Being sued by customer

[tiler1]

Hi, not sure if this forum can deal with my query, any adice would be geatly appreciated.

 

I am self employed as a tiler and bathroom fitter and have been for the last 5 yrs. In April this year, i fit a bathroom for a customer including wall and floor tiling. She also aked me to tile her kitchen floor.

 

When doing the quotes for both jobs, i advised her that as the flor the tiles were going onto were timber (softwood tongue and grooving floorboards) that it was necessary to have the floor boarded prior to tiling to eliviate any movement that may occur in the floorboards over time.

 

The cost of labour was as follows: bathroom floor 100 pounds, kitchen floor 300 pounds. She was advised that the boards would cost 300 pounds to supply and an extra 100 pounds labour to fit them prior to tiling.

 

She was concerned firstly about the cost of the boards but also of the fact that they would raise the height of the original floor causing a slight step at her doorway to the living area and her back door also.

 

She asked if there was an alternative and i told her there was an adhesive on the market that was designed to go directly onto floorboards without having to use the boards, however there was still a chance in the future that due to the expansion / shrinkage of the wood floorboards movement may occur and informed her i would not be willing to guaruntee its performance should she choose this option.

 

She did finally choose this option rather than paying 400 pounds more.

 

I did the work and she has now complained that some of the grout has cracked, causing the tiles to move slightly. I was informed of this by text to which i sent a reply reminding her that i could not guaruntee its performance and i was not being held responsible.

 

She has now issued a county court summons claiming 1900 pounds. 1440 for labour to put it right (including adhesive, grout and the boards that she originally declined to pay for, which i presume she now wants!) and a furth 360 for new tiles as she has been told the old ones canot be re-used. Plus 80 for court costs.

 

She has stated in her summons that she has tried to contact me by phone whuch she hasnt, i also have a landline number with answer phone and she has not rang that, and also says she has sent me a letter, which i have not received.

 

Can anyone give me advice on what i should do to resolve this and how liable am i for something going wrong that she was advised may happen??

 

Thankyou in advance

 

Paul

[Sunshine54]

hi Paul

 

got no experience in this matter but a simple question - did you put your caveat in writing? ie have you got proof that you told her of the possible/probable performance issues?

 

regards

S

[Sunshine54]

and just another thought..

 

did you put the original quote in writing so that you can evidence that your client chose the cheaper option and do you normally offer guarantees with your work and are these in writing?

 

not sure if this helps at all

 

S

[tiler1]

Hi, the only thing i gave her was a quote for the work she chose to have done, ie going directly onto the floorboards. I did not get anything in writing to suggest she had taken this option, now thinking out loud, im trying to stop banging my head against the wall.

 

The quote i gave her was just a copy from a memo book, which i also have duplicate of. There was no details of my company on the quote just details of the work required. She also paid me personally by cheque as i do not run a business account (dont get me wrong, this money is declared to HMRC and is not a tax fiddle, i just cant open a business bank account with my credit history!!) and was did not request a receipt.

 

I just feel a bit twirled as i informed her of the best option, she chose the cheap way, even though the materials i used were suitable for the job and now she is saying its my fault and i must pay to have it put right the more expensive way which she originally declined!!

[Sunshine54]

hi Tiler

 

we're all clever with hindsight so leave the wall alone and protect your head!

 

I wish that I had some experience to advise you but I don't but at least you'll go to the top of the queue again and will hopefully get some help soon

regards

S

[Bookworm]

Well, first you have to acknowledge the claim and say that you want to defend in full, and do it within 14 days of the claims form. Then you get another 14 days to lodge your defence.

 

Your defence will be that you and claimant discussed the different possibilities (explaining in details your conversations) and that claimant chose cheaper option against your express advice, and with the warnings that what happened might happen and she chose to go ahead despite your warnings.

 

You further put her to strict proof that she tried to contact you before jumping in and issuing a claim, and suggest to the court that she has not in fact sought resolution outside the court system, and that the first you knew of the issues was when you got the claim form (that won't endear her to the judge).

 

You also want to argue that should the judge decide that she has a case (which is denied), you should be allowed to rectify the issue yourself, and if not, that the costs she submits are in fact inflated (if they are, you're the best judge of that) and amount to betterment and not just to rectifying the issue. You also want to put her to strict proof that she has sought 3 different quotes for rectifying the issue and has chosen the cheapest of the 3. You furthermore put her to strict proof that she hasn't sought remedy under her home insurance and if not why not, as you would then only be liable for her excess.

 

That should do it. ;-)

[GamekeeperToPoacher]

Well, first you have to acknowledge the claim and say that you want to defend in full, and do it within 14 days of the claims form. Then you get another 14 days to lodge your defence.

 

Your defence will be that you and claimant discussed the different possibilities (explaining in details your conversations) and that claimant chose cheaper option against your express advice, and with the warnings that what happened might happen and she chose to go ahead despite your warnings.

 

You further put her to strict proof that she tried to contact you before jumping in and issuing a claim, and suggest to the court that she has not in fact sought resolution outside the court system, and that the first you knew of the issues was when you got the claim form (that won't endear her to the judge).

 

You also want to argue that should the judge decide that she has a case (which is denied), you should be allowed to rectify the issue yourself, and if not, that the costs she submits are in fact inflated (if they are, you're the best judge of that) and amount to betterment and not just to rectifying the issue. You also want to put her to strict proof that she has sought 3 different quotes for rectifying the issue and has chosen the cheapest of the 3. You furthermore put her to strict proof that she hasn't sought remedy under her home insurance and if not why not, as you would then only be liable for her excess.

 

That should do it. ;-)

 

 

Absolutely superb reply your scales should be dinged like crazy

 

GK

[WelshMam2009]

It also sounds as if she is claiming for betterment here.

 

As I understand it, she should only be entitled to claim for actual losses whereas she's claiming for the Rolls Royce finish that she never paid for!!

[tiler1]

I have just had a look through all the quotes issued to this customer.

 

I have the duplicate copies of the quotes i issued to her. The first one was a quote for her bathroom work, page numbered from my quote book 67. Page numbers 68 and 69 have been issued to other customers as quotes. Page 70 is a quote for her kitchen floor with the boarding included which was issued to her for a total of 950 pounds. Page no 71 is a quote for the same kitchen floor using the direct application adhesive, which i advised her was not the best way of doing it, even though it was meant for that purpose there was a possibility depending on her floorboards, that it could fail in future. this price was for 550 pounds which is the option she took.

 

Does this constitute that she agreed to go for the cheaper option as she was issued with both quotes thus it was her choice???

[pompeyfaith]

submit those as evidence it should help you.

 

PF

[WelshMam2009]

I have just had a look through all the quotes issued to this customer.

 

I have the duplicate copies of the quotes i issued to her. The first one was a quote for her bathroom work, page numbered from my quote book 67. Page numbers 68 and 69 have been issued to other customers as quotes. Page 70 is a quote for her kitchen floor with the boarding included which was issued to her for a total of 950 pounds. Page no 71 is a quote for the same kitchen floor using the direct application adhesive, which i advised her was not the best way of doing it, even though it was meant for that purpose there was a possibility depending on her floorboards, that it could fail in future. this price was for 550 pounds which is the option she took.

 

Does this constitute that she agreed to go for the cheaper option as she was issued with both quotes thus it was her choice???

 

 

You have a much stronger defence now that you've found that paperwork Tiler1!!

 

Does the £950 quote include the words "boarding" or such in it and the lower quote not??

 

Perhaps, in future, you should add a little disclaimer on such quotes to state that this is not the recommended method of construction but the client's instruction and get them to sign to that effect.

 

Best of luck!! :grin:

[tiler1]

yes the quote for 950 does state movement deflection boarding. The only problem is the other quote doesnt state i am not recommending to use just the direct adhesive method, it is just a basic quote which lists labour, adhesive and grout charge. However it is quite obvious she has decided to take the cheaper option and if i hadnt have given her advice about movement in floors, why the hell would i have provided two seperate quotes with different methods?

[Bookworm]

Use those quotes in support of your defence as I gave you in #2 of my post, it all helps building up a picture.

[WelshMam2009]

yes the quote for 950 does state movement deflection boarding. The only problem is the other quote doesnt state i am not recommending to use just the direct adhesive method, it is just a basic quote which lists labour, adhesive and grout charge. However it is quite obvious she has decided to take the cheaper option and if i hadnt have given her advice about movement in floors, why the hell would i have provided two seperate quotes with different methods?

 

I don't think it matters too much, I was merely making a suggestion for future quotes in my earlier post.

 

Civil cases are based on balance of probablities and hence, the fact that the first quote you issued included boards and then you subsequently issued a second quote, at a lower price with adhesive, implies that some dialogue took place between you and the claimant in the intervening period.

 

In all the contracts I've administered, the client is responsible for indemnifying the contractor for any defects arising due to instructed methods of design and/or specifications.

 

The quotes form the basis of your defence and you need to highlight the fact that it was the client's instruction to use the adhesive and, as a competent contractor, you advised of the potential risks accordingly.

[baileyboy]

Does your business have liability insurance? If so the insurance company should deal with this claim for you on your behalf.

[tiler1]

unfortunatley, i do not have public liability cover.