Received a dishonest Letter of Claim - Pre-action Protocol

zebedyboy

We are a very small business and, we have received a Letter of Claim - Pre-action Protocol, from a Solictors company (who, from my research, has a bad reputation) their client being one of our previous customers. This letter is incredibly badly drafted and, under the summary of facts, it is neither clear or concise but more importantly, the majority of the statements made, are inaccurate and untrue and do not relate to the original complaint of which our customer initially notified us of. In the first instance, I would be grateful if anyone can advise how to respond to this part of the letter, since, my many hours of research only brings up supporting information for the consumer and, all of which relies on the fact that the consumer/claimant is always telling the truth when making a claim. Many thanks for any advice.

pinkshoes

Was the customer a consumer or another business?

Can any of their claims be proven by them?

Rosemary7391

I'm not a legal person, but I'd start by breaking it down into a list of claims, and then put my counter evidence against each claim. For instance:
Claim: warranty was for x months
Actual: warranty was for y months
Evidence: warranty T+Cs.


That work will help make the case clearer for anyone advising you. You could try the legal beagles forum?

zebedyboy

Thanks Pinkshoes, the customer was a consumer. Thank you Rosemary7391, I understand under the Pre-ation Protocol that we can counter claim, however, in GBP, we would not even know what figure to counter claim (as I think, if we counter claim, we have to state a figure on money). Our customer is claiming for a product that we fitted into their premises, of which due to their lack of care and maintenance, developed a minor fault. This fault could have been repaired at a nominal cost of under £200. However, during our negotiations of explanations of who was liable, the consumer, instructed a third part "inspector" who, took a hammer and completely destroyed the product as well as the site of which the product was fitted into. Of course, since this damage occurred, the product is now
irrepairable. The consumers "inspector" was kind enough to send his quote to the value of
GBP 4,440 which forms part of the claim letter under remedy and losses...

agrinnall

If you're confident of your position just let it go to court where if you're right the judge will throw it out.

zebedyboy

I am unable to find the legal beagles forum...?

dj1471

If the claims are inaccurate then they're not going to have evidence to convince a judge so I'd be inclined to simply ignore them. You're not obliged to respond.

If you choose to respond you don't have to address their claims, simply state your understanding of the situation and be clear on what, if anything, you're willing to offer.

Les79

zebedyboy wrote: »

Thanks Pinkshoes, the customer was a consumer. Thank you Rosemary7391, I understand under the Pre-ation Protocol that we can counter claim, however, in GBP, we would not even know what figure to counter claim (as I think, if we counter claim, we have to state a figure on money). Our customer is claiming for a product that we fitted into their premises, of which due to their lack of care and maintenance, developed a minor fault. This fault could have been repaired at a nominal cost of under £200. However, during our negotiations of explanations of who was liable, the consumer, instructed a third part "inspector" who, took a hammer and completely destroyed the product as well as the site of which the product was fitted into. Of course, since this damage occurred, the product is now
irrepairable. The consumers "inspector" was kind enough to send his quote to the value of
GBP 4,440 which forms part of the claim letter under remedy and losses...

Well, this is a "consumer rights" forum so let us explore it from that side...

1. How long did the customer have the item for before the fault developed?

2. Do you have an independent fault report which confirms user damage, provided by either you and/or the consumer (and before they contracted an independent)?

wealdroam

The Pre-Action Protocols do suggest that one should respond to a Letter of Claim.
The intention being to narrow the issues.

Ignoring a Letter of Claim may go against a Defendant if ever this reached court.

agrinnall

zebedyboy wrote: »

I am unable to find the legal beagles forum...?

Really? It is very clearly the top result when I do a Google search for "legal beagles forum".


http://legalbeagles.info/forums/

pinkshoes

zebedyboy wrote: »

Our customer is claiming for a product that we fitted into their premises, of which due to their lack of care and maintenance, developed a minor fault. This fault could have been repaired at a nominal cost of under £200. However, during our negotiations of explanations of who was liable, the consumer, instructed a third part "inspector" who, took a hammer and completely destroyed the product as well as the site of which the product was fitted into. Of course, since this damage occurred, the product is now
irrepairable. The consumers "inspector" was kind enough to send his quote to the value of
GBP 4,440 which forms part of the claim letter under remedy and losses...

What documentation do you have regarding this issue? Hopefully everything was followed up with letters or emails???

You need to respond to the claim.

How do you know it was lack of care and maintenance? Did you inspect it? Did you offer a maintenance program?

If you inspected it, did you then offer to come and repair it for £200? Did thye reject this offer? In writing?

How long had the customer had it? Was the maintenance something simple for them to do?