Taking Hermes To Small Claims Court- Please Help!

TimesTheyAreAChangin

Hello. I'm in the process of a claim against Hermes with SCC to recover the loss of money caused by them losing/ damaging my parcel and failing to deliver it. The following are their reasons for rejecting my claim. Apologies as it's very long but I really would appreciate some help as I have no idea what to do next, and I really need to reclaim the money they cost me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hermes:The defendant’s responseHermes has rejected the claim.Their defenceWhy they disagree with the claim1. If any part of the Particulars of Claim are not expressly admitted or denied below, such parts are denied by the Defendant entirely. Background 2. The Claimant has identified the wrong Defendant. The Defendant should be ‘Hermes Parcelnet Ltd’ not ‘Hermes’. The Defendant is and was at all material times a company limited by shares in the business of providing delivery services on a business to business, business to consumer and consumer to consumer basis. The Defendant operates “myhermes.co.uk” which is a website that can be used to order delivery services from the business of the Defendant operated under the ‘myHermes’ brand. 3. On or around 16 August 2021, the Claimant entered into an agreement with the Defendant for the use of its myHermes delivery service. The agreement was governed by the Defendant’s standard Terms and Conditions (the “Contract”). 4. The Claimant confirmed before completing the Contract that they had read and accepted the terms of the Contract. 5. The Claimant described the goods to be couriered on the order form as an Ornament and has confirmed in an email that the item to be couriered was a Snow globe (“the Parcel”). 6. The Claimant stated that the Parcel was valued at £40. 7. Pursuant to the terms of the Contract, on or around 17 August 2021 the Claimant dropped the Parcel off at one of the Defendant’s ParcelShops in anticipation of delivery to the recipient. 8. In consideration of the Defendant providing the courier service, the Claimant paid the sum of £7.30 (including VAT). 9. The tracking information indicates that the Parcel was damaged whilst in the Defendant’s delivery network and could not be delivered. The Claim Value 10. The Claimant stated on the ‘Order Form’ that the value of the Parcel was £40.00, although the claim form states that the value of the Parcel was £41. The Claimant is put to strict proof as to the discrepancy. 11. The Claimant seeks to recover £41 plus Court fees of £35. The total claimed is £76. 12. The Claimant is put to strict proof as to the value of the claim. The Defence 13. The Defendant denies that it is liable to pay the Claimant any damages in an action for breach of contract and/or negligence. 14. This Defence is a response to the sole Particulars of Claim which are set out in the ‘Particulars of Claim’ on page 2 of the claim form Claim Form – Particulars of Claim 15. The first to fourth sentences of the Particulars of Claim is neither admitted nor denied and the Claimant is put to strict proof. Excluded Items/Prohibited 16. The terms of the Contract, which were acknowledged and accepted by the Claimant and which were in force at the relevant time exclude the Defendant’s liability. The relevant provisions of the Contract state: Clause 7 “7.1 We do not accept liability for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery where: (i) the Parcel involved is a Parcel that we do not accept for carriage (ii) the Goods or Parcels involved are Prohibited Items; and/or (iii) the Goods or Parcels involved are Excluded Items.” ““Excluded Items” means Goods that we do accept for carriage but are sent at your own risk and in respect of which we do not accept any liability for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery, including: Excluded Goods.” Excluded items are listed on the myHermes website at (link https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html) “Prohibited Items” means Goods that we do not accept for carriage. Links to https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html. 17. As a result, the Defendant denies that any compensation is payable in relation to the Parcel contents as glass and fragile items are “excluded items” 18. The Claimant knew, or ought to have known, of the existence of the terms due to the prominence of the Excluded Items/Prohibited Items throughout the order process. The Defendant uses pictures and words to set out what the Excluded Items/Prohibited Items are. Limit of Liability 19. If, which it is denied, the Defendant is found to be liable to pay compensation for the damage/loss of the Parcel, the Defendant denies that it is liable to pay the Claimant the damages claimed as the relevant provisions of the Contract limit the Defendant’s liability in actions for breach of contract and/or negligence. The relevant provisions state:- 19.1 Clause 7.2 “For any other Goods or Parcels we will only be liable to you for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery to the extent that it is caused by our negligence, in which case we will pay compensation to you subject to the limits set out in condition 8 below (“Compensation”).” 19.2 Clause 7.3 “The Compensation shall be the full extent of our liability to you for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery” 19.3 Clause 8 “8.1 Unless you have taken out our Full Cover, the following limits apply to our liability to you under a Contract: 8.2 Our liability for each instance of Loss or Damage or anything else other than Late Delivery is limited to whichever is lesser of: 8.2.1 £20; or 8.2.2 the cost of repairing the damaged Goods, or the value of the lost or damaged Goods (as we shall reasonably determine up to a maximum of the price you paid or were paid for the Goods). 8.3 Our liability for Late Delivery is limited to refunding the Charges. 8.4 When you submit an Order, you may take out our Full Cover. If you do so the limit of our liability to you for Loss or Damage will be varied to whichever is the lesser of: 8.4.1 the level of your Full Cover per Parcel; or 8.4.2 the cost of repairing the damaged Goods, or the value of the lost or damaged Goods, (as we shall reasonably determine up to a maximum of the price you paid or were paid for the Goods).” 20. Full Cover is defined at Clause 1.1.12: “Full Cover” means optional enhanced compensation that you may, for a fee, take out when you submit an Order. For details click here. [Links to https://www.myhermes.co.uk/our-services/our-prices.html]” 21. Accordingly, the Contract terms limit the Defendant’s liability for loss or damage to a parcel (in contract and/or negligence) to a particular value (as determined by clause 8), for the loss or damage to goods. That compensation value is the lesser of £20 or the value of the damaged/lost goods. 22. The Claimant opted to increase the level of compensation for the Parcel and therefore, pursuant to the terms of the Contract the Claimant is entitled to maximum compensation in the sum of £47.30. Claim for compensation 23. The Claimant states in the Claim Form that she is claiming £76. However, as explained above, it is denied that the Defendant owes the Claimant this amount because the Parcel contained an excluded item which is exempt from ccompensation.

MattMattMattUK

TimesTheyAreAChangin said:

Hello. I'm in the process of a claim against Hermes with SCC to recover the loss of money caused by them losing/ damaging my parcel and failing to deliver it. The following are their reasons for rejecting my claim. Apologies as it's very long but I really would appreciate some help as I have no idea what to do next, and I really need to reclaim the money they cost me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hermes:

The defendant’s response

Hermes has rejected the claim.

Their defence

Why they disagree with the claim

1. If any part of the Particulars of Claim are not expressly admitted or denied below, such parts are denied by the Defendant entirely. Background 2. The Claimant has identified the wrong Defendant. The Defendant should be ‘Hermes Parcelnet Ltd’ not ‘Hermes’. The Defendant is and was at all material times a company limited by shares in the business of providing delivery services on a business to business, business to consumer and consumer to consumer basis. The Defendant operates “myhermes.co.uk” which is a website that can be used to order delivery services from the business of the Defendant operated under the ‘myHermes’ brand. 3. On or around 16 August 2021, the Claimant entered into an agreement with the Defendant for the use of its myHermes delivery service. The agreement was governed by the Defendant’s standard Terms and Conditions (the “Contract”). 4. The Claimant confirmed before completing the Contract that they had read and accepted the terms of the Contract. 5. The Claimant described the goods to be couriered on the order form as an Ornament and has confirmed in an email that the item to be couriered was a Snow globe (“the Parcel”). 6. The Claimant stated that the Parcel was valued at £40. 7. Pursuant to the terms of the Contract, on or around 17 August 2021 the Claimant dropped the Parcel off at one of the Defendant’s ParcelShops in anticipation of delivery to the recipient. 8. In consideration of the Defendant providing the courier service, the Claimant paid the sum of £7.30 (including VAT). 9. The tracking information indicates that the Parcel was damaged whilst in the Defendant’s delivery network and could not be delivered. The Claim Value 10. The Claimant stated on the ‘Order Form’ that the value of the Parcel was £40.00, although the claim form states that the value of the Parcel was £41. The Claimant is put to strict proof as to the discrepancy. 11. The Claimant seeks to recover £41 plus Court fees of £35. The total claimed is £76. 12. The Claimant is put to strict proof as to the value of the claim. The Defence 13. The Defendant denies that it is liable to pay the Claimant any damages in an action for breach of contract and/or negligence. 14. This Defence is a response to the sole Particulars of Claim which are set out in the ‘Particulars of Claim’ on page 2 of the claim form Claim Form – Particulars of Claim 15. The first to fourth sentences of the Particulars of Claim is neither admitted nor denied and the Claimant is put to strict proof. Excluded Items/Prohibited 16. The terms of the Contract, which were acknowledged and accepted by the Claimant and which were in force at the relevant time exclude the Defendant’s liability. The relevant provisions of the Contract state: Clause 7 “7.1 We do not accept liability for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery where: (i) the Parcel involved is a Parcel that we do not accept for carriage (ii) the Goods or Parcels involved are Prohibited Items; and/or (iii) the Goods or Parcels involved are Excluded Items.” ““Excluded Items” means Goods that we do accept for carriage but are sent at your own risk and in respect of which we do not accept any liability for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery, including: Excluded Goods.” Excluded items are listed on the myHermes website at (link https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html) “Prohibited Items” means Goods that we do not accept for carriage. Links to https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html. 17. As a result, the Defendant denies that any compensation is payable in relation to the Parcel contents as glass and fragile items are “excluded items” 18. The Claimant knew, or ought to have known, of the existence of the terms due to the prominence of the Excluded Items/Prohibited Items throughout the order process. The Defendant uses pictures and words to set out what the Excluded Items/Prohibited Items are. Limit of Liability 19. If, which it is denied, the Defendant is found to be liable to pay compensation for the damage/loss of the Parcel, the Defendant denies that it is liable to pay the Claimant the damages claimed as the relevant provisions of the Contract limit the Defendant’s liability in actions for breach of contract and/or negligence. The relevant provisions state:- 19.1 Clause 7.2 “For any other Goods or Parcels we will only be liable to you for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery to the extent that it is caused by our negligence, in which case we will pay compensation to you subject to the limits set out in condition 8 below (“Compensation”).” 19.2 Clause 7.3 “The Compensation shall be the full extent of our liability to you for Loss or Damage or Late Delivery” 19.3 Clause 8 “8.1 Unless you have taken out our Full Cover, the following limits apply to our liability to you under a Contract: 8.2 Our liability for each instance of Loss or Damage or anything else other than Late Delivery is limited to whichever is lesser of: 8.2.1 £20; or 8.2.2 the cost of repairing the damaged Goods, or the value of the lost or damaged Goods (as we shall reasonably determine up to a maximum of the price you paid or were paid for the Goods). 8.3 Our liability for Late Delivery is limited to refunding the Charges. 8.4 When you submit an Order, you may take out our Full Cover. If you do so the limit of our liability to you for Loss or Damage will be varied to whichever is the lesser of: 8.4.1 the level of your Full Cover per Parcel; or 8.4.2 the cost of repairing the damaged Goods, or the value of the lost or damaged Goods, (as we shall reasonably determine up to a maximum of the price you paid or were paid for the Goods).” 20. Full Cover is defined at Clause 1.1.12: “Full Cover” means optional enhanced compensation that you may, for a fee, take out when you submit an Order. For details click here. [Links to https://www.myhermes.co.uk/our-services/our-prices.html]” 21. Accordingly, the Contract terms limit the Defendant’s liability for loss or damage to a parcel (in contract and/or negligence) to a particular value (as determined by clause 8), for the loss or damage to goods. That compensation value is the lesser of £20 or the value of the damaged/lost goods. 22. The Claimant opted to increase the level of compensation for the Parcel and therefore, pursuant to the terms of the Contract the Claimant is entitled to maximum compensation in the sum of £47.30. Claim for compensation 23. The Claimant states in the Claim Form that she is claiming £76. However, as explained above, it is denied that the Defendant owes the Claimant this amount because the Parcel contained an excluded item which is exempt from ccompensation.

That is one hell of a wall of text, but from what I can see they rejected your claim because you have no legal basis to claim against them as you sent prohibited goods through their network.

mattyprice4004

Also the part about you claiming against the wrong entity is correct, before spending any time or money ALWAYS check you’re taking action against the correct entity (one that actually exists!) 

sheramber

I read it as you took the wrong entity to court.

You sent an item that Hermes  prohibit. 

Glass items or fragile items that contain glass parts

tacpot12

I don't think you are going to win this case. The list of Non-compensation items clearly lists glass items. No judge is going to censure them for not delivering something that they know is broken as the recepient would be entitled to reject it. 

The one area that you might win something on is if you paid extra for extra compensation when no compensation was going to be payable. Because the defendants admit that you took the parcel to one of their shops, it seems to me that they have taken a payment from you for "extra compensation" in bad faith, as no compensation was going to be payable and this should have been spotted when they took your payment. 

theonlywayisup

Rather than a block of text, can you explain in simple clear terms what happened - not the Hermes defence, but the bit that lead to you thinking you should claim. 

TimesTheyAreAChangin

I realise I didn't correctly name them when submitting the case, my mistake, I thought they were simply called "Hermes" .
But I didn't send a prohibited item. Glass items are allowed to be sent, and they offer extra cover also, which I took out.

theonlywayisup

TimesTheyAreAChangin said:

I realise I didn't correctly name them when submitting the case, my mistake, I thought they were simply called "Hermes" .
But I didn't send a prohibited item. Glass items are allowed to be sent, and they offer extra cover also, which I took out.

Read the post above yours - it will be far quicker if you outline what has happened rather than everyone ask a million questions to work out what has gone on. 

MalMonroe

There is a very comprehensive list of items that they do not compensate for, here -

https://www.myhermes.co.uk/_assets/pdf/carry-guide.pdf

On page 3, it states - "Glass items or fragile items that contain glass parts", as well as "Liquids or items contained in glass or ceramics".

And on page 4 it clearly states  -  "please note all liquids are prohibited".

The Hermes defence document states "5. The Claimant described the goods to be couriered on the order form as an Ornament and has confirmed in an email that the item to be couriered was a Snow globe (“the Parcel”)."

As far as I recall, a snow globe is an item which has a glass (no Hermes compensation) cover containing, among other things, liquid (Hermes prohibited).

1.  glass - they will not compensate
2.  liquid - is prohibited.

Your ornament, if it is a snow globe, contains both. They do say that you can send items on the non-compensate list if you wish - but that it will be at your own risk and you will not be compensated.

https://www.myhermes.co.uk/send-a-parcel/non-compensation-items

If you paid extra cover - it won't count for two reasons -

1.   you sent an item containing glass at your own risk and 
2.   prohibited liquids were sent. 

I'm sorry but I really don't think that you are going to get very far with a claim. 

MalMonroe

TimesTheyAreAChangin said:

I realise I didn't correctly name them when submitting the case, my mistake, I thought they were simply called "Hermes" .
But I didn't send a prohibited item. Glass items are allowed to be sent, and they offer extra cover also, which I took out.

I think that they are just being pedantic about the name because they can be.

That doesn't matter half as much as the fact that, if you sent a snow globe which contained liquid, they will not compensate you because all liquid is prohibited.

You're right, glass can be sent but, as I said above, Hermes specify that it's at your own risk and you cannot be compensated if anything goes wrong.

Any extra cover you took out will probably be void because your parcel contained glass - which they say they won't compensate, as well as prohibited liquid (assuming that the snow globe did contain liquid, as fully assembled snow globes usually do).

Sorry.

TimesTheyAreAChangin

Apologies again for the wall of text. Basically I sent a snowglobe with them, paid the extra cover to compensate if anything happened to the parcel. First they said they lost it, then they said they damaged it. I filed the claim because they sold me compensation despite knowing they wouldn't allow me to claim on it. And because I was advised by many people who have filed and won against them. I just don't know what to do for the best now.