowed for them to take the arrears off the settlement The value is bassed on replacement new parts and a full detailed list and cost were provided to the trust before I started the MCOL Claim

LozBingley

The Housing Trust have admitted that they previously admitted liability!

So I did not need any further legal advice and have not had to pay out more than the initial court costs when I took it to the small claims court. Just a little annoyed that I had to do that to get their attention.