Small Claims Court against tradesman

HK2023

macman said:

Is this a limited company, or a sole trader? if it's the former, then you must serve to the registered address at CH. If you have contracted with a ltd co. then suing the individual named will be thrown out by the court. 

He was a sole trader and the quote was via email in his name. We didn't form a contract but presumably agreeing the original quote with works listed is a contract of sorts? This was all done via email.

tightauldgit said:

As much as I have sympathy and think you might well have a legitimate grievance I just want to point out that 'me and my partner decided we won't pay for that' is not really something that has legal standing so it's important that these things are documented and you can demonstrate that this was communicated to the contractor. 

No, I'm sure. But can we not provide evidence that he deviated from the original description of the job and that we had to pay extra money to make the system work as originally agreed?

Really what we want is to get our money back so that we can pay a decent plumber to come and install a heating system that can be signed off, either correcting and completing the work already done or removing and reinstalling a new system. At present we have half a system and none of it can be signed off, which esentially means we have nothing. The biggest problem is we are currently living in a house with bare walls and floors and we can't continue much of the work until we can close off the walls and floors.

Thanks for all the comments so far. I guess the question now is should we claim for the full amount, which is nearly five figures, and if not what can we claim for?

Undervalued

HK2023 said:

macman said:

Is this a limited company, or a sole trader? if it's the former, then you must serve to the registered address at CH. If you have contracted with a ltd co. then suing the individual named will be thrown out by the court. 

He was a sole trader and the quote was via email in his name. We didn't form a contract but presumably agreeing the original quote with works listed is a contract of sorts? This was all done via email.

tightauldgit said:

As much as I have sympathy and think you might well have a legitimate grievance I just want to point out that 'me and my partner decided we won't pay for that' is not really something that has legal standing so it's important that these things are documented and you can demonstrate that this was communicated to the contractor. 

No, I'm sure. But can we not provide evidence that he deviated from the original description of the job and that we had to pay extra money to make the system work as originally agreed?

Really what we want is to get our money back so that we can pay a decent plumber to come and install a heating system that can be signed off, either correcting and completing the work already done or removing and reinstalling a new system. At present we have half a system and none of it can be signed off, which esentially means we have nothing. The biggest problem is we are currently living in a house with bare walls and floors and we can't continue much of the work until we can close off the walls and floors.

Thanks for all the comments so far. I guess the question now is should we claim for the full amount, which is nearly five figures, and if not what can we claim for?

So, legally, you did form a contract as there was offer and acceptance. It doesn't have to be on a piece of paper with the word "contract" at the top. In fact, with very few exceptions a contract under English law doesn't even have to be in writing.

In any dispute you have a legal duty to minimise your losses as far as possible. Just because the other party is in the wrong doesn't mean you can run them up a bigger bill than is necessary to satisfactorily resolve the problem. 

I am not clear, have you given this individual a clear list of the problems and what remedy are you seeking? Normally you would be expected to give them one proper opportunity to fix any problems before you could get somebody else to do the work and deduct the cost from the original bill.

HK2023

We asked him to come and continue but he said he was unable to. So yes, we did guve him the oppertunity to return. We're at the point now that we don't really want him back in the house.

macman

There was a legal contract, just not a written one, the validity is exactly the same in law. You can't have a 'contract of sorts': there either is or there isn't one.  The problem with verbal contracts is that it lt always ends up in a 'he said/she said' argument, and the judge must decide who to believe without any supporting evidence.
You can claim for your quantifiable losses. Send an LBA giving 14 days to pay, then serve your claim.
It appears there is no limited company involved, so you can sue the sole trader.

HK2023

macman said:

There was a legal contract, just not a written one, the validity is exactly the same in law. You can't have a 'contract of sorts': there either is or there isn't one.  The problem with verbal contracts is that it lt always ends up in a 'he said/she said' argument, and the judge must decide who to believe without any supporting evidence.
You can claim for your quantifiable losses. Send an LBA giving 14 days to pay, then serve your claim.
It appears there is no limited company involved, so you can sue the sole trader.

Thanks, what is an LBA?

Undervalued

HK2023 said:

macman said:

There was a legal contract, just not a written one, the validity is exactly the same in law. You can't have a 'contract of sorts': there either is or there isn't one.  The problem with verbal contracts is that it lt always ends up in a 'he said/she said' argument, and the judge must decide who to believe without any supporting evidence.
You can claim for your quantifiable losses. Send an LBA giving 14 days to pay, then serve your claim.
It appears there is no limited company involved, so you can sue the sole trader.

Thanks, what is an LBA?

Letter before action. 

There are plenty of templates online but basically saying "if you haven't done X within 14 days I will take you to court without further notice". The county court will expect you to have sent one in all normal circumstances.

macman

And don't send an LBA unless you are prepared to follow through as soon as it has expired.