Seller failed to vacate in time for our removals

MrBrindle

Doozergirl wrote: »

Why is it the wrong thing to be friendly? I'm sure they underestimated the time it takes. We did the first time we moved (the joys of moving oneselves and friends not
helping when they said they would - blind naivity on our parts) and the second time the removal men just didn't turn up! We had to hire a van and come back 100 miles for a cupboard full of stuff that just wouldn't fit. Getting things wrong doesn't make them bad people or not worthy of having friends. I bet today was also a very stressful day for them too.

Send the invoice to your solicitor to send to theirs. Both will be used to it and your sol won't charge for that first letter over. They are responsible for breaching contract.

No I agree, nothing wrong with being friendly. And yes, they were probably just being naive in not realising the scale of the job.

I didn't particularly like asking them for money today due to all the stress involved, but thought asking them in a polite manner rather than go through solicitors etc would be a better approach.

unforeseen

MrBrindle wrote: »

Well the deadline for vacating was 4pm across the whole chain.

Will email solicitor Monday then to ask what his fees will be, and best course of action.

With a deadline of 4PM I doubt very much whether your removal company would have unloaded the van starting at that time.

That is why deadlines are normally set between 12 & 2. It gives removals time to unpack you during the normal working day.

MrBrindle

unforeseen wrote: »

With a deadline of 4PM I doubt very much whether your removal company would have unloaded the van starting at that time.

That is why deadlines are normally set between 12 & 2. It gives removals time to unpack you during the normal working day.

I'll need to double check the times on the contracts then. I'm sure our solicitor mentioned 4 over the phone.

So, were our removals unreasonable? Say if they did vacate at 4 and removals still refused, where would we have stood then?

However, our sellers still didn't vacate until 7pm, so irrelevant regardless I suppose.

jackomdj

Although it did not effect your buyers, legally you should have been out at 11:30, when your previous property ceased being yours.

I do feel your pain though as i have had similar, although I was moving myself and ended up loading all my stuff into the dining room, them loading our large van with the sellers property which my Dad drove to their new house. The sellers had a tiny van, 6 people to move (parents plus 4 teenagers) and had a ferry journey to make for each trip.

mije1983

MrBrindle wrote: »

So, were our removals unreasonable? Say if they did vacate at 4 and removals still refused, where would we have stood then?

That depends. What was your contract with them? If you told them that they wouldn't be able to start unloading until 4pm and they still took the job then yes they would have been unreasonable had they refused.

As you say though, it's irrelevant as that wasn't the situation.

ThePants999

What it costs you to go to court to recover your losses from the vendor is irrelevant, because they'll be liable for those costs too if they actually let it go to court instead of paying up.

davidmcn

ThePants999 wrote: »

What it costs you to go to court to recover your losses from the vendor is irrelevant, because they'll be liable for those costs too if they actually let it go to court instead of paying up.

Only to a small extent - you can't claim solicitors' fees in small claims court.

Cakeguts

There is no excuse for their actions on this. They knew they were moving today. They have tried to save money by doing the moving themselves and this has meant that you are having to spend money instead. They have been using your house for storage since 4pm as that was the deadline in all of your contracts. The fact that they were using your house as storage for their furniture so that they didn't have to pay for a removal van is not acceptable because you have been left out of pocket.

Where are all these selfish people coming from? There are often threads on here where it is obvious that people don't understand that they can't leave their belongings in a house that they no longer own just because it suits them.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Or you could just put it down as one of life's experiences and get on and enjoy your new home, maybe a tale for the grandkids.

[/FONT] “[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]grandkids did I ever tell you about the time your grandpa was homeless”

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You would of course be equally laid back about any mail arriving for the previous owner[/FONT]

moneyistooshorttomention

elsien wrote: »

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees

£25 if you do it online.

+ 1 on that.

Going via your solicitor to get the money back from them that they owe you is the logical first step - but, in your position, I'd be checking whether my solicitor would charge me more for this extra bit of work first.

If they don't = fine = use your solicitor to make this claim.

If your solicitor would charge you more - then yep....a small claim for what they owe you.

They have indeed abused that "friendliness" - and cynical me thinks that was probably the reason for said "friendliness" all along - ie so you'd give them some extra leeway if they decided to take it:cool:

It's wrong for people (ie your vendors) to think they can be "laid-back and unorganised" at someone else's expense. People have to learn a lesson in responsibility at some point - this is their lesson and hopefully will teach them to be more responsible in future. Some of us have managed okay (more than once) to have all our stuff loaded up and in a removal van by due time and without last minute rushing around and/or delaying others - so it is possible...