Everest no consumer rights? ***Won*** judgment against Everest

[BankFodder]

Okay can we recap please because this thread has gone on rather too long.

 

You haven't sent a letter before action yet – and that is what we need to do – correct?

 

They have made a series of promises and most recently they promised to give you a list of works and they have failed to do that.

 

You have had a quote – one? Or two? For the Everest work to be stripped out and to be replaced - correct?

 

You have paid £1100 and so you want at least that back.

 

You need the Everest work stripped out everything made good and then for all of their fittings to be carted away and return to Everest. Do you have a quote for this?

 

You have entered into a credit agreement no monies yet due.

 

I think it is important to understand exactly how much you are going to claim. You want to be realistic so that when everything is stripped out and made good you are not left out of pocket. If everything is going to be stripped out as part of another job, I think you are still entitled to claim for making good – so you need a quote for that.

 

Also you will definitely need to write to the finance company and put them on notice that Everest has terminated the contract by committing such a fundamental breach that they have undermined the purpose of the contract and you have accepted the termination. You will need to warn the finance company that if they do not accept this position without reservation then they might find themselves joined in the court action which you are proposing to take against Everest.

 

So, what is the value of the claim?

[Mondaynottuesday]

Thank you BF, yes it's been a long journey thus far.

 

Your summary is very good and accurate.

 

We sent a letter outlining our terms, we mentioned we were contemplating legal action as per a previous correspondent sent. If this is deemed "letter before action" then yes we have, however I'm assuming what I uploaded is more suitable?

 

List of work, correct they have failed to supply that within the 7 days I gave them post their visit to our property.

 

We have two quotes for replacement windows, there is a little uplift on one due to the potential additional work to make good (a few hundred pounds). The other quote given are unaware of the situation and would just deem this as a normal removal and installation which it really is.

 

Yes, we want our deposit back £1200+

 

Make good, we have a quote for 3 days plastering / decorating work. This is worst case as they cannot give a final figure until they see what the replacement company can cover up (circa £600).

 

We would need Everest to collect their windows and doors, failure to do so we'll call the council to remove on their behalf. No quote for this but looking online it could be another circa £200.

 

We would like to include additional heating fees, maybe a little difficult to prove but a nominal figure of £50 would be suffice.

 

Finance company, we will but currently Everest have NOT terminated the contract, nor will they I'm 100% sure.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Value of the claim sub £2000

[BankFodder]

Something like this. You can see that I'm pretty hazy on the details and you better correct it and then post it up here so we can check it.

 

Dear XXX

 

As you know, you contracted with us in August of last year to install a number of windows and doors into our property at the above address.

 

Since that time there have been a great many difficulties caused by defective workmanship and the supply of defective parts. Despite an great many telephone calls, exchanges of correspondence and meetings, no satisfactory solution has been suggested and they work is not progressed. In fact the work has stalled since XXX date.

 

On at least two occasions your employee XXXX has agreed that the work is below standard and needs to be addressed. Most recently we were visited by Mr XXX who once again agreed that the work was not up to scratch and promised to let us have a list of remedial work which would be done within a very short timescale.

 

We made it clear in our letter of XXX date that time was now the essence.

 

I'm sorry to say that we are now faced with more broken promises and in particular, the most recent promise to supply us with a written list of work which will be carried out plus a timescale has been broken.

 

It is clear that you have fundamentally breached the contract to the extent that we are entitled to consider that the contract has been terminated by you.

 

This is to put your notice that we now accept your termination of the contract and therefore any obligations which exist between us are at an end.

 

We now require you to refund us our deposit money of £XXX. We also require you to meet the expenses of stripping out the installation that you have carried out so far and which we estimate to be £XXX – a written quote is enclosed – and also £XXX and including ancillary expenses of £XXX to meet the costs of extra heating, not to mention the acute inconvenience which we have suffered over the last six months.

 

You should also understand that once the items have been removed, we will expect you to collect them and we will give you notice of when they are available to you. If you were not collecting within seven days of data that notice then we will have no option but to ask the council to remove them and we will be looking to you to reimburse us for those costs.

 

I'm writing to you to let you know that if I do not receive the return of our deposit within 14 days and an undertaking from you that other monies which I am reasonably claiming from you will also be paid to us, that I will sue you in the county court and without any further notice.

[BankFodder]

Once you have sent the letter you should register onto money claim online and understand how it works. There is a character limit on the particulars of claim and your claim will exceed that.

 

Therefore you will put a brief particulars onto the money claim – and you will notice that there is a checkbox which allows you to indicate that you will be supplying a more extensive particulars of claim directly to the defendant. Make sure that you find this checkbox and that you tick it. Let us know that you have done this.

 

You can draft your claim and save your work so that you can have it already to click off on day 15 – the expiry of your 14 day deadline.

 

At the same time you should start reading around this forum to understand the steps in bringing a small claim. I can imagine that Everest will be stupid and may be to add a counterclaim against you. Don't be fazed by it. Just be ready for it.

[Mondaynottuesday]

Hazy, hmm can you just pretend to be me ;0) I'll copy, paste and amend slightly then upload.

 

Yes, I'm sure they have all the loop holes covered so I expect a counter for sure, they will not turn round and say oops, sorry here's your money back.

 

Give me a mo, I'll upload for checking but can't seem too much wrong.

[Mondaynottuesday]

How's the attached?

Everest 31_01.pdf

[Mondaynottuesday]

PS. do you ever sleep?

[BankFodder]

You should also add that you are sending a copy to the finance company and that if Everest cause any problems that you may involve the finance company in the litigation as well under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

 

Also make it clear that you are sending a copy of the letter to FENSA and that you will also be sending them a copy of the inevitable judgement.

 

I suppose you realise that you have left XXX in place of the names. I think you should simply publish the names.

[Mondaynottuesday]

Ah yes, forgot the finance part, I'll add and repost.

 

Not sure about FENSA, if I were to mention one of the accreditation affiliates it would be GGF or TGAS however although we spoke to them nothing was formally raised, does this matter?

 

Names, I'm consciously leaving them off when posting online as I don't want them to accuse me of GDPR breaches, they will be included in the final email.

 

Should I send both email and hard copy versions?

Everest 31_01_01.pdf

[BankFodder]

Leave the professional bodies off then. Don't worry about mentioning the names of the personnel. You have no data protection obligations in respect of these people. You are not a data controller. Set out their names here

 

Yes, send it both by email and hardcopy. You may find that they will make overtures to you as a result – or even threats. You will have to stand your ground. I don't think there's any more distance to be made here in allowing yourself to be played

[Mondaynottuesday]

Thank you, I will email tonight and post in the morning. I have no intentions to back down now, they are a disgrace and I have no intentions letting them anywhere near my property again.

 

Seriously, look at the latest trustpilot reviews coming in, how can they be allowed to get away with this.

 

Admittedly, I would not believe the TP reviews if I wasn't in the same position. I just hope they get treated the same way in their personal lives.

 

As for names, all you need to know is customer relations team, installation managers, legal executives and installation centre managers are all as bad as each other. The fact the CEO is not caring to respond pretty much sums up this company.

 

Thanks again for the support

[BankFodder]

well make sure that you put up your review in trustpilot and also I suggest that you let people know straight away the action that you are taking. It may encourage others.

 

I don't know if it is possible for you to find a way to mention where you are getting your help from but it might be useful for others to know.

 

However, I can imagine that if you gave us a direct mention in trustpilot that they would probably remove the post

[Mondaynottuesday]

We'll see, but yes I intend to post and inform I just need to be a little careful at this stage.

 

Have a good evening, I'm sure we'll be in touch.

[BankFodder]

Two things.

 

Send them a subject access request. It's free and you never know what it might turn up.

 

Secondly, although I have a very high confidence of your success if this goes to court – do be aware that you will have to go in and attend the hearing yourself if it gets that far and you will have to present your case.

 

Also I'm sure you are aware there is a level of risk of losing and in which case under the small claims rules you would be liable to lose your claim fee, your hearing fee and also pay the reasonable costs of travel of the other side.

 

If you ever been to a county court before I suggest that you conduct a familiarisation visit. You will find it extremely useful

[Mondaynottuesday]

Thanks BF, familiar somewhat but will start to prepare, yes fully aware I will need to attend and present my case.

 

Aware of the risk, I'm sure they have many tricks up their sleeves but we have no choice, we have tried they just don't care.

 

What is the purpose of the SAR in this case?

 

PS. Spoke to the finance company, nothing has started and can be cancelled by Everest at any stage freeing us from any liabilities with them apparently. Sure it's not that simple, but they are aware of the situation.

[BankFodder]

The purpose of the SAR is to find out if they have got any interesting internal correspondence. You have no idea what might turn up.

 

It also puts pressure on them. If you're really lucky there will breach the statutory timescale for compliance and you can then add that to your particulars of claim.

[Mondaynottuesday]

Interesting, never thought of that!

 

We did have a response just now saying they are working the list, order some more parts, awaiting some clarifications on other points before sending back to myself. I responded with they had ample time to respond and request more time instead of promising it next day.

[BankFodder]

This response is entirely predictable. Unless you have a change of heart – then you should let them know that you have made your decision. Your letter before claim stands and the only way they can avoid a legal action is by refunding you your deposit money and undertaking as to the rest.

[Mondaynottuesday]

Which is how I responded.

[BankFodder]

Your money claim particulars should be broadly as follows:

 

By a contract dated XXX, the defendants agreed to supply and install windows and doors into the claimant's property. The work began in May 2018 but quickly stalled and no more work was carried out after August 2018. The work which was carried out was defective in terms of the quality of installation and the quality of supply parts. The claimant has tried repeatedly to persuade the defendant to address the problems and has received promises which have been repeatedly broken even though the defendant has agreed that the quality is not up to standard. The defendants breach is fundamental and has terminated the contract. The claimant seeks the return of their deposit of £1200 plus the costs of removing the defendants installation and defective parts and returning them to the defendant – approximately £XXX. The claimant has incurred ancillary expenses approximately £XXX. The claimant claims damages not exceeding £2000 pounds plus interest.

 

I think it is about 925 characters. The money claim limit is about 1000. You don't need to say much more than this in your basic particulars of claim. However, you will tick the checkbox indicating that you will be supplying a more detailed particulars of claim directly to the defendant.

 

You need to start working on this now. I believe that the full particulars of claim must be served on the defendant within seven days of issuing the claim and you must then sign a certificate of service. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n215-certificate-of-service

 

Start working on a particulars of claim. Keep it concise and in chronological steps. Lots of short paragraphs – one point per paragraph. At the end the paragraphs in the particulars should be numbered.

 

Try to keep it to 2X A4 sides and finish with a statement of truth.

 

Post your work here as you go along.

[Mondaynottuesday]

Thank you BF, this is most helpful indeed. I will correct the above accordingly and post as I go along.

 

Just to be clear, I have given them 14 days to return monies, at what point do I start the above. I start working it now but raise the claim only after the 14 days correct?

[BankFodder]

Day 15

[Mondaynottuesday]

Thank you

[BankFodder]

A rough model

 

In the XXX county court

claim number

between

 

 

XXX – claimant

 

 

and

 

 

XXX – defendant

 

 

 

 

Particulars of Claim

 

 

1. The defendant company supplies and installs household fittings including for residential customers.
   
2. In May 2018 the claimant contracted with the defendant to install a number of double glazed windows and doors into his home. Contract reference number XXX
   
3. The contract price was £XXX of which X % – £1200 was paid by way of a deposit and the balance was agreed to be paid by means of an interest-free finance agreement which I entered into at the insistence of the defendant.
   
4. Instalments against the finance agreement were intended to be paid once the work was completed.
   
5. As the work has not been completed no payments have been made to date.
   
6. The claimant has written to the finance company informing them of the circumstances and that the installation contract with the defendant has now been cancelled.
   
7. The agreed work began on the XXX date and was scheduled to take approximately XXX weeks.
   
8. In the event, it became clear that the work which was being carried out by the defendant was of poor quality and also the windows that they supplied were either defective or else not the correct size.
   
9. The claimant complained to the defendant about this and the defendant agreed and offered to make good the substandard work.
   
10. Set out a brief resume of the to-ing and fro-ing
    
11. set out that the last work was undertaken in August 2018
    
12. set out that there were X number of visits and that the defendant agreed both verbally and in writing that the work was not of a satisfactory standard and that the parts which had been supplied were also not of a correct standard.
    
13. Particularise in brief detail the sub-standard work and the defective parts.
    
14. 
    
15. State that fuller particulars of the substandard work and defective parts is already contained in extensive correspondence between yourself and the defendant and will be made available in the court bundle and which will be disclosed prior to trial.
    
16. Refer to the letter which you eventually sent dated XXX in which you informed the defendant that time was of the essence and that you gave them a final seven days to address the problem or else you would accept their breach as termination of the contract.
    
17. By virtue of the defendants breach of contract, they have terminated the contract and the claimant has suffered loss and inconvenience.
    

 

Particulars of loss

particularise your identifiable losses – £XXX in numbered paragraphs

 

 

Particulars of inconvenience

particularise inconvenience in numbered paragraphs– the fact that it has gone on so long, you had to leave work to keep appointments, you’ve been involved in extensive correspondence, the house is in a mess, ill fitting windows are creating cold air currents and it is generally uncomfortable to be in your own home environment – et cetera et cetera.

 

At the end, we have to come up with a figure which matches the figure in your claim form. It could be not exceeding £2000. It could be not exceeding £2500 – you will have to figure this out.

 

I believe that the facts contained in this particulars of claim are true

 

 

 

signed

 

date

 

 

[Mondaynottuesday]

Thank you BF, this is all very appreciated you have no idea, actually you probably do. I will start building this weekend along with homework on cc process and so on and post back accordingly.