Sale of Goods Act - Can I claim compensation/damages?

sleepless_nights

Hey all,
I'm self employed... Seven weeks ago, the main piece of machinery I use for running my business suffered catastrophic failure (with a bang!). This piece of machinery is 13 month old thus is now 3 months out of warranty. It is in fact the second piece of machinery Ive had from the same company; the first one failed in EXACTLY the same place and was replaced F.O.C under warranty after 11 months. The supplier of this machine are claiming that now I'm out of warranty I have to foot the repair bill which will be circa £5k. I done some homework and have contacted the comapny who manufactured the part which initially failed. They told me that they are aware of the problem and have revised the part and even sent me new drawings for it. I went back to the supplier of the machine and told them but they werent interested....

So, Ive assigned a solicitor (6 weeks ago) who has identified a clear case that the machine was sold 'not fit for purpose'. We can demonstrate that if the machine was supplied again with the same part it would eventualy fail again.

So, lots of letters have gone back and forth between 'us' (me and my solicitor) and the 'them' the supplier. Up until now, and against my solicitors advice, they hadn't sought any legal advice of there own.

My solicitor had advised me after 2 weeks to mitigate my losses and try and find alternative income - which I've done. I had hoped that assigning a solicitor would get this resolved quickly...

Last week, we advised the supplier that if they didn't replace the faulty machine within 5 days we would issue court proceedings and claim damages in the way of loss of earnings.

Now they have taken on a solicitor who has asked us for more time... This is time I can't afford. My solicitor has been in discussions with their solicitor and seems to think that we will get the machine replaced - watch this space.

However, my legal fees so far are circa £3500 and I'm now seven weeks of not being able to run my own business because of the failed machine. Imagine someone taking away your office, your computer and your clients...

My question - without going to court, is there any way I can claim loss of earnings and claim for my legal fees from them?

Many thanks to all who can advise.

SN

Bantex_2

I think your solicitor is the only person making money out of this.

Can you not get the machine repaired?

sleepless_nights

Thanks for your prompt reply. The machine cost £20,000. There is a very real possibility that other internal parts may have been damaged as a result of the initial 'bang'. I dont think it's reasonable for me to have to fork out £5,000 in repair fees for a precision piece of equipment that should last considerably longer than 15 months...

Remember, the supplier recognised this and agreed to replace the first machine after it failed.

Cheers

Bantex_2

sleepless_nights wrote: »

Thanks for your prompt reply. The machine cost £20,000. There is a very real possibility that other internal parts may have been damaged as a result of the initial 'bang'. I dont think it's reasonable for me to have to fork out £5,000 in repair fees for a precision piece of equipment that should last considerably longer than 15 months...

Remember, the supplier recognised this and agreed to replace the first machine after it failed.

Cheers

Right or wrong are beside the point. You are running a business and being "right" but bankrupt is not very good.

You have already spent close on tehrepair costs on legal fees, add that to the lost income and you are down.

Get the income stream running and then worry about compensation etc.

sleepless_nights

Im not sure a court would agree with you. Ive invested £20k in to a machine to improve my business. All im asking for is what I'm legally entitled too. The sale of goods act is there to protect consumers. There are perhaps a dozen other companies that I could've chosen to purchase a similar piece of equipment from but I chose the company that I did because they seemed reputable - now I'm paying the price.

I want to resume my business. As I mentioned before, what happens if I repair the machine and it fails later because of damage caused by the intital failure....? I can't afford to take that risk.

Bantex_2

sleepless_nights wrote: »

Im not sure a court would agree with you. Ive invested £20k in to a machine to improve my business. All im asking for is what I'm legally entitled too. The sale of goods act is there to protect consumers. There are perhaps a dozen other companies that I could've chosen to purchase a similar piece of equipment from but I chose the company that I did because they seemed reputable - now I'm paying the price.

I want to resume my business. As I mentioned before, what happens if I repair the machine and it fails later because of damage caused by the intital failure....? I can't afford to take that risk.

Court may not agree, but you could be bankrupt by the time it gets to court if you are relying on this bit of kit to keep your business going.
I would also query what you have paid £3,500 in legal fees for.

In business you quite often have to be realistic.

sleepless_nights

Sorry, the legal fees are £2500 not £3500 - my typo. They also include VAT. I am being VERY realistic here. Ive paid £20,000 for a piece of machinery that is not fit for purpose - simple.

I never once mentioned bancruptcy either.

Bantex_2

sleepless_nights wrote: »

Sorry, the legal fees are £2500 not £3500 - my typo. They also include VAT. I am being VERY realistic here. Ive paid £20,000 for a piece of machinery that is not fit for purpose - simple.

I never once mentioned bancruptcy either.

You intimated earlier that you cannot run your business without this piece of kit. How much is it costing per day whilst you are arguing the rights and wrongs?

sleepless_nights

I/we are not arguing the rights or wrongs. I /we are stating that we are RIGHT and we are also stating the law - the sale of goods act. The supplier has now sought legal advice and at a first glance we are nearing an agreed replacement for the failed machine. My question still remains; Can I claim any compensation for loss of earnings or can I recover my legal fees against them? If they have chosen to ignore our demands for 5 weeks and now all of a sudden have taken us VERY seriously that is not my fault.

k3lvc

sleepless_nights wrote: »

The sale of goods act is there to protect consumers

But unless I'm mistaken you're not a consumer - you're a business with a B2B relationship with the supplier and presumably a contingency plan/business recovery strategy ?

sleepless_nights

Yes, you are mistaken. I am a consumer. I run a very small scale business and do not have any relationships with the supplier. This IS my 'business recovery strategy'