Help with Virgin Claim going to Court

waamo

That's not bad news. It's merely their opinion that will have no bearing in court.

It just means they probably won't settle out of court. A shame but if they want to defend it then it's their right.

halifaxmortgage

I'm just waiting as to what the solicitor is going to come back with. If their response is along the lines of "SEE YOU IN COURT", then I guess I'll have to start preparing then.

But I'm still hoping that they may see sense and work with me, rather than against me.

halifaxmortgage

Hello guys. Hope everyone is well.

The last few weeks have been really frantic for me as I've not had 5 minutes to rest. Anyway I thought I'd give you a short update as it's only right since this topic is now going 10 pages strong.

We have now been allocated a judge and the court date is in less than 2 weeks for approx 30mins. However this is a "Preliminary Hearing" and the the judge has not given any instructions. However, the letter states the reason for this hearing is because:

1. The court considers there are issues requiring early judicial intervention which may include:

a) considering any evidence
b) whether the claim can be disposed on basis one party has no real prospect of success.
c) ensuring the case progresses efficiently.

....Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated.

waamo

As I've said repeatedly be organised. What is the quality of their defence like?

halifaxmortgage

Hi Waamo,

Their defence is what I've previously mentioned which essentially was that I hadn't provided sufficient evidence of the damage and that they would go down the mediation route. Since that time, they sent someone in charge of the contractors to inspect the damage mid Feb. However when he turned up, he stated he was not concerned with my issues, but was simply sent to build evidence for the defence team. He was argumentative, taking sides of installers and being judgemental. We got into a heated dispute, so he walked off.

After this incident I re-emailed the defence team explaining what had happened and that they should have sent someone whom was independent in the first place to make it fair for both parties. I didn't hear anything, so a few days later I sent another email. A day later I got an email from the defence advising "I await further information at this time and will revert in due course.".

This was the last contact from them and they have not come back to me since. You would have thought they would have got back in touch since then, but absolutely nothing.

I'm sick of emailing them constantly and I've tried my best to work with them. What's the point if they aren't interested....I really can't do it anymore mate as it's taken over my life.

waamo

Have you made a nice bundle with pictures and quotes for the work? Have you submitted this to court?

halifaxmortgage

I'd say I'm 90% there with the bundle. I haven't submitted this to court as I was originally hoping that VM would want to resolve this. However, they haven't come back to me as yet, hence I'm completing the bundle by this weekend.

One question though....what should I do with the email letter I sent a while ago about the WITHOUT PREJUDICE giving them a chance to take the reduced offer? I know I don't include in the evidence, but should I take a physical copy to courts to show them that I tried?

waamo

halifaxmortgage wrote: »

I'd say I'm 90% there with the bundle. I haven't submitted this to court as I was originally hoping that VM would want to resolve this. However, they haven't come back to me as yet, hence I'm completing the bundle by this weekend.

One question though....what should I do with the email letter I sent a while ago about the WITHOUT PREJUDICE giving them a chance to take the reduced offer? I know I don't include in the evidence, but should I take a physical copy to courts to show them that I tried?

You can't use a WP offer in court. It's confidential between the two parties.

I suspect the directions hearing is because you haven't been organised enough. The court should have everything by now. They want all your evidence. I hate to say you run a serious risk of losing this due to poor organisation

halifaxmortgage

I thought the whole point of the pre-offer letter from me was to get vm to make me a counter offer and if they didn't then I was allowed to show it courts?

I can assure you mate that I am organised, but my reason for holding back was to see whether we could work things out. But since it hasn't, I won't waste further time and will send everything, including any email communications we've had after the mediation.

waamo

WP offers are confidential and cannot be used in court. The only exception is where it is marked Without Prejudice Save As To Costs. This means if their behaviour is unreasonable you can claim significant costs from them and use the letter as evidence of unreasonable behaviour.

The bar for unreasonable behaviour is extremely high though.

You shouldn't have held back in the hope of them folding. Always assume it's ploughing on. Submit your full details now.

The other side are complaining that they haven't seen full details so cannot defend. They are entirely correct. Until the court sees it it can be amended so they can't defend against what they don't know.

It looks like the judge has taken pity on you and will want to see proper details of your claim so act now.