DPD letter before action

[BankFodder]

please monitor this thread for a reply later on today or tomorrow. However it is a very long story and it will be helpful if you would now follow it up with a bullet pointed chronology without too much narrative. Thanks

[BankFodder]

So I gather that you sent some parcels using DPD. They arrived in an apparently damaged state so that the items can't be used.

The items were returned to you and you had to refund your customer. You are now out of pocket to the tune of the entire value of the items or at least the cost of repairs.

You used DPD on some kind of account/credit system so that in principle you owe the money – but you are withholding the money because they didn't carry out their contractual obligations correctly and also they caused you loss.

They are now threatening to sue you and they have sent you a letter of claim.

I understand that you didn't take any photographs of the damaged parcels or of the items – on the basis that you weren't informed that that would be necessary.

I understand also that you have had phone calls with them – but you probably have never recorded the courts so you have no evidence of what has been said.

Is this all correct?

You haven't told us what the items are and whether they are still in your possession. You haven't told us whether the damage to the items makes them a total loss or if they can be repaired. You haven't told us anything about values of the items or of the cost of repairs.

We need this information.

Also, I hope that you won't mind too much when I say that your failure to take photographs on the basis that nobody had told you to do it – shows a certain level of naïveté and your lack of evidence may become a problem if they do issue proceedings and you have to defend yourself. I suggest that it is axiomatic of any kind of dispute of this nature that you would start acquiring and storing evidence from the outset – and photographs are certainly going to be the minimum kind of evidence that you would require.

You also haven't told us the value of the invoice sum which you are withholding.

Although your post is pretty long, it seems to be pretty scant on some of the essential information.

If you could please respond to these questions and then we will try to give you advice as to your position and the next step.

[BankFodder]

Thank you.

There are two possible routes here.

You could sue DPD – and then they would probably defend and they would also counterclaim for the unpaid delivery fee.

Alternatively, they could go ahead and sue you and then you could counterclaim for the expenses of the damaged items.

It would be better if they would sue you and the reason for that is that you would be the defendant and therefore if there was a hearing, it will be held at your local court which would save you a lot of inconvenience. If you sue them, then they become the defendant and if there was a hearing then it would be heard at their local court which means that you would have to travel and plan the logistics of this.

Normally speaking you can counterclaim without paying a fee but where the value of a counterclaim is substantially greater than the value of the substantive claim, when you might have to pay a fee. If you with the claimant then you will certainly have to pay the fee anyway.

So I suggest that your best interests are served by preparing to be sued and then if that happens then to defend and counterclaim. We will help you.

If eventually they don't follow through with their threat, then you will have to sue them.

Whichever is the case, you will need to be well prepared and that really means that you need to seek independent assessments and evaluations of the damage which has been caused and the value of putting it right.

These independent assessments may cost you money – but eventually if you win then you will get this back.

So for the moment, start gathering your evidence. Make sure that you are fully prepared with your independently verified documentation and then hope that they will follow through with their threat and sue you.

[BankFodder]

This is the first time that I have ever come across any courier company involved in something like this so it's a complete unknown.

If you are properly prepared with independent assessments as to what has happened then there is no reason why you should lose and you should approach this problem with confidence.

Keep us updated. I can well imagine that DPD hasn't taken any of this thing seriously but once they receive a properly drafted and evidenced counterclaim, they will then take time over it and they will then understand that their position is very poor and they may well approach you to settle the matter rather than go to hearing and lose.

You may already have told us, but did you properly declare the value of this consignment and also did you opt to take out their insurance cover?

[BankFodder]

Please post up the letter in scanned pdf format

[BankFodder]

We would appreciate you posting up your letters in scanned PDF format in future please – as asked – not JPEG images. Thank you.

This is not a letter of claim. It's dressed up to look as if it is a letter of claim – probably to put the frighteners on you.

You may as well respond to it.

 

Quote

Dear Suzanne

Thank you for your letter of XXX date – which I notice is dressed up to look like a letter of claim but of course it isn't and it certainly hasn't complied with the pre-action protocol for bringing claims in the County Court.

The fact that you have headed it as a letter of claim is effectively an abuse and when we go to court, as seems likely – then I will certainly bring this to the attention of the judge.

You threaten to add additional charges – but you should understand now that I won't be paying them but you're not entitled to levy them in any event. If you want to make an issue of that then we'll discuss that in front of the judge as well.

Furthermore, you refer to an invoice payment which we apparently owe you – and we had better understand each other now – that we won't be paying that either.

You have conveniently ignored the larger issue and that is the matter of your breach of contract in respect of parcels which you undertook to deliver for us and which you handled so carelessly that the contents of the parcels were damaged to the extent that they were un-usable.

I have already been in contact with you about this and provided you details of the damaged items together with evidence including photographs. The value of the loss to us is £XXX and as DPD now seems to be moving into debt collection mode, then you had better start considering all of the aspects of this rather than your one-sided approach.

I'm confirming once again that your poor handling of goods which have been put in your care has resulted in losses and I expect you to address them.
If you have lost the list of items and evidence and photographs which we have sent you then please let me know and I will send you copies.


Please respond.

Yours sincerely

 

 

[BankFodder]

Well they are idiots. It still doesn't comply with the pre-action protocol – but if I were you I would do nothing. Make no response and see if they issue the papers.

Let us know what happens.

[BankFodder]

Can someone point me to the late payment legislation which they are referring to please.

Also, I see that they say that they are charging a daily rate of 8.1%. It's all nonsense.

I notice that they have given up the charges which they originally threatened you with

[BankFodder]

yes, but I gather that he iis a sole trader - and their rate of 8.1% is expressed as a daily rate

[BankFodder]

in fact I see that he is referring to a manging director etcv so, no - not a sole trader.

 

However, 8.1% daily is wrong

 

I must say that I hadn't appreciatedd that preaction protocol didn't apply to non-sole traders

[BankFodder]

I've no idea what it means.

Maybe you could draw them a quick note and say to them that the meaning of the letter is completely obscure and does it mean that they are no longer intending to take any action against you for some alleged debt?

Once again, it will be better if they sue you and then you counterclaim rather than the other way round – so it is worth trying to provoke them a bit

[BankFodder]

I think that just in case they are not intending to sue you and and that you will have to start taking your own action to recover the value of your damaged parcels, that you should start a new thread and tell us all about it there so we can keep it separate and start preparing. Even if they do sue you, the preparation of a claim will help you when preparing your counterclaim

[BankFodder]

This has all the indications that they are skirting around the idea of bringing a legal action against you and that they aren't really very keen about it.

I would suggest that you make no reply because at the end of the day I think it's in your interests that they sue you rather than you are obliged to sue them.

 

If you don't reply then it might give them the courage to issue the papers because they might feel that they are going to get an easy kill

[BankFodder]

What about the suggestion I made a few days ago that you begin another thread dealing with the damage to your parcels? You don't seem to have taken this up. I suggest that you do

[BankFodder]

when you say you are closing down the business, do you mean that you are a limited liability company and you are going into liquidation?

[BankFodder]

So I gather it is the voluntary liquidation of a limited liability company. that would mean that when you cease to exist, you will not be able to sue for your damaged parcels

[BankFodder]

Yes although if they began an action against you I think that you would probably have to let the administrators know. I think you should ask somebody who is more up on company law than me

[BankFodder]

I understood that you were closing down the business and that it was not yet closed. In that case I would be careful about sending such a letter. Also so you don't seem to have made a decision as whether you want to pursue them for the value of the damaged parcels

[BankFodder]

Thank you.

Firstly when you post up multiple page documents for us to see, it would be helpful if you would post them up as a single file – a multipage single file PDF. This is a standard facility on all scanners and it is much faster for you to do then scanning multiple files and of course it is helpful to us – especially as we are helping you free of charge.

This is just a form which has not been sealed by the court. Don't worry about it. To a certain extent they are putting the frighteners on you – although of course they may issue the proceedings. In terms of it being at the Bristol court – they are being totally disingenuous to suggest this. They should realise fully that the court location has to be allocated and that will depend on what you both say in your allocation questionnaires and almost inevitably, because you are the defendant, the case will be heard in your local court.

This is a try-on by DPD and you shouldn't worry about it.

Of course it may still be a bluff – but you shouldn't count on it and if they do sue you then as we already said, it would be better if it occurs in your local court and this will only happen if you are the defendant. You will then be able to make your counterclaim if that's what you want to do. And by now you should be fully prepared with all of your evidence and your claim in mind so that if they do issue proceedings then you can make your counterclaim. As has already been suggested, as you will be making your counterclaim for a much larger sum, it is likely that you will have to pay a fee.

Of course if your business has ceased trading – meaning that it is actually dissolved then you are not going to be able to bring a counterclaim. You say that it has ceased trading, but has it actually been dissolved or does it still exist as a limited liability company? If it does exist as a limited liability company then you can be sued, but equally you can bring your counterclaim.

[BankFodder]

I'm not too sure what the situation is if they issue the proceedings just before you have dissolved the company.

I would suggest that you run it past your accountant who will probably know the answer.

You should also find out whether the issuing proceedings against you might in some way hold up your dissolution of the company.

[BankFodder]

Great, maybe you can let us know the answer. It will be useful information

[BankFodder]

And if in the meantime they issue proceedings, then presumably they can object to the dissolution of your company. This then puts pressure on you either to pay the sum claimed in order to get rid of the problem – or to go with it and to put in your counterclaim.

[BankFodder]

I'm not too sure why you feel that it is necessary to open a new thread on this because you already have a thread going on this problem. Opening a second thread simply leads to confusion and a disconnected story. I've merged the two threads

[BankFodder]

2 minutes ago, PPP123 said:

sorry, i thought i had been told by someone else to create a new thread once it gets to this stage 

 

Yes you are right. That was me! Sorry.

Anyway let's carry on here for the moment.

Please can you post up the claim form in PDF format

[BankFodder]

I suggest that you file an acknowledgement of service with intention to defend immediately. This will extend the time for filing a defence to 28 days. You can do this online

Can you just run through the evidence that you have of the damage which was caused please. Can you set out bullet pointed item by item