How to find official company information for dispute?

km1500

what are your quantifiable financial loses? you can't just make up a figure

tightauldgit

IANAL but it seems like any claim you have would only be against the builder who you contracted with and who hired the portaloo. I don't see that the portaloo company had any obligation to you and I certainly don't see how you can charge them rent or any other nonsense. 

If your builder has done a runner I presume they haven't paid for the portaloo - do you think the portaloo company should be able to pursue you for their loss of profits? 

It seems that you are claiming negligence by the company in failing to collect their portaloo from your house but I'm not sure that's going to fly - and at best you would only be able to claim your actual losses caused by the negligence not some fictional rental amount. 

I can't see any court awarding you anything here - it's just one of those things. The villain in the piece is the builder, 

ronny1976

user1977 said:

Sorry, but I don't see that you have a claim against any of the bog-related entities at all. You can't unilaterally charge them "rent", and if it's caused "damage" (what?) then that would appear to be the fault of your builder.

Let's momentarily take the builder out of the equation. Let's say Joe Bloggs over road is minding his own business and some portaloo company have just placed a loo on his driveway such that he can't get his car on the drive. Joe doesn't know why this has happened and cannot get the portaloo company to remove the loo as all words fall on deaf ears. All the while, Joe is unable to park his car on the driveway and has to park his car elsewhere.

In this situation, what can Joe do? Surely he can give them warning that he'll start charging rent. And if they still didn't move it then he can file a notice of claim to seek that rent payment?

If not, then what can Joe do in that situation?

user1977

ronny1976 said:

user1977 said:

Sorry, but I don't see that you have a claim against any of the bog-related entities at all. You can't unilaterally charge them "rent", and if it's caused "damage" (what?) then that would appear to be the fault of your builder.

In this situation, what can Joe do? Surely he can give them warning that he'll start charging rent. And if they still didn't move it then he can file a notice of claim to seek that rent payment?

Why "surely"? Where have you got the idea that somebody can unilaterally start charging "rent"? Why doesn't Joe just shift the loo himself?

tightauldgit

No, you can't charge rent without an agreement in place to charge rent. You might be able to if you had some kind of sign up that said objects left on your driveway incur a rental charge of £x per day but it's unlikely you have that. 

In the hypothetical you propose you would 

a) contact the owner of the property to retrieve it 
b) pursue a claim for any actual damages against the person who put it there and caused your loss if you can identify them

After a period of time elapsed you may be within your rights to dispose of the portaloo either by selling it and returning the proceeds to the owner or if not feasible to sell, disposing of it and claiming any expenses incurred from the person who put it there. 

Of course, in your real scenario the person who put it there was you via an agreement with your builder. 

RefluentBeans

ronny1976 said:

user1977 said:

Sorry, but I don't see that you have a claim against any of the bog-related entities at all. You can't unilaterally charge them "rent", and if it's caused "damage" (what?) then that would appear to be the fault of your builder.

Let's momentarily take the builder out of the equation. Let's say Joe Bloggs over road is minding his own business and some portaloo company have just placed a loo on his driveway such that he can't get his car on the drive. Joe doesn't know why this has happened and cannot get the portaloo company to remove the loo as all words fall on deaf ears. All the while, Joe is unable to park his car on the driveway and has to park his car elsewhere.

In this situation, what can Joe do? Surely he can give them warning that he'll start charging rent. And if they still didn't move it then he can file a notice of claim to seek that rent payment?

If not, then what can Joe do in that situation?

Consider this as a private car park scenario. You’re visiting your friend and park your car in the neighbours drive because you know they’re on holiday. You got the dates wrong - oh no! So they can’t park on their drive. Disgruntled, they go and write you a ticket! Now you have a fine of £75?!?!? How is that legal?! There was no signs up for you to see, and they could’ve just asked to move your car! The answer is clear - it’s not legal. They can’t unilaterally charge people for use of their land. Of course, they could try and get you charged for trespassing, but they can’t just fine you. They could sue you, but you haven’t entered into an agreement with them. Of course if they put up a nice clear sign at their drive saying that by parking here without permission you agree that you may be charged £75, thsts going to be slightly different. 

Now swap out the car for your portaloo, and I hope you can see why it wouldn’t stand the sniff test in court. You can pursue it. But I think it’s an uphill battle for you to face. 

I assume, back to real life, you haven’t had the toilet cleaned professionally, or sanitised, or lost any business due to it? It seems it would be hard to quantity the losses, and you risk falling into punitive costs rather than actual costs. Personally, I would just give them 14 days to collect it, before you attempt to organise disposal, as you’re concerned it becoming a health hazard. You could also attempt to bill them for the disposal but given they’re not playing ball to collect it, I don’t really think they’ll play ball to pay up. But then at least it’s out of your hair. 

Or embrace the ‘guest bathroom’ outside your home with a nice potted plant and some nice reed diffusers - it’s a feature not a bug 😉