Tentant refuses to use ADR - what next?

westernpromise

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Do not use Royal Mail’s signed for service use their 1st class service and get proof of postage. That will be sufficient enough for the court.

I've heard that the belt and braces approach is two copies of the letter with proof of postage.

FBaby

Judges don't see it well at all that either party refuses the ADR which is exactly what it is in place for, therefore wasting their time. They are likely to be very lenient towards you. Let's hope you find her to take her to court.

jimbog

Send the letter in an empty box (an old Amazon box works wonders) so that she is eager to sign and open it

slangy633

Well she did say she wanted to break her contract as she was moving abroad. Have I got any hope of taking her to court if she has left the country or I can't find an address for her? I don't know if she ever did leave or if this was just an excuse to get out of her contract.......

G_M

As explained, you can use the last known address, but must also make reasonable efforts to find a new address if you know she's moved on. For detail, see

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part06

But that's not the main issue. There's no point spending more money on court action if you'll never find her eg she's abroad. You'll never be able to enforce payment.

Though by the sound of it she's a 'professional tenant' and has said/done all the right things to evade this. So she may well be quietly living round the corner......

chappers

yep keep your powder dry for the time being, put the process in place to claim the deposit and see where it leads. Keep an eye out for her on social media, electoral roll, 192 etc

ThePants999

slangy633 wrote: »

Ok I have got all the quotes etc already. The flat has been totally refurbished so everything was new. She has burnt the carpet in about 10 places with hair straighteners so do I claim for the whole carpet to be replaced or just 50% of the cost?

I think you've slightly misunderstood - 50% was an example number, it isn't a figure of special significance. The idea is that you need to depreciate things over their lifetime, and only claim their remaining value. So if something was 20% of the way through its usable life, you consider it to have "used up" 20% of its value, and you only claim for 80% of its replacement cost. If something was brand new, you claim for 100% of its replacement cost. If something was already at the end of its life and needed replacing anyway, you don't claim at all.

slangy633

Ok yes that it clear. The carpet was brand new and she was in the flat for 18 months.

The deposit is being held in the DPS so if I take her to court then they instruct the DPS where/who to issue the deposit too so I am not concerned I won't get the money if I win and I won't need to send the bailiffs to her. I just need to know for 100% if I need to find the actual address she is living in or can use her last known one. The only way I can find out if she is actually there is to knock on the door and I really don't want to do that.

ThePants999

Will the deposit actually cover the damage, though?

slangy633

It doesn't cover all of the damage but if I receive the rest of the deposit then I will be happy