Thank you for your reply. The £160 is an under estimate. It cost £80 to hire the van to collect, £55 for the diesel, £25 for the welding, plus his time to do the 800 mile round trip: he collected a motorbike on the way there, so I calculated the actual diesel used on the furniture part of the collection. I've not halved the van hire, as he would have got the bike separately, so just incorporated it into the trip. F rom what you've said, if I'm only entitled to damages, it wouldn't be worth going to Court to try to claim expenses, and some compensation for the damage. Thank you for your help.