Small Claims Court

TWIGLET1234

Pretty sure I know that answer but when making a small claim, are you allowed to add extra for stress and time costs for preparation of your case? (Please humour me) 
Also, if the original disputed debt is paid just before submitting a claim and within 14 days of the original due date, can you still submit a claim for the above extras? (Again, please humour me) 

Aylesbury_Duck

Yes, you can claim what you like, but don't expect to be awarded anything beyond your actual evidenced losses.

TWIGLET1234

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Yes, you can claim what you like, but don't expect to be awarded anything beyond your actual evidenced losses.

Thanks for the response. I write as the “defendant” A subcontractor claimed he was missing a days pay despite not being on the time sheet for said day. With some backwards and forwards we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and pay the days pay. 14 days after the original due date.  He has decided he will not accept that as full and final settlement and wants an extra £1000. If we do not pay the £1000 he will go to court. I have paid him his missing day and he has said I have done that “without his permission” and so will proceed with a claim for the £1000

deannagone

I am afraid what you have written doesn't really make sense.  I sense there is a lot more to this story than the bare bones on here.  Not asking, but you will have to assess what he is claiming for..,  is there anything you have said or done to give him cause for another case etc? 

On the face of it, even for the unpaid pay, unless he had evidence that proved he worked that day.., he wouldn't have been successful.  Even less of a claim for another £1k.., but we don't know what has passed between you or quite what the £1k is for. 

The fact that he says you have paid without his 'permission', if that is what he has said shows a certain legal ignorance.  Its without 'prior agreement' (which sounds like its not true anyway because that's what his original claim is for). 

TWIGLET1234

deannagone said:

I am afraid what you have written doesn't really make sense.  I sense there is a lot more to this story than the bare bones on here.  Not asking, but you will have to assess what he is claiming for..,  is there anything you have said or done to give him cause for another case etc? 

On the face of it, even for the unpaid pay, unless he had evidence that proved he worked that day.., he wouldn't have been successful.  Even less of a claim for another £1k.., but we don't know what has passed between you or quite what the £1k is for. 

The fact that he says you have paid without his 'permission', if that is what he has said shows a certain legal ignorance.  Its without 'prior agreement' (which sounds like its not true anyway because that's what his original claim is for). 

The chap sent a LBC detailing that he was going to claim for his missed day. Within this he said he was going to claim an extra £1000 for the financial worries it had caused him. 

I responded by email to him, the whole time trying to sort it out and get some evidence he actually worked and asking him to get colleagues to vouch for him etc. He refused to do this, and continued to suggest he would be claiming for his day and additional £1000. After a day of emailing back and forth he also told me he was going to add a sum for a further two hours of his time spent emailing! 

Honestly, I don’t know how he arrived at £1000. He seems to have plucked it from thin air. There is nothing I have done other than ask him to gather evidence that he worked that day. I told him that I have paid the one day pay as a goodwill gesture and as far as I am concerned the matter is closed. He said it’s not closed unless we pay him £1000 or he will submit court papers 

Westin

I’d call his bluff. Sounds like you have been more than reasonable.

I doubt he will follow through. Even more doubtful on his success of the £1000 claim if he did.

Assume he will on longer feature on your approved sub-contractor work list.

TWIGLET1234

Westin said:

I’d call his bluff. Sounds like you have been more than reasonable.

I doubt he will follow through. Even more doubtful on his success of the £1000 claim if he did.

Assume he will on longer feature on your approved sub-contractor work list.

He actually left voluntarily on the day he received  the pay he’s questioning and giving the reason of departure as his money being wrong. His supervisor told him not to be so hasty and that we’d get it sorted the following week. He still decided to quit. 

We would have given him continuous work for the foreseeable which is why it’s even more galling that he’s trying to claim £1000 for financial worries. 

ThisnotThat

TWIGLET1234 said:

Westin said:

I’d call his bluff. Sounds like you have been more than reasonable.

I doubt he will follow through. Even more doubtful on his success of the £1000 claim if he did.

Assume he will on longer feature on your approved sub-contractor work list.

He actually left voluntarily on the day he received  the pay he’s questioning and giving the reason of departure as his money being wrong. His supervisor told him not to be so hasty and that we’d get it sorted the following week. He still decided to quit. 

We would have given him continuous work for the foreseeable which is why it’s even more galling that he’s trying to claim £1000 for financial worries. 

Just tell him to go forth and multiply, and if he doesn't you'll claim eleventy billion ringgits for the time he's wasted.

Jenni_D

If he's claiming for "stress" (financial worries) then he'll need to evidence this ... a doctor's letter/assessment as a minimum. He'll also need to justify why this amounts to £1,000.

As above, he's bluffing ... possibly spurred on by you actually paying him the day's pay - he may think you're worried and a threat of court would make you pay him more.

user1977

Given this sounds like a business to business claim, I would expect the stress and hassle of getting paid to be a normal part of business rather than justifying compensation. 

visidigi

 TWIGLET1234 said:

Westin said:

I’d call his bluff. Sounds like you have been more than reasonable.

I doubt he will follow through. Even more doubtful on his success of the £1000 claim if he did.

Assume he will on longer feature on your approved sub-contractor work list.

He actually left voluntarily on the day he received  the pay he’s questioning and giving the reason of departure as his money being wrong. His supervisor told him not to be so hasty and that we’d get it sorted the following week. He still decided to quit. 

We would have given him continuous work for the foreseeable which is why it’s even more galling that he’s trying to claim £1000 for financial worries. 

Coooooor he ain't got a hope. Tell him you consider the matter settled (based on goodwill as opposed to evidence he was there).

The court wont take kindly to his refusal to prove he was there and his flippant amount claims.