Suing a tradesman for delays and inconvenience

HappyFish2021

So I had the tradesman from hell. In addition to falsely representing himself as a professional, he bodged a job and only left it half done. This all needs remedied by another tradesman now.  He also caused damage to my home and contents.  It was a time sensitive job to make the house ready for sale to catch the booming market there was before Xmas due to the chancellor's stamp duty tax relief scheme. Though when redone by another tradesmani I can list my house for sale, the market is not as buoyant and I'm likely to lose a few thousand unless the stamp duty thing gets extended. In addition to this probable loss, there's the inconvenience of living out a suitcase another few months not being to move to where I now live/work.

So if taking this guy to small claims court, what price can I put on the inconvenience and delays? How does one quantify that? 

Aylesbury_Duck

In summary, with difficulty.  It's almost impossible to accurately value a house at a particular point in time unless you have a proceedable offer at that time.  e.g. I might value my house at £500k but have just one offer of £470k, in which case it's worth £470k.  If I have no offers, its value is undetermined, so I have no way of knowing if its value is greater, less or the same as it was at another point in time.

As to your inconvenience, you can claim your real and evidenced costs.  If you needed to stay in a hotel for a week because the original ready date was missed, for example, you have an evidenced cost.  You have a duty to mitigate those losses, so you can't book into the Ritz and expect the builder to pay any more than a basic hotel's costs, for example.

HappyFish2021

Understand about the value of a house. But I had an estate agent value and agreed to list it at a realistic certain price. If I go back to him once my place is finished by this second guy, and the estate agent advises to list it for 10k less as market has changed, isn't that a likely indication? Sure there's no evidence the house would have sold last year or the chain not dropped out but can only go on balance of probabilities. I will also have to pay stamp duty when moving on so it's a double whammy.

I am more emotionally and mentally stressed by this all rather than having hotel expenses as staying at friends but don't know how to quantify compensation for a lower standard of wellbeing by inconvenience.

davidmcn

No chance of linking it to the market value of the house (if it had gone up, would you be paying the tradesman a bonus?).

Aylesbury_Duck

I see a problem with the stamp duty argument.  How can you be sure it would have sold before the stamp duty benefit disappears?
As to valuations, they are nothing more than a guide price.  Estate agents have a vested interest in over-valuing because a) it tends to win them business from the vendor over another agent promising to fetch less, and b) most work on a percentage commission, so a higher price means more commission.  It's simply not an objective enough measure of a property's worth because the worth is determined by the buyer, not the seller.  If you didn't have a proceedable offer to begin with, I don't see how any court will accept a supposed loss in value when there's nothing to benchmark it against.  I'm sure I read somewhere recently that house prices have continued to rise - will you deduct from your claim if the new valuation suggests a greater value has been earned from the delay, for example?

As for the wellbeing, the small claims court will only be interested in your itemised costs. 

HappyFish2021

I just wondered if it were the same estate agent recommending what to market at. In my area the market has tanked a bit and prices definitely gone down in just a month.

HappyFish2021

So there's nothing in law to ask for compensation for stress/hassle? It's only itemised costs?

MattMattMattUK

HappyFish2021 said:

Understand about the value of a house. But I had an estate agent value and agreed to list it at a realistic certain price.

That, from a legal perspective, means absolutely nothing.

HappyFish2021 said:

If I go back to him once my place is finished by this second guy, and the estate agent advises to list it for 10k less as market has changed, isn't that a likely indication? 

It is an indication, but not a solid, quantifiable fact. Courts deal in facts, not indications.

HappyFish2021 said:

Sure there's no evidence the house would have sold last year or the chain not dropped out but can only go on balance of probabilities.

The lack of evidence, in a court of law, is what will cause you to lose. Yes civil judgements are made on a balance of probabilities, but none of what you have presented swings the balance of probabilities in your favour, there are too many unquantifiables and what ifs. 

HappyFish2021 said:

I will also have to pay stamp duty when moving on so it's a double whammy.

As will anyone else who moves in the period when the exemption does not apply.

HappyFish2021 said:

I am more emotionally and mentally stressed by this all rather than having hotel expenses as staying at friends but don't know how to quantify compensation for a lower standard of wellbeing by inconvenience.

There is not one you can apply, you can not apply for any compensation for hurt feelings, or stress you have felt because of this. 
You have incurred additional costs, the damage he caused would be things you can claim for, as would any monies paid for work which was not completed, or not completed to standard, you are fully entitled to claim this money and I encourage you to do so. Even a contract which included cover for consequential losses would not apply in this case as the consequential losses can not be quantified and in fact there may have been no loss, there is also no compensation for hurt feelings.

MattMattMattUK

HappyFish2021 said:

So there's nothing in law to ask for compensation for stress/hassle? It's only itemised costs?

Correct, costs incurred, which are directly relating to the matter and quantifiable. So you are able to claim for the damage, as well as any goods not received and work not completed which you had paid for. You can not claim for your emotions. 

Aylesbury_Duck

HappyFish2021 said:

I just wondered if it were the sane estate agent recommending what to market at. In my area the market has tanked a bit and prices definitely gone down in just a month.

I'm afraid not.  The market may have cooled, but what evidence is there that prices have gone down in the last month?  There may be a reduction in the average guide price on adverts, but what really matters is the price at which those houses sell at, which won't be known for many months.

How do you think estate agents arise at the valuations they do?  They don't have a set formula for pounds per square feet of living space, onto which they add premiums for things like proximity to good schools, broadband speed, upkeep of the neighbours' property, etc.  It's just a hunch, an estimate informed by historical prices and a general feeling for the market at the moment.  The eventual sale price is the only one that matters.  That's not anything near objective enough for a court to be working with.

HappyFish2021

MattMattMattUK said:

HappyFish2021 said:

So there's nothing in law to ask for compensation for stress/hassle? It's only itemised costs?

Correct, costs incurred, which are directly relating to the matter and quantifiable. So you are able to claim for the damage, as well as any goods not received and work not completed which you had paid for. You can not claim for your emotions. 

That's a pity. Thanks guys