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Entitled to interest?

Early in November 2019 by car suffered some damage due to the bay markers that had been installed in the works car park. They'd been put in a few weeks earlier - like metal place cards screwed into the floor - but people had kept driving over them and one had come loose in bad weather. Being first in, at 7am on a stormy morning, I'd driven over one which had come loose, punctured my tyre and scraped the wheel arch. The car park is managed by a building management company - we just rent a floor of the building. I have submitted an invoice for £351.78 to the management company for the cost of recovery and new tyres. I did not include fixing the wheel arch, or my time to sort it. 2 months after that (3 months after the incident) I haven't heard from them. What should I do? Am in entitled to interest on that sum? Should I charge for my time? On the day, the incident happened at 7am, but I didn't get home till after 9pm due to issues with the recovery company (who managed to break my number plate, but that's another story).

Thanks in advance for your advice.
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Comments

  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Given current interest rates, how much were you hoping to add to your claim?
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    £1.84 or just call it £2-
  • Rufty1
    Rufty1 Posts: 108 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I was thinking of it more by way of reminding them I am still waiting. Though I am thinking of charging for my time which would double what they owe :)
  • wesleyad
    wesleyad Posts: 754 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    I wouldn't bother with interest just send them a letter before action advising that they have 14 days to pay before you start a small claims procedure. All very easy nowadays, can be done online.

    Check out this link for details

    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-system/taking-legal-action/small-claims/making-a-small-claim/
  • Charging for your time? I think you need to adjust your expectations.

    They may simply reject your claim as it stands. If you can't prove they were negligent, they're not liable in the first place. It's not dissimilar to pothole damage in that it's not reasonable to expect the management company to inspect the car park 24 hours a day, so if the metal plate was dislodged the night before by a previous occupant and you were the unfortunate first person to come across it first thing the next morning, they have done nothing wrong. It's on that basis that they might simply reject what you've claimed. If you push it by being silly about interest and charging for your time, they might reject where they were perhaps prepared to honour your initial claim.
  • Fosterdog
    Fosterdog Posts: 4,948 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Just wait for the counterclaim that you're driving damaged their property
  • Labsuper
    Labsuper Posts: 266 Forumite
    Third Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Why did you drive over it?
  • Rufty1 wrote: »
    Early in November 2019 by car suffered some damage due to the bay markers that had been installed in the works car park. They'd been put in a few weeks earlier - like metal place cards screwed into the floor - but people had kept driving over them and one had come loose in bad weather. Being first in, at 7am on a stormy morning, I'd driven over one which had come loose, punctured my tyre and scraped the wheel arch. The car park is managed by a building management company - we just rent a floor of the building. I have submitted an invoice for £351.78 to the management company for the cost of recovery and new tyres. I did not include fixing the wheel arch, or my time to sort it. 2 months after that (3 months after the incident) I haven't heard from them. What should I do? Am in entitled to interest on that sum? Should I charge for my time? On the day, the incident happened at 7am, but I didn't get home till after 9pm due to issues with the recovery company (who managed to break my number plate, but that's another story).

    Thanks in advance for your advice.
    The answer you are looking for is in post 8
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Statutory interest (which applies where no late payment interest charges have been contractually agreed) is Bank of England base rate plus 8% per annum, pro-rated. Assuming BoE base is 0.5% then you're entitled to claim £351.78 x 8.5% = £29.90 per year. Pro-rated equals 2/12 x £29.90 = £4.98.
  • bris
    bris Posts: 10,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You need to prove liability, if it was an "Act of God" due to bad weather then there is no liability so you will wait a lot longer.
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