Cargo Company - Non-Delivery of Goods and Breach of Contract

arcticbear555

I engaged Lockwell International to ship my belongings to Dubai under a full-service agreement. The arrangement included packing, shipping, customs clearance, delivery to my doorstep, and assembly at the destination. I paid all associated costs upfront. These goods represent everything I own—my entire life packed in boxes.

About a month ago, Lockwell requested additional payment for customs clearance, which I paid. They confirmed that all goods had been cleared. However, weeks passed without delivery. When I contacted their Dubai partner for an update, I was informed that Lockwell had not settled its dues.

Despite repeated attempts to reach Lockwell, my calls and emails were ignored. Occasionally, I was told the director was on holiday or in meetings. Eventually, someone claimed the payment had been released. Yet, the Dubai company insists they have received nothing. When pressed further, Lockwell stated that their Dubai partner is now suspended, making it impossible to recover funds. Currently, neither party responds to any communication.

My contract is with Lockwell International—not their Dubai partner. They committed to handling the entire process from collection to delivery.

What rights do I have against Lockwell International and its director for the breach of contract and the stress and hardship caused?

Ectophile

You have no rights against the director.

All your rights are against the company.  Unless the stress and hardship has a monetary value, you can't claim it.  But you can claim for monetary losses, e.g. stuff you had to buy because your stuff is lost in transit.

MyRealNameToo

arcticbear555 said:

I engaged Lockwell International to ship my belongings to Dubai under a full-service agreement. The arrangement included packing, shipping, customs clearance, delivery to my doorstep, and assembly at the destination. I paid all associated costs upfront. These goods represent everything I own—my entire life packed in boxes.

About a month ago, Lockwell requested additional payment for customs clearance, which I paid. They confirmed that all goods had been cleared. However, weeks passed without delivery. When I contacted their Dubai partner for an update, I was informed that Lockwell had not settled its dues.

Despite repeated attempts to reach Lockwell, my calls and emails were ignored. Occasionally, I was told the director was on holiday or in meetings. Eventually, someone claimed the payment had been released. Yet, the Dubai company insists they have received nothing. When pressed further, Lockwell stated that their Dubai partner is now suspended, making it impossible to recover funds. Currently, neither party responds to any communication.

My contract is with Lockwell International—not their Dubai partner. They committed to handling the entire process from collection to delivery.

What rights do I have against Lockwell International and its director for the breach of contract and the stress and hardship caused?

As you say, your contract is with Rockwell not the Dubai partner nor the director 

Looking on Companies house they only have 3 employees, including the sole statutory director, and their balance sheet has done down for the last two years... hopefully you checked their insurance or your world belongings are below the £33k the company's balance sheet currently is. 

Which legal jurisdiction governs the contract? Assume it's England and Wales?

Is there any timescales guaranteed within the contract for the delivery of the items? It's not obvious there has actually been a breach of contract, shipping and customs are notoriously difficult to predict timescales for and especially for a complex shipment of mixed personal effects. 

Presumably they arent asking you to pay the clearance fees again but are instead dealing with trying to deal with their former agent and the funds they claim to have already paid over to the agent. 

One option is a letter before action and then head to the UK courts but how much are you claiming? Guess its over £10k in which case you are at least into Fast Track which means legal fees can be added to the cost of the losing party so more of a gamble if you can't prove they have breached the timelines set out in the contract (eg if there is no time limit)

A claim would be made at the actual value of the goods (ie second hand price) not the value it's going to be to buy a brand new replacement.

Stress isnt a valid head of claim unless you've been given medication so it's actually a personal injury not just a pain in the !!!!!!. Generally you will be able to claim what your actual financial losses are, eg if you've had to buy new pants because they have all your pairs in their container then you can potentially add that cost but you also have a legal duty to mitigate your losses so 5 pairs of M&S equivalent pants is probably fine, buying 30 pairs of Loro Piano probably won't be as its to tide you over acknowledging you should be getting the rest of your stuff in a reasonable timeframe.