Just a quick update that has confused me a bit: I had a letter from CCMCC today following my call to ask for a legible N1 with POC. They have sent me essentially the same form with illegible POC, but the covering letter says this: "Thank you for your phone call on the 7/4/14. Please find enclosed a copy of the claim form as requested. The 2nd side of the claim form has been tipexed out and all the particulars of claim are on the front." Does this mean that I am to ignore what I think is in the POC and treat the Brief details of claim as the POC? It seems odd that the court would accept this. The Brief details of claim are as follows: WORK CARRIED OUT AT REAR OF PROPERTY TO ALLOW FOR EXTENSION AT LATER STAGE. QUOTE WAS GIVEN AT FIRST BUT THINGS CHANGED SO MUCH AS PER REQUEST OF CUSTOMER* THAT QUOTE WAS NO LONGER VALID. FIRST INVOICE PAID. That's it. * This is not strictly true. The claimant and his employee recommended extra works to my girlfriend which we agreed to.

Yes - I agree that I need to pay them something (this is what I told their solicitors). However, there was no quote given. The original quote (£1.5k) we both agreed was invalid. So for the sum he is asking (£4.3k) and the sum I have already paid him (£3.7k) there was no quote whatsoever, not even a verbal one. So I think this is the key issue - to get a builder to a) quote for the work that was already done, and b) quote for what needs to still be done. Presumably I can do that anyway (as the work still needs doing) and then ask the court for permission to use it? Yes, this is easy enough in terms of writing it down (the Claimant already knows what he did not do) and taking photographs. I am wary of them saying they didn't agree to this as there is no record of it (bar a single email from my girlfriend to the claimant about one of the issues before the work was done). They have not tried to charge me for work they haven't done - the work that was actually done has been itemised fairly satisfactorily in the invoices. In terms of what the court can order if the claimant wins, is it just the amount plus court fees as it is the small claims track? I am still undecided about whether to pay the whole thing just to save myself the trouble (availability of funds is not an issue, thankfully). There are several other niggles that are clouding my judgement and making me very stubborn, however.

The only figures given are for the amount claimed plus court fee (solicitor's costs are blank) - nothing in the POC or Brief details. The work is still as the claimant (or his employee) left it - it hasn't been completed/repaired. The damage is not great but is something I asked them to repair, which they didn't. Part of the damage was to a fence (which the claimant previously built), but that fence has now fallen apart - I think this is probably a separate matter. They did give us an itemised bill which according to another builder (I haven't had the work looked at by another builder *officially*) is quite inflated. I am not sure where I stand really, as there is no paperwork :/

OK - I have managed to get it slightly more legible by scanning it and doing a bit of Photoshoppery. POC is as follows: 1st sentence is not at all clear but I think it says 'WORK CARRIED OUT AS DESCRIBED YESTERDAY' (not sure what that means or to whom they have described the work) CUSTOMER CHANGED THEIR MIND ALL THROUGH [something] JOB FIRST INVOICE PAID FOR. SECOND INVOICE EVEN AFTER SERVRAL [sic] ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT CUSTOMER I HAVE HAD NO RESPONSE. That's it. I don't know if it has any bearing, but the first and second invoices and almost all correspondence were between the claimant's mother (who I believe is a director of the company) and my girlfriend. Once the solicitors got involved it is now all directed at me. [edit]: in the Statement of Truth, 'Name of claimant's solicitor's firm' is blank, and 'position or office held' has the handwritten date.

Hello, thanks for the response again Yes, I had a letter from their solicitor (which I can dig out) that I presume was a letter before action. At this point I got hold of my solicitor and asked him to have a look, and in the meantime I had a call from their solicitor and the conversation went as above. The N1 form has been signed by the claimant but the address is c/o their solicitor. The address has been filled in in different handwriting so I don't know if this is their solicitor or not. It is just the POC that are illegible, all the other handwriting on that side is fine.

Thank you - in fact the court advised me to send in the Acknowledgement anyway. On the claim form the service date is 8th April (tomorrow). The lady at the court said the legible POC (presuming they have it) would be sent to me tomorrow. In terms of paying them, I think I am morally obliged to pay them *something* but I am not sure whether I am legally obliged to. The claimant did a lot of work on my property last year, the majority of which was without a quote or a contract (argh!), so I only have my recollection of verbal agreements and one or two emails about what I wanted done. I paid their first invoice, which was over 2k more than their original quote - which we both agreed was invalid. From then on I never received an updated quote despite asking several times. When they 'finished' the work I had a final bill - I had no idea it would be so much, and there were several important tasks that were not done, so I told them that I wasn't happy to pay the bill unless they provided what they said they would, and finished the work and repaired what they damaged. Then I had a letter and a call from their solicitors, to whom I told the story above - I understood that the solicitor didn't know the history and was a bit surprised when I told him - he said 'they can't just take action without any grounds, I'll get his put on hold' (or words to that effect). So I've half been expecting contact from them asking to resolve it, but instead I now have the N1 form :/

Hi Daniella Thanks for your reply - I have called the court and they said their Business Team (?) will follow it up and get a proper copy sent - the lady I spoke to couldn't say whether the copy they had was legible. However, I don't really know what to put in the Acknowledgement of Service, as without the POC I don't know what it is exactly I have to defend (I have a pretty good idea). Is it worth opening another thread about their claim? I am at a loss about whether to pay it to get rid of it (under £5k), offer to pay some or to fight the whole thing, so I don't know exactly how to reply to the N1 yet

Hello, I have received an N1 claim form from a building firm I am in dispute with over work they did for me (there was no contract or quote or any verbal agreement of the sum involved) - the N1 form is a photocopy which has been stamped by NCC/CCMCC but the photocopy is so faint that I cannot read the POC on the reverse. Presumably this did not come through MCOL. Who do I contact to get a legible copy and will that affect the time I have to put in the Acknowledgement of Service?