claiming compensation due to failed cot3 agreement

Valli

yorkat wrote: »

No sorry am probably not being clear.

You have made yourself perfectly clear; however the consensus of opinion is that you should not pursue a claim.

HTH

keyser666

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

There are numerous issues with the position that you're taking here.

The first is that there is a debate as to whether they have actually breached the COT3 or not. One (probably automated) letter was sent, but this was followed by an apology. Realistically the company would argue that they never did intend to pursue the claim and that the letter was sent in error. Which they may or may not succeed in showing, but nevertheless that aspect of the case is not clear cut.

The more fundamental issue relates to the 'stress' caused by the letter. It is worth clarifying that it is possible to claim for stress where the psychological effect amounts to a diagnosable medical condition. In your case your wife suffers from a condition already, which the company was aware of. However, in order to succeed in a claim you would have to show a causative link between the action taken by the company and an exacerbation of that condition. You would need to obtain medical evidence to show that, but in any event in my view it is unlikely to be the case, firstly because it was just one letter, and secondly because if as you say your wife's condition is 'just about as serious as it gets' it's hard to see how the actions of the company can make it worse. Causing stress and exacerbating a condition are two different things, and you would have to demonstrate the latter to succeed in a claim.

Ultimately pursuing such a claim against the company would likely take time and effort on your part. You may succeed, but that is unlikely from where I'm sitting and any damages that you do win may well be nominal.

In those circumstances, if your priority is the health of your wife, surely the best thing to do would be to let this go and move on? Principles are all fine and dandy, but if you allow your principles to drive your actions here you run the risk of getting stuck in protracting correspondence and/or litigation with the company, which is surely going to have a more detrimental effect on your wife than that letter ever did.

Spot on, great post