Being charged for unusable crooked sliding gate track/ broken contract

[disillusion'd]

Hello BankFodder,

 

I have prepared the timeline from the very beginning as you suggested.

 

It's quite long, but I've made it as tight as I possibly can.

 

I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable about posting it online. I don't see an option here to send you a PDF on PM. What do you advise?

[dx100uk]

as long as it contains no names etc

cant see why not.

[disillusion'd]

It does. I'll edit it first. Thanks dx

[disillusion'd]

Dear BankFodder,

 

thank you for your help so far with my County Court Claim problem.

 

I have prepared the timeline as you suggested and have attached it.

 

Today is Day 14 from service to me of the Claim.

 

 

Referring to Claimant's email of 14 Aug, if I wanted to avoid Court/demonstrate to Court i had tried to resolve this, would an offer by me for the costs listed by The Claimant have to be made today, and would you recommend this having reviewed the timeline?

 

That's 04 August email

Claimant spreadsheet PDF timeline claim 2016 Final.pdf

[disillusion'd]

Hi fellow forum members,

 

I hope someone can help.

 

 

I have only a couple of days left to put in my defence to this County Court claim against me, ie my 28 days are nearly up.

 

I need some advice about how to correctly prepare the defence on the form I have to return by the 28 day deadline.

 

 

Do I list the points I intend to bring up in the Court assuming I get a chance to speak?

Or do I write a brief summary of the timeline?

Is there some other way I should be presenting information on this form?

 

 

I'm not sure exactly what I need to keep in mind as my aim ie will the courts use this as my full defence and decide what to do with my case, or is it just a preliminary with further forms to follow later?

I don't know how much to say, how much of my hand to reveal at this point.

 

I have sent the claimant a CPR 31.14 letter but have had no response.

I have no documents other than a basic invoice from them

so am not sure how I was expected to respond to their claim.

 

 

They have never sent me a Letter Before Claim,

just a 'Please pay within 7 days or we will issue proceedings against you' 2 line email.

 

I have been preparing a letter to the claimant outlining why I think they are fully to blame and what my complaints are against them.

 

 

I was suggesting in the letter that we meet to discuss this and to try to avoid proceedings, as this is the preference of the Courts. I have not sent the letter yet, please see next para.

 

I informed the claimant at the beginning of December that the job they were claiming payment for was not fit for purpose, as identified by other industry specialists.

They disputed this and said they would send 'an independent specialist of their choosing to check'.

 

 

They did so, and this specialist identified that the work was indeed not fit for purpose and must be removed and replaced.

 

 

There will be considerable disruption to my property, my building schedule (already severely impacted by this poor workmanship) and ongoing stress to us caused by this (my husband is 72 and feeling the strain of this case and the poor work).

 

The claimant's independent specialist has sent both the claimant and me a copy of his report today.

The claimant's office manager wrote to me and apologised, and said they would return to "rectify the alignment as soon as possible".

 

 

However, I do not want these people on my property, much less gunning out large areas of concrete next to new building work and trying to join up a new installation to part of the existing (it is a part removal of their work).

 

 

I believe they have already falsified documents sent to me,

they have sent unqualified freelance people to work on my property,

and have failed to carry out even the most basic quality control,

they have incorrectly invoiced me for work they have not done.

 

 

Also, their work will invalidate any warranty from a future installer.

I have lost confidence in them.

 

Am I obligated to allow them to carry out this work as they have offered?

What position does this offer by the claimant put me in with the Courts?

How should I respond to this?

Edited December 13, 2016 by disillusion'd

[BankFodder]

Sorry, it's been so long, I can't remember all of the facts. I've had a brief scan through the thread but you will have to correct me if I have got something wrong.

 

As a draft defence, I have suggested the wording below. Please comment

 

The claimant's claim is denied

 

On the XXX date, the defendant serve the claimant with a request for further information pursuant to CPR 31.14 and has to date received no reply

 

It is admitted that the defendant entered into a contract on the XXX date to fit an automatic gate system. The agreed contractual price was £XXX

 

The claimant commenced work of removing an existing foundation and replacing it with their own in preparation for the gate track.

 

On XXX date, the claimant sent a letter to the defendant increasing the contractual price by 28%

 

The defendant has refused to agree to this variation in the agreed contractual price

 

The defendant has since received expert advice that the new concrete foundation which has been laid by the claimant is of poor quality and not fit for its purpose.

 

The defendant will be serving a more detailed particulars of claim and counterclaim once this claim has been filed and served

 

 

Now to deal with your other questions, – no I don't believe that you are obliged to accept the claimant's offer to repair at this stage. It has gone beyond that and I think that you are right to say that you are justified in having lost confidence in them. It is they who have decided to go to litigation and so it is they that have now destroyed the relationship which is necessary to any satisfactory solution of the problem.

 

It's not like buying goods – where the goods are of a standard identifiable quality. When you are dealing with with what essentially amounts to personal services, it is very difficult to control or define the limit between good quality and poor quality and more importantly, the difference between merely good quality and high quality. The courts would not impose this upon you.

 

On the other hand, as they clearly want to get rid of the problem, you could think about a solution whereby they agreed to do remedial work based on an agreed scheme using agree materials – the scheme and the materials to be agreed by some independent clerk of works who would be paid for by them and that the resulting work would be approved by the clerk of works and two independent experts before any payment would be made. Any scheme and any payments would also be subject to a suitable compensation for the delay and the trouble because so far. In other words they would be an agreed reduction in the price.

 

If you want to think about scheme like this, it could be a very sensible and advantageous alternative dispute solution because to a certain extent you can imagine that the claimants would be on their best behaviour and they would know that unless they did a pristine job, that they simply wouldn't get paid.

 

An agreement like this would be drafted into a Tomlin order which is an order short of a judgement – but which is signed off by a judge and carries within it a condition that if the job is not done by a certain time, or according to a certain standard, that you are then at liberty to apply for judgement and your final order for compensation of your counterclaim.

An advantage to this could also be that the matter can be settled in fairly short order – where is if you do end up litigation, it could go on for months.

 

On the other hand, given the report you have just received, I sort of expect that they might try to withdraw the claim. Once you have filed a counterclaim that this will be very difficult for them to do – but they may well simply put their hands up. However, even if they did cave in, they might still argue the toss over the amount of money you are entitled to under the counterclaim and that itself could take months.

[disillusion'd]

Gosh, thank you BankFodder! I would never have got something like that down.

 

I'll just amend the line about removing the concrete strip as we removed the track and prepared the area for them. I'll also just change the second last line to read something like " that the new sliding gate track set in concrete, has been incorrectly laid and is not fit for purpose".

 

Basically, the metal track should have been welded to a steel beam before insertion to hold it straight, but they just placed it in the prepared space and poured concrete around it, which is why it moved. The claimants surveyor identified that the track deviated to the extent that the gate would impact the garden wall and could therefore not be closed, or indeed secured to the wall as required.

 

Do you perhaps have any thoughts about my question re the claimant's offer to return to 'rectify the alignment' , my wish not to have them work again on my property and how that would sit with the Court?

 

Also is it wise for me to send a letter to the Claimant setting out the reasons why I am counterclaiming? I have read that I should put forward my counterclaim in the same way they should have prepared their claim ie by sending me information which would allow me to respond properly.

[BankFodder]

Please let's see what you put before you send anything out.

 

In terms of your proposed amendment for the last line – is too specific. Keep it general. I suggest you use my version unless it's an inaccurate

 

I wouldn't bother to have any more communication with the claimant for the moment until the defence is filed. Probably until the counterclaim is served as well.

[disillusion'd]

Thank you for your advice BankFodder.

 

I think our messages crossed again - I have to log out and log back in again to see your posts.

 

I'll have a think about that last line and your comment. Yours isn't strictly accurate so I'll work on that and keeping it more general.

 

At what stage then do I put forward the suggestion you have made about imposing conditions, which sounds excellent to me? I think it'll all sound like much too much hard work for them.

 

There is the small matter that they have claimed a figure plus interest from me amounting to £1104.

 

The best quote I have had so far to remove and replace the work done is £2200.

Unfortunately this can only be a bit of a bodgie job.

 

It involves removing half the track and concrete and trying to connect up to it with a newly laid track and concrete.

 

Whatever happens we are going to be left with a very unsatisfactory patch job.

It will never work as it should have had it been done correctly the first time.

 

Could I clarify one further point with you: This is in relation to the Claimant's increased price, the new quote they sent after they had commenced work on the contract.

 

The claimant said in an email that if we paid the invoiced amount, this would be offset against their new price :

 

in other words I understand that by implication this would be an agreement by me to their new price.

 

 

If we allow the work as above and then pay them a figure, will I have accepted the new price and perhaps be bound by a new contract?

[honeybee13]

Thank you for your advice BankFodder.

 

I think our messages crossed again - I have to log out and log back in again to see your posts.

 

You shouldn't need to log out and back in again. If you can't see any replies, try hitting the Refresh button on your browser.

 

HB

[BankFodder]

You need to put in your defence – and then the counterclaim. In fact now that you have told us that even their own expert is supporting your position, we will include a reference to that in the defence – so put up your version of the defence and we will then amend it again.

 

Once you have put in your defence and counterclaim so that they can understand exactly what their liability is, then we can put together a brief note asking them if they would like to have a discussion about a solution.

 

However, I would make the letter look too enthusiastic, or two interested. On the basis of what you say about their own expert, it sounds to me as if they have already lost the case and that means that you have the whip hand.

 

It will be quite important to get a counterclaim in quickly because before you do that, they are in a position to withdraw the claim which would leave you hanging a bit and you would then have to begin your own claim against them. Once you put in a counterclaim, then they will have to deal with it because if they don't then you can simply get a judgement against them on the counterclaim.

 

Two things – first of all, have you had quotes for putting it all right and moving on?

 

Second question is whether there has been anything gained out of their work so far or is it all wasted and thrown away?

 

Could I clarify one further point with you: This is in relation to the Claimant's increased price, the new quote they sent after they had commenced work on the contract.

 

The claimant said in an email that if we paid the invoiced amount, this would be offset against their new price : in other words I understand that by implication this would be an agreement by me to their new price. If we allow the work as above and then pay them a figure, will I have

accepted the new price and perhaps

be bound by a new contract?

 

I think that there are two risks here.

 

Firstly, yes, you might be taken to have assented to the new contractual price

 

Secondly, if you paid them for the work done so far, then you would be at zero. There will be no incentive to stop them from walking off the job and doing no more work.

 

Do I gather that you are considering paying them? Don't. You need a full solution to this now and it needs to be decided either by a judge or by a Tomlin order.

 

You shouldn't need to log out and back in again. If you can't see any replies, try hitting the Refresh button on your browser.

 

HB

 

Just to confirm here that you don't need to keep on logging on and logging off. You only need to refresh the page. At the top of your browser somewhere there will be a little circle or partial circle with an arrowhead. This is the refresh button. Click the refresh button and the page will refresh and you will see any posts that have arrived since the last refresh. I think that we have said this to you before

[disillusion'd]

I have had several companies in to quote:

I've had two quotes,

one for £2200 to remove and replace,

and another for £1800 just to remove.

 

 

I'm waiting for to further quotes to come, both have said they would include a statement as to why they recommend removal of the track.

 

On the second question the answer is no.

We have had no use out of the track as the claimant didn't supply the gate as per contract, and we haven't had any other company make a gate, nor will we until this is resolved.

So the track is in place but not in use.

 

Re the payment

I had more in mind the payment that would be due if they met the conditions you suggested and reinstalled under supervision. Will this still expose us to having assented to the new price?

 

My 28 days is up on 19 Dec.

Does the defence and counterclaim go into one document, submitted by that date?

 

Alas, my ancient computer is not friendly.

The refresh button appears more ornamental than functional,

but then everything takes so long on my trusty machine,

it may get around to refreshing sometime. Or maybe not.

You definitely have told me before.

I mentioned this to my Dell but it's still having a think about it

 

I have amended the wording as below:

 

The claimant's claim is denied.

 

On the 30 November 2016, the defendant served the claimant with a request for further information pursuant to CPR 31.14 and has to date received no reply.

 

It is admitted that the defendant entered into a contract on the 18 April 2016 to fit an automatic gate system. The agreed contractual price was £5,614.00 + VAT.

 

On 01 June 2016 the claimant commenced work of installing the gate track.

 

On 15 July 2016 the claimant sent a quote to the defendant increasing the contractual price by 28%

 

The defendant has refused to agree to this variation in the agreed contractual price

 

The defendant has since received expert advice that the new track which has been laid by the claimant is not fit for its purpose.

 

The defendant will be serving a more detailed particulars of claim and counterclaim once this claim has been filed and served.

 

Shall I go ahead and submit this online?

[BankFodder]

Okay, I was just concerned that maybe you hadn't priced up the value of your counterclaim yet. Don't do yourself down. Make sure that you get quoted for a good quality job.

 

On the second point, I wasn't asking if you had the use the track. I was asking whether any of the work that they had done was going to be kept – in which case there is some benefit, or whether it all had to be scrapped. On the other hand, I remember that you said that the general opinion was that the replacement of the foundation was not necessary and it was simply a wasted exercise. In that case, you need to make sure that you build that into your eventual defence and your counterclaim.

 

You will need to say that the claimant proposed that an existing foundation which was laid on XXX date was inadequate and accordingly they contracted to remove it and to replace it. However, you have now received expert advice that in fact the original track was perfectly adequate and that the claimants subsequent advice was flawed and that the work to demolish the old track and to replace it is in fact unnecessary and amounts to costs thrown away.

 

You can agree to anything you want as long as it is accompanied very clearly in writing – and agreed to in writing, that it does not amount to consent to the variation in the contractual price. However, you need to do all of this after the defence and counterclaim are filed and served.

 

No, you don't need to supply the counterclaim yet. You simply do a brief defence in the way that I have described. For convenience, refer to a forthcoming counterclaim. I believe that you are doing this online through MoneyClaim? In that case, there will be a box to check which indicates that you will be sending a fuller defence separately. This will be sent in paper form and will be accompanied by the counterclaim which will also be on paper. For the moment, it is merely important to meet your deadline with the defence – meaning at the very least a denial.

 

If you wanted to, it would be perfectly adequate simply to say that the claim is denied and that a more detailed defence and counterclaim will be sent under separate cover.

 

However sketch out some rough details as I have suggested. Let's see what you going to put and then bang it off in the next day or so. Then we can draft a fuller defence and counterclaim.

 

The claimant's claim is denied.

 

On the 30 November 2016, the defendant served the claimant with a request for further information pursuant to CPR 31.14 and has to date received no reply.

 

It is admitted that the defendant entered into a contract on the 18 April 2016 to fit an automatic gate system. The agreed contractual price was £5,614.00 + VAT.

 

On 01 June 2016 the claimant commenced work of installing the gate track.

 

On 15 July 2016 the claimant sent a quote to the defendant increasing the contractual price by 28%

 

The defendant has refused to agree to this variation in the agreed contractual price

 

The defendant has since received expert advice that the new track which has been laid by the claimant is not fit for its purpose.

 

The defendant now understands that a report prepared by the claimant's own expert supports the defendant's position.

 

The defendant will be serving a more detailed particulars of claim and counterclaim once this claim has been filed and served.

 

 

I have added a paragraph. If that is correct, then I don't see why you shouldn't click it off on MoneyClaim. Make sure you tick the box that a further particulars of claim is on its way.

 

Get a new computer. The money you're saving here with the free advice we give you will allow you to pay for it easily.

[disillusion'd]

Haha, I will!

 

And I'll add that sentence.

 

Just to answer your questions:

Yes, we will have to keep part of the track as construction was put in place after the installation. It is not possible to remove that part of the track without demolishing the building work (landscaping) as it is built within centimeters of the track. However keeping this part of the track is what makes the whole installation into a patch job. The price of £2200 is for the removal of only the part that deviates. So yes, we will have use of part of their installation - unfortunately.

 

I haven't done a full pricing up of the counterclaim yet. While I was told verbally by one of the surveyors that removal of a concrete strip laid to industry specifications was unnecessary and could have been used, he has said that not having seen the strip before it was removed, he can't write anything down for me. Photographs are apparently not enough to judge the standard of the strip we removed. I may be able to get something from an industry body, but I can't rely on that at this stage. I may have to go purely on removal and replacement and Court costs.

 

Yes, I am doing this through Moneyclaim as this is how they made their claim against me

 

I'll send the defence off tonight. Thank you so much for your help with that, I couldn't have done it on my own.

 

I've just called my husband to tell him how much help you've given me. He's asked me to write and tell you how grateful he is for the help and support.

[BankFodder]

So far as getting all the information you need for your counterclaim, you had better get a move on. I've got an idea that this all needs to be served on the other side within seven days of sending off your initial particulars of claim. You should have been fully prepared by now.

 

You should aim to come out of this without any kind of disadvantage at all. This means that if you have to tear down they work and reinstate the good work that you had previously, then cost it all up and argue it in your counterclaim.

 

Now that they seem to have shot themselves in the foot with their own expert report, I think you have a fairly clear road to get pretty well what you want/are entitled to.

 

Thank you for your vote of thanks – I'd rather you got yourself a new computer so that you can engage with us and this kind of technology generally in a more effective way which makes it easier for you and for us.

 

You must get your counterclaim off as quickly as possible – because as I have said, it acts as a placeholder and even if they have to withdraw their own claim, the counterclaim will still be in place. This will save you the time trouble and cost of having to start your own independent action.

Don't hang around

[disillusion'd]

I will. Thank you. I understand the urgency now that they have their expert's report.

 

Is there a format I should follow? i'm not too sure what the counterclaim should look like and what it should include ie how much should I say and what do I have to supply?

[BankFodder]

If you can do a bullet pointed list of all the things that they have done – or not done – or done badly, then we will put it together in a counterclaim.

 

Also, where there act or omission has resulted in a cost or loss – please put that next to it as well.

 

Broadly you should use the same style as was used in the defence.

 

So it would be roughly: –

The claimant held out their expertise and advised that the existing foundation was inadequate to meet the need and would need to be replaced.

 

On the basis of that advice, the defendant commissioned the claimant to remove the existing foundation and to replace it with their own.

 

The defendant has now received advice from their own expert that the original foundation was in fact perfectly adequate.

 

Furthermore the defendant's expert has advised that the new foundation has been incorrectly laid and either needs to be modified or removed

 

Additionally, at the defendant's invitation, the claimant commissioned their own independent report of the new foundations and that report also concludes that the claimants work is not fit for its purpose.

 

Although the claimant's expert has not been able to make any assessment of the suitability of the original foundation, it is the defendant's case that the original foundation was removed unnecessarily, incurring unnecessary expense and causing unnecessary delay.

 

As a result of the unnecessary work carried out by the claimant, the surrounding garden area including flowers and shrubs were unnecessarily damaged and disturbed and have had to be (or – will need to be) replaced

 

As a result of the unnecessary and substandard work carried out the claimant, the defendant has suffered losses in that:

 

List the losses

 

Additionally, as a result of the unnecessary and substandard work carried out by the claimant the defendant has been put to great inconvenience

 

This the inconvenience – the defendant has been obliged to instruct three experts, take time off work to meet them, spend X number of hours on the telephone or dealing with correspondence, blah blah blah list it all. Don't stint.

 

The defendant has now sought quotes to remove the inadequate and substandard work carried out by the claimant and also to replace the same with a new foundation matching the original which was removed unnecessarily by the claimant.

 

The above work will necessitate further disturbance of the surrounding area and damage to shrubs and lawns which will also have to be replaced

 

The defendant has obtained quotes for the above gardening work

Get started with that and then we'll see

 

And the defendant claims:

 

Cost of removing the claimant's unnecessary and substandard work – £XXX

 

Cost of replacing/restoring foundation to its original specification – £XXX

 

Cost of making good damage to garden £XXX

 

The defendant has been obliged to commission two independent reports from relevant experts:

 

Cost of report compiled by Mr XXX – £XXX

 

Cost of report compiled by Mr ZZZ – £XXX

 

The defendant has been obliged to take XXX days off work to meet the experts and also the claimant on site – £XXX

 

Statement of truth

 

Sign – date

 

List the rest. Don't stint

[disillusion'd]

Wow. OK. That will take me a bit of time.

 

Do I list the details of financial claim or can I say I'll submit it later? The two companies due to quote have told me Friday earliest for their quotes, due to Christmas . So I;d have to rely on the first quote.

[BankFodder]

List the financial claims at the same time as I've indicated in my subsequent post.

 

That's the whole idea of a counterclaim. To claim your damages.

[disillusion'd]

OK I'll go with the £2200 quote.

 

I see the kind of approach you've used.

 

I'll just have to hope they don't get on to withdrawing their claim straight away.

 

I'll get to work and come back on the thread as soon as I have something down. Thank you for your guidance

 

Help! I'm halfway through submitting my defence online.

 

I have come to Step 4 of 7. There is a mandatory field. This requires selecting Yes or No for Do You Wish To Make a Counterclaim.

 

If I select Yes, I have to fill it all in now. If I select No, will I be able to come back and make the Counterclaim later? It doesn't make this clear on the online form. Can you help?

[dx100uk]

are you counterclaiming anything?

 

 

dx

[disillusion'd]

Yes I am, but am not ready to put in the counterclaim just yet. I understood I could put in my defence online to meet the deadline, and the follow up with a counterclaim later. Can you advise how this might be done online?

 

Hello,

I've tried to submit my defence online, but according to the online form and my telephone enquiry, the defence and counterclaim must be submitted simultaneously.

 

It seems that via Moneyclaim Online, damages can't be claimed - only a specified amount. Also one is allowed only 4000 characters.

 

MCOL Helpdesk suggested sending the defence and counterclaim by email but they said they weren't confident about whether this would be acceptable to the judge, or even properly processed.

 

There is no box to tick to for sending further particulars later. It all seems very inflexible.

 

Is it possible to send in an expanded version of the counterclaim (or even the defence) later if one has already submitted short defence/counterclaim via the Online route?

 

As Helpline pointed out, I am responding to an Online claim, not starting a new claim so it should be done by online submissison. Sending a submission by mail, which seems to allow more information on the form, is a bit risky with Christmas and delayed deliveries.

 

Do you think I should just go without damages claims? Half a loaf is better than no bread

[BankFodder]

Well I don't really understand why.

 

Anyway, putting the defence broadly as we agreed – and at the end include a statement: –

 

Counterclaim: the claimant has carried out their work negligently. The defendant claims £XXX for remedial/reparation works, expert reports and other expenses.

 

A more detailed hardcopy defence and also counterclaim will follow very shortly

I don't understand why there is a checkbox that you will send further particulars of claim. They're certainly used to be. Anyway, the important thing is to include that as part of your defence. It will act as a placeholder and there won't be any problem in sending the fully detailed documents. At the very worst, you may need to fill out a form n244 application notice and that would take a fee, which you would get back when you win.

 

However, get this off on MoneyClaim so that you are fully protected and then send the paperwork off later and see if there is any objection from anybody. I doubt whether they will be. If there is, then it will simply be a technical objection – easily overcome by a formal application to the court to send additional details.

 

What you are describing about the lack of opportunity to send fuller details is unusual – unless they have change the system. Don't worry about it.

 

You must put in your damages claim. At least that reserves your place. You can always reduce it or withdraw it – but increasing it gets very complicated.

[disillusion'd]

I have worked out some figures an used the guideline you sent me.

Can you cast an eye over it?

 

Also the difference in the gate price from alternative gate suppliers is considerable, no doubt because legislation has recently changed regarding safety requirements. Price quoted November by alternative gate supplier/installer : £12842 + VAT as against contracted price of £5600+ VAT. Anything I can claim here?

 

I'm past the £10,000 mark already though, but I'm sure you will tell me what needs to be removed

 

My claim set out below:

****************

The claimant held out their expertise and advised that the existing track foundation was inadequate to meet the need and would need to be replaced.

 

On the basis of that advice, I removed the existing track foundation and commissioned the claimant to replace it with their own foundation, together with a metal track to carry the automated gate.

 

I have now received advice from my own expert that the original track foundation was in fact perfectly adequate.

 

Furthermore my expert has advised that the new foundation and embedded metal track by the claimant has been incorrectly laid and needs to be removed and replaced

 

Additionally, the claimant commissioned their own independent report of the new metal track embedded in concrete foundation and that report also concludes that the claimant’s work is not fit for its purpose.

Although the claimant's expert has not been able to make any assessment of the suitability of the original track foundation, it is my case that the original track foundation was removed unnecessarily, incurring unnecessary expense and causing unnecessary delay.

 

As a result of the unnecessary work and the substandard work carried out by the claimant, I claim:

Cost of laying original track foundation £939.00

Cost of removal and consequent alterations to wall foundation £ 1800.00

Cost of disposal of rubble/waste material: labour £ 150.00

skip hire £260.00

Preparation of base for claimant installation £800.00

 

Making good area surrounding claimant’s work £300.00

Cost of removal and replacement of claimant’s substandard work £ 2200.00

Cost of defendant’s electrician undertaking electrical work not done by claimant as per contract/quote, and correcting works done by claimant £180.00

+ materials £90.00

 

Additionally, as a result of the unnecessary and substandard work carried out by the claimant I have been put to great inconvenience.

 

This the inconvenience –

• I have been obliged to instruct four experts; take time off work to meet them; take time off to meet the claimant’s expert; spend 6 hours on the telephone; 17 hours dealing with correspondence; 10 hours arranging and meeting with builders, electricians and gate installers to assess technical issues with removal of substandard work; delays to landscaping works; delays to building schedule; time and inconvenience in rescheduling prearranged and booked works on site; time and inconvenience rescheduling materials deliveries; costs, time and disruption involved in unnecessarily removing foundations under instruction from claimant; costs in removing rubble created by unnecessary removal of foundation; costs involved in alterations to foundations to property perimeter wall adjacent to removed trackfoundation; time spent researching for alternative gate suppliers, time spent on Court requirements,

I have been obliged to call in three independent reports from relevant experts.

 

And I claim:

 

I have been obliged to take four days off work to meet the experts on site – £1200.00

I have spent 3 days preparing documentation £900.00

Cost of my husband taking time off work to meet claimants expert 1 day - £500.00

Delays to scheduled works £500.00

I and/or my husband to take time off work to monitor claimant’s upcoming repair work 2 days £600

Increased costs of delayed works due price increases

 

Court Costs £ £185 + claimants Court costs £70 £255.00

 

Total £10674.00

 

Further the defendant does not accept the interest invoiced or claimed by the claimant. This may not be invoiced by a company upon an individual. Additionally there was no contractual agreement for interest payments or charges.

 

 

I believe that the facts stated in these particulars of claim are true.

 

 

 

Sign – date

[BankFodder]

I'm sorry, I don't have time to look at all of this at the moment.

 

You are absolutely right, it is essential to keep it less than £10,000 if you at all can. Otherwise, there is a big chance that it could be moved up to the fast track and then there is a risk of costs if either you lose or if you get less than you claim for.

 

You've written quite a lot up there. Isn't there a word limit on MoneyClaim?

 

Also, I have a feeling that if your counterclaim is substantially greater than the claim, you may yourself be required to pay some kind of claim fee. Be aware of this