Some advice please. Small court claim rejected

Bike369

I have started an action through the small courts claim process against an agent I have worked through in the past. My claim is for non reimbursement of expenses I incurred whilst under contract but they rejected my claim.

They have said:

If you continue to pursue the claim we intend to vigorously defend this matter to a final hearing. We invite you to discontinue your claim against us now to avoid the parties incurring further time and significant legal costs in dealing with the claim.

If we are forced to continue to defend the claim we will be seeking legal assistance and recover the entire legal costs from you on the basis that your behaviour in continuing the claim was unreasonable after being served with our defence.

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Being a small courts claim, are they in their right to threaten me with recovering the entire legal costs from me on the basis that my behaviour in continuing the claim is unreasonable, or is this just a scare / bully tactic?

They have also said they are open to mediation as part of the process but I’m not sure now because of the above threat.. 

What do you think please?

Pennywise

What was their defence?

tacpot12

If the judge agrees your behaviour was unreasonable, it is possible for them to award the other party their costs.

While the agents reason for tell you this is to scary you into discontinuing your claim, you should look at your claim carefully to see if you have made any mistakes, or if their defence is valid (hence Pennywise's question). If their defence is clearly valid, you are likely to be ordered to pay their costs if you proceed. Judges don't like their time being wasted.

MalMonroe

Since you ask, I think you need some proper legal advice. If you can't afford it, there's some info in the link below which may be helpful - 

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/public/for-public-visitors/using-a-solicitor/getting-free-legal-advice

Also, I once contacted a free law clinic at the university I graduated from. I received some excellent legal advice from a practising solicitor who was also a part time lecturer. It cost nothing - and if my case had continued to court then he would have attended with me. The case (which I had brought) was settled to the satisfaction of both parties before the court date.

Please also check this link - https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid

If I were you I definitely wouldn't continue with the court case without obtaining legal advice. If you do, you could end up losing even more money, even if you are in the right because if you are unable to present your case properly, they will make mincemeat of you.

You have nothing to lose by attending mediation with the agent. It would be the sensible, responsible thing to do and it shows you are open to negotiation.  

Bike369

Hello, thank you for all your replies.

Their defence is, that the day rate agree was all inclusive as stated in an email I received, however the term all inclusive isn't defined anywhere in the contract or in the email.

Also in the General Terms and conditions it states:
We will reimburse expenses approved by the Client. We shall not be responsible for reimbursement expenses the Client has not approved in advance.

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However in the signed agreement it contradicts/confuses the agreement as it states at the end:

Agreement Enclosures:

- Addendum A – General Terms and Conditions

- Addendum B – Country Specific Terms and Conditions

- Addendum C – Client Specific Conditions

In Addendum C it itemises the expenses I can claim for, which are:

Expenses

Contractor shall and shall procure that its Contractor shall follow the Client’s current business travel/expense policy, as updated from time to time Expenses for travel to places of assignment outside of Hamburg shall be reimbursed upon presentation of valid receipts. The following shall apply:

• Hotels shall be up to four-star

• Flights shall be economy class

• Rail travel shall be second class

My incurred expenses are for hotels and flights.

Thank you again

Sandtree

Were you operating via your own limited company? If so it'll be your company that takes them to court not you which adds some complexity if it gets to a hearing. If you weren't were you going via an umbrella?

If a term isn't defined in a contract then the plain English definition is used, I suspect most would understand what "all inclusive" means

In the small track legal costs are normally highly limited however judges have discretion and can exercise that for abuse of process or other exceptional reasons

akira181

Correct me if I'm wrong but based on what you said, my understanding is as follows:

The agent has offered you a job and stated an all-inclusive day rate. I.e. a fixed rate including all expenses. Effectively, it's a higher daily rate but how you get to site and where you stay is your problem, they're willing to pay to avoid the logistic hassle.

You've accepted this rate, which was given to you in writing (email), and stated in the contract you signed, but tried to claim expenses anyway. Either you didn't understand or ask what they meant by "all-inclusive" (despite it being pretty self-explanatory) or you think you've found a loophole in the contract because they didn't clarify "all-inclusive" and are trying your luck.

You also didn't say where you were working, I'm guessing Hamburg?

The General Terms says "expenses must be approved in advance", which I'm also guessing didn't happen since it's all inclusive? It very clearly states that expenses will not be reimbursed if not approved in advance.

The Client Specific Conditions also say "for locations outside of Hamburg", presumably the client's main location. Is your contracted location based in Hamburg and the client/agent asked you to travel outwith the Hamburg area when you were there? Or was your contracted location outwith the Hamburg area to begin with?

If the former, I'd argue that those expenses are reimbursable if you were specifically asked to go outwith Hamburg. If the latter, Addendum C likely doesn't apply to you.

If they're offering mediation, it suggests that they're going to offer you a percentage of what you're claiming to avoid wasting time and effort at a small claims court. If that's the case, my opinion is take whatever they offer.

If you booked an all-inclusive holiday, you wouldn't be happy if you got a bill at the end for all the food and drink you've consumed. A small claims court is unlikely to be in your favour and a good chance a judge will think you're wasting the courts time

Mistral001

The email which mentioned a day rate which was inclusive is important and could supersede the clauses on expenses in the T&C's.  Also whether you queried what "inclusive" meant could affect your case.   If you only got say £30-50 a day then you can assume that that was only for meals and you will probably have a good case for getting more.  If the amount you received per day could cover economy flights and accommodation as well as meals, then your case might struggle.