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Small Claims Court with two companies denying liability

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  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 18,613 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    If the council instructed them to do the work then its them that you would sue 

    How are you quantifying your financial loss though? Presumably you are happy losing the court fees which is a highly realistic outcome. 
  • Quantifying the loss is the other hard part. Some money was wasted on earplugs. How do you quantify the loss of sleep, resulting in lower productivity? I can estimate the number of extra cups of coffee. I work from home so it was all day, most days. I can throw in some admin costs for emails and phone calls chasing this problem up and asking them for compensation.

    I think there is a good chance of prevailing on the costs, at least in part, which means also prevailing on the court fees. Even if it's only a nominal £10 plus costs, I'd be happy. The costs alone are likely to be 20x that much, given time off work etc. Hopefully they will just settle.
  • MysteryMe
    MysteryMe Posts: 3,445 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 24 September 2024 at 6:11PM
    The over riding weakness of your case is that you don't appear to have any evidence of the level of noise the rattling cover caused.  It obviously caused extra noise because it was not correctly fitted and was replaced but was the noise at a level to cause the level of disruption and subsequent financial loss you claim. You say it was but can't demonstrate it evidentially. Had you audio recordings or got Environmental Health involved it would had strengthened your case. You would still have to demonstrate a financial loss which is a different matter. Again you need to prove the loss and also show that you tried to mitigate it. No one is unsympathetic to sleep deprivation , it is not pleasant at all and it does sound like you had a really horrible time of it, but courts don't operate on sympathy, they operate on evidence presented.
  • Me thinks to claim from both companies jointly and severally would be the way to go. Only if you serve a letter before action to both companies. Let them and the court sort out who is to blame. Remember that you may not win, but the cost of attending court is not claimable by any of the parties.
  • MysteryMe said:
    The over riding weakness of your case is that you don't appear to have any evidence of the level of noise the rattling cover caused.  It obviously caused extra noise because it was not correctly fitted and was replaced but was the noise at a level to cause the level of disruption and subsequent financial loss you claim. You say it was but can't demonstrate it evidentially. Had you audio recordings or got Environmental Health involved it would had strengthened your case. You would still have to demonstrate a financial loss which is a different matter. Again you need to prove the loss and also show that you tried to mitigate it. No one is unsympathetic to sleep deprivation , it is not pleasant at all and it does sound like you had a really horrible time of it, but courts don't operate on sympathy, they operate on evidence presented.

    I do have complaint emails to the council, and their response. Audio didn't seem like it would help as the volume of the noise depends on where you put the volume knob, not on how loud it was in real life, unless you have expensive calibrated equipment.

    I'll think about what I want to do. Witness statements, including from neighbours, should I think put us over the 50% mark to prevail.

    As usual the victim gets punished for not wasting their GP's time with sleep loss, or taking time off work due to it.
  • MysteryMe
    MysteryMe Posts: 3,445 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    It's a shame Environmental Health weren't able to assist you when you reached out to them because they do have the necessary equipment that would have provided independent evidence. You still have to prove the financial loss as well.

    You need to be aware that a defence is going to point out the weaknesses in your case, that you did not take recordings and a home recorded audio would have been better than nothing, that although hellish, not hellish enough to take time off work or go to your GP etc.  You have to be able to evidence actual financial loss, there is no route for compensation for stress or inconvenience.

    I think your best bet is to try and get some goodwill gesture from the responsible entity.

    Have you complained to OFWAT? https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulated-companies/investigations/how-we-investigate/complaints-disputes-can-help-with/   

    Also get your local MPs and councillors involved if you haven't already
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