Illegal eviction help

[REGEDIT]

Hi,
My brother recently returned to his flat after spending a week with our parents to find it empty apart from his PC and coffee maker.
The landlord’s property manager had thrown all of his property away.
He confronted the manager who said this months rent hadn't been paid (he pays via standing order) and she thought he had left. He understandably was very upset as he had no idea the rent was not paid and stayed at a friend’s house overnight.
He has contacted the police and the council. The police gave him a ref number and the council said they could pursue the landlord for an illegal eviction.
All of his property has been thrown away (even bedding, clothes personal papers) he has been told he will have to claim through the small claims court for that. He has started by writing a letter (not yet sent) to the landlord with a list of the missing property and stating his intention (unless settled in full) to recover the value of the property using the court process. Firstly is there anything else he should do and secondly is he entitled to more than just the value of his possessions
Many thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

[MrShed]

First, no that seems fine(I assume the unlawful eviction process is continuing via the council?).

Secondly - YES. In this case your brother is due ALL of his financial loss due to the unlawful eviction, as well as possibly substantial punitive damages. This is all due to the unlawful eviction - with this in mind, if he can, it would be advisable to await the outcome of any criminal proceedings the council are following prior to commencing civil proceedings - apart from eliminating a lot of other complications, it means that any civil case would be virtually undefendable, as opposed to currently where you would have to effectively prove unlawful eviction twice.

[REGEDIT]

Thanks for the swift reply.
He hasn't gone ahead with the council's offer yet as he is waiting to speak to the landlord, his property manager was the one who threw away all his property and he hasn't been able to contact the landlord. If it comes to it would he have to sue the landlord or the property manager? he has had very few other expences because he managed to get a new flat quickly and stayed on a friends floor until he could move in. What type of punitive damages could he claim for? presumably he would have to put a value on them how would he come to that figure?

[MrShed]

The landlord.

He can claim punitive damages for the inconvenience and stress of the situation - it is one of the few situations where the court will entertain non financial loss claims.

You will need to make a list of all items lost and their rough replacement costs - prove with receipts if possible, or via prices from retailers otherwise.

Again, I cannot stress enough a) the importance of continuing with the unlawful eviction prosecution with the council and b) awaiting the outcome of this until any civil claim is instigated.