Being taken to court -letter from judge help please

startingout2016

Update - The allocation hearing was this week.
The judge didnt look at any of the details or ask any questions.
He suggested we split 50/50 and move on to save any further hassle.
As frustrating as that would have been I agreed to split 50/50 but the claimant refused. Was threatening me outside of court room saying he had a massive case against me and proof that I asked them to carry out the work, that he is in court all the time and knows how to win and I dont have a chance.

This is obviously untrue, but in a judge's eyes will just be he said/she said.

Having looked on this guys personal facebook page he is regularly in court. Just an hour after we had left court he had posted up words that said 'Another successful day in court'.

I am now realising this guy has a bit of a screw loose and maybe I just pay up and move on with my life. I want to fight it because I hate that he is a con man using litigation to intimidate people, but maybe this isn't my fight and its causing quite a lot of anxiety.

I have gone through my paperwork and his invoices with late fees don't add up. He has added vat onto late fees and then added further admin fees with vat added onto those too.

He has also put the claim in under his own name rather than the company name. The judge asked him about this and he lied to the judge saying that he only became LTD recently.
This is untrue as companies house has him as a LTD company in 2017.

The point he makes about me not having a case is that he says he has it in writing that I asked for him to come and carry out the work.

I have gone through the messages and the wording I used was:

''I have an old boiler that I'd like to replaced.
I also have a small damp patch which I was wondering if you could check for a leak and replacing faulty pipework if so.
If you are in the area soon and are interested in quoting, please let me know. ''


Have I worded this badly so that he could come and just do the work anyway?

He ended up sending me a quote for the boiler, but never a quote to do any leak detection.
At no point did they tell me their rates (of which they charged me £144 per hour and said they were leak detecting for 1.5hrs).
They were in my house for 1.5 hrs (despite not carrying out leak detection as they said they couldn't in the example I had), so are they also charging me for quoting for the boiler?

TIme to get legal advise I guess?

Fire_Fox

Again report his threatening behaviour to the police. Whilst they investigate he will not be allowed to contact or approach you. Since it was outside the County Court the incident may well be on CCTV.

teneighty

As far as the limited company is concerned it depends who was the "trading name" you initially contacted and had all communication with. The simple answer is what name was on his website where you found his details initially and what name was printed at the top of the invoice?

He might own "Cowboy Plumbers Ltd." but trades as Hyma Crook Esq. I own 2 limited companies but only trade from one and have a couple of non-limited company trading names as well. All perfectly legal and above board as long as the client/customer knows exactly who they are dealing with.

The scumbag I took to court was a director of 2 limited companies but the work I did for him was for him as a private individual under one of his many aliases, not under either of his companies.

startingout2016

invoice was under his ltd company name.

I didnt find him on google. It was through a local facebook group. I asked for a plumber and he/or his receptionist contacted me directly.

teneighty

startingout2016 wrote: »

invoice was under his ltd company name.

I didnt find him on google. It was through a local facebook group. I asked for a plumber and he/or his receptionist contacted me directly.

If the invoice was in the name of his limited company then he was trading as a limited company. I assume terms of payment were to the limited company not his personal name?

I'm surprised the judge let that go.

startingout2016

teneighty wrote: »

If the invoice was in the name of his limited company then he was trading as a limited company. I assume terms of payment were to the limited company not his personal name?

I'm surprised the judge let that go.

Me too

I dont know why the judge wouldnt just throw it out

stator

Why not send him an offer, without prejudice, to settle the matter. Make it reasonable.
If he refuses, this might count against him in court. If he loses and is held to be unreasonable you might be able to claim costs against him.


Yes, I would get legal advice in this situation

teneighty

Bear in mind that the allocation hearing is just a preliminary stage it is not the main court hearing.

The next stage will be the court hearing proper when the evidence will be properly aired and scrutinised. The fact that the plaintiff rejected the 50/50 offer will be noted.

When it gets to the proper court hearing it is up to you (the defendant) to actually point out that the invoice was in the name of his limited company and therefore you do not owe him personally a single penny. Also present the evidence of free quotations with due importance. It is not up to the Judge to be you defence representative, he must remain impartial. I suspect you were too passive in the allocation hearing and did not ram home those key points. You are also entitled to ask the plaintiff questions so if he lies call him up on it otherwise the judge will just accept his word on it.

HampshireH

Its a good idea to put a file together in full chronological order with a table of contents for reference. Present your defence in good order. Take one for you to refer to and one for the judge (and one for whomever else may require on the day).

Include as much information/content as possible but stick to the facts and don't waffle. Ensure you have copies of all court paperwork in it for your reference, your correspondence, quotes, invoice etc. Use tabs to ensure you can make your points effectively and without struggling to find the corresponding documents.

Courts can be quite intimidating places, especially if the person your up against is a bully (as this person appears to be). Being fully prepared will go in your favour on the day.

Good luck!

Doozergirl

Good advice this evening.

I can't reiterate enough about having all of your ducks in a row. Whenever I have had to go in front of an adjudicator of some nature, I have always succeeded by being absolutley thorough and going to a lot of effort and organised detail in order to impress myself upon the decision makers.

Do not miss anything out. Compile your story, back anything you can up with evidence. Organise your paperwork, bullet point everything. Stick to facts. Be assertive with the judge.

The truth always prevails but the more thorough you are, you will have everything you need to hand immediately.

You have evidence of the invoice and the company registration date. Print off the page from Companies House. That should stop this initial claim but don't rely on it, still compile everything as you can probably expect another claim in the correct name.

Print off and include everything you've told us. The facebook messages; a copy of the website showing free estimates; the letter you wrote them the next day; the next invoice with the unfair additional charges added so quickly; a separate copy of the invoice which you annotate to show where it is incorrect - at the very least you can bring the price down.

Check the VAT registration number on the invoice on the EU database. https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/taxation/vat/check-vat-number-vies/index_en.htm