Legal advice needed - but how to get it?

JennyP

I've had a client bounce a cheque on me. It is for a significant amount - over £1000. It appeared to have cleared so I gave this client the stuff he'd paid for but then it bounced several days later.

I have asked for the money to be paid again but of course, he is being difficult.

I've done small claims before - and been successful - but in this case, he is now arguing about my terms and conditions and the fine print and I really feel I need legal advice before taking this further. Trouble is, the solicitors I've called won't help. I was hoping to do as I've done in the past and pay someone for an hour of their time to advise on my best course. They won't do that: they say they either take it on as a proper case or they won't be involved. If they take it on, it could end up costing far more than the amount involved.

Any ideas please?

Pennywise

JennyP wrote: »

Any ideas please?

Try a different firm of solicitors?

JennyP

Pennywise wrote: »

Try a different firm of solicitors?

We tried loads!

Horace

You need a solicitor specialising in contract law.

If you are a member of the FSB then you could contact their legal services for advice.

Who drew up your terms and conditions? Did you get a solicitor to look them over first.

If the client still hasn't paid then you continue through the small claims and you can escalate the case to the high court - it costs £60.

jackyann

Are you in something like the Confederation of Small Businesses, or a local Chamber of Commerce / Trading Association or similar? They sometimes have access to a small amount of legal advice.

There is a section on running a business on the gov.uk website - it includes helplines but I don't know if they could help (surely worth a try?)

Owain_Moneysaver

If the client had a problem with the terms and conditions why did he give you the cheque? is the question the court will ask itself.

Launch a claim using Moneyclaim and if his defence relies on your T&Cs and is legally complicated then get legal advise or rely on the court finding in your favour as you're sueing on the cheque.

If the client is a consumer (rather than business-to-business) then there may be circumstances that if your T&Cs aren't compliant with consumer protection law you can't rely on them and in such cases the contract may be near unenforceable in your favour.

WestonDave

When you say it appeared to clear, I wonder what you mean.

APACS now have a clear 2:4:6 rule whereby a UK cheque is cleared for fate after 6 days (for interest and drawing 2 and 4 days). So if the cheque had been in your account for 6 working days then it should not have been bounced - if you released the goods before that then it wasn't cleared for fate and you weren't safe. If that was the case then this info doesn't help you recover the money but might be useful for future reference!

Aquamania

JennyP wrote: »

We tried loads!

Don't give up!

Why, up to now, are they all refusing to help you??? :huh:

Who originally drew up your terms and conditions that are now in dispute? Hopefully you sought legal advice then, and I'm sure they would now be happy to now help you in such a dispute.
If you didn't get legal advice when the terms were originally drawn up, that could explain in part why you are now having trouble getting anyone to support you
But not totally. If the terms are a legal nonsense, then a legal advisor should be able to tell you that rather than refuse to help at all. It may not be what you want to hear, but they should be able to advise you so.

Usually, if you are successful in your claim, then a request for an award of costs is made, and assuming theses are not unreasonable (if they are, they may be taxed - a legal term essentially meaning assessed/restricted, nothing to do with HMRC) and the judge usually awards these to the winning side.

It must be really complicated if solicitors are suggesting costs in excess of £1000 over this, so you really do need the legal advice, I would say.

Also very strange that they have given you a cost at all if they all refuse to take on the case. Very odd. Very odd indeed. Are we getting the full story here? If not, and you are approaching legal advisors similarly, perhaps that is another reason all the legal advisors you have approached to date are refusing to help you.

patman99

I assume that the Bank sent you the cheque back with a letter stating that it did not clear. If so, wait a month or two and then, when the customer thinks you have given-up chasing them, represent the cheque and see if it clears this time.

Mistral001

It looks like the client has stopped the cheque.

InsideInsurance

The solicitor that wrote them is the best place to look at them, they potentially have a vested interest in the case on the basis that if they messed up then you have a potential claim against them.

Outside of that, solicitors are a business like anyone else and often it isnt worth their time/ effort to deal with something for a single hour