Taking AmEx to Court

loveka

We didn't pay him his final payment- at that stage we didn't realise how awful the whole thing was, just that one element of it, which was in the contract, was not there. It was only when we got another builder in to quote to put this element in that he told us that there were massive structural issues. We then paid for a RICS survey which condemned the whole thing.

Our posh expensive solicitor warned us off the fast track in no uncertain terms, as he said there isn't any guarantee you get your costs back even if you win.  The builder is a Ltd company with no assets- I looked on companies house records.
We have gone to the Ombudsman as time is of the essence. We have phoned Am Ex but can't get any answers- obviously they are busy at the moment.
I really appreciate that link. I don't fancy taking Am Ex on in court- as you say it would be a kind of test case for the Stripe thing so we could lose on that issue and be liable for their costs.

It is hard to accept the loss of so much money, but I think I'm going to have to.

born_again

loveka said:

We have gone to the Ombudsman as time is of the essence. We have phoned Am Ex but can't get any answers- obviously they are busy at the moment.

Ombudsman is even worse than individual card providers. Given the number of cases they have received this year from each card provider due to holiday companies not paying customers as per the consumer regulations.
You will also face the same issue going via court. Due to the backlog they have thanks to Covid.

So any time is of the essence, it is not going to pan out in the way you hope. I'm afraid to say.

unholyangel

loveka said:

Thankyou. Yes, the solicitor told me all that. I know I am in a better chance with the Ombundsman, it is slightly complicated by the fact that the builder is threatening court action which would mean that the Ombudsman may not consider it. Hence, I think, why the Letter Before Action to Amex was suggested, to try and hurry the decision along.

I tried to search Ombudsman decisions- I think I must have searched in the wrong place. I have read all their newsletters. That link you provided really is so helpful. When I contacted Stripe they copy and pasted Martin Lewis's article from this website! Even Which? have no knowledge of that Ombundman decision.

I posted again because in my mind it was a different question about taking Am Ex to court. It still terrifies me, and I just wanted to hear it anyone had actually done it.

What this has taught me more than anything is that even in a cut and dried case like this ( both solicitors- one who I couldn't afford hence the change- say we would win in court) actually getting financial redress is the problem. The builder has no assets so whatever  track the case ends up in we won't get anything from him. So I guess Am Ex is my only hope in court, which takes me back to being afraid of doing that.

Anything the builder does, has no impact on a CCA claim. The creditor has joint & several liability. It would only affect FoS ability to deal with it if the credit card company were taking court action - although I believe they're not supposed to start proceedings if they're aware of a complaint being made to FoS. 

MothballsWallet

I wonder how much the OP has paid for the advice from these 3 solicitors?

HopeAndDriftWood

I had a Section 75 with Amex from late March until last week - they’re snowed under, as are everywhere else. I’m not sure that sending them an LBA is a good course of action, especially if it means basically halving the amount you can claim... but I was advised by the FCO that coronavirus had greatly impacted on companies ability to fully investigate and therefore the usual guidance on reasonable timescales to wait for both the card provider and the other party to reply would be put to one side for the time being. 

It seems a complicated situation, if you’ve talked to three solicitors and have a lot of open cases, and it’s not really possible to give any real advice without specifics - so you probably need to understand all your options and go with whatever seems more likely to succeed for you.