EVRi Lost Parcel - Court Claim Issued **SETTLED AT MEDIATION**

[stormfly]

Hello

Thank you for the help you are providing on this forum. I have read around the various threads for EVRi and have found the advise very useful.

I have a case against EVRi for a lost Item where they have offered the standard £20 plus postage refund.

13th January - I sent my Car's original ECU to a technician for repair via MyHermes. 

22nd January - As consignor, opened a case for a parcel that had stalled on EVRi tracking.

25th January -  I chased the delivery via telephone and was advised the item had been lost. On the same day, I sent my first letter through their automated system where I offered an reasonable settlement for loss of property. 

26th Feb - I received the below response from MyHermes

Quote

Hi ****,

Thank you for your recent email/correspondence about your claim.

We’re 100% dedicated to ensuring every parcel arrives safely, but unfortunately, a small number do become damaged or lost within our network. If this happens, we will seek to remedy this and we are happy to pay up to the level of cover selected by the customer, for included items.

I have investigated your claim and I'm pleased to confirm, due to the level of cover you chose within our standard compensation, we will be processing a payment for the maximum value of £20, plus postage costs, back to you.
So that we can process this as quickly as possible for you, we kindly request that you send us some details:
- your bank sort code
- your bank account number (the short one, not the long card number)
- your name as it appears on your bank card

We thank you for your patience on this matter and ask that you allow up to 14 working days for the payment to reach you.

If you need anything in the future, please contact your EVRi Customer Service Team and we’ll be happy to help.

Kind regards,

 

****

 

 

Thanks to the information on this forum, I'm sure they are 'Pleased' to confirm and 'Happy' to pay this low amount for their breach of contract. In addition I am also aware that there is no need to insure against their negligence for loss. I'm now at the point where I need to decide whether to accept their offer and walk away or push this further and take them on.
 

If I choose to pursue this matter, I understand that 1) I need to send a letter of claim and give MyHermes 14 days to respond. 2) Register on the MoneyClaim website and complete particulars of claim

The particulars I should file would be:

 

Quote

The claimant paid the defendant £6.29 pounds on 13th January to carry out the delivery of the claimant's Car's original ECU to a UK address. 

On 25th January, the defendants admitted to losing the Item. Despite this, the defendants have refused to reimburse the claimant for the value of a replacement ECU and recoding.

 

The claimant seeks £170 being the value of replacing the lost item. Plus £6.29 delivery cost and legal fees.

 

Total £176.29 plus Legal Fees

 

Firstly, Have I understood this correctly?

Secondly, I was able to rectify the situation of my non-function Car because I had a spare ECU and taught myself the skills to get it up and running.

Therefore, the only evidence I have of the replacement value is from prices published online at resellers. 

i.e. I don't have receipt for replacing the lost item.

Would this go against me?

Many Thanks

 

 

 

first letter.docx

[BankFodder]

Well done on having done the reading. Lots of people haven't and they come here and expect to be led by the hand.

Yes, basically all correct.

However, in your letter of claim, I would not talk about the recoding et cetera. I would simply talk about the fact that a "coded ECU value £X X X…" – And I would refer to this all along even in your particulars of claim.

Also, in your letter of claim you haven't included the reference number – and in your proposed particulars of claim, you haven't included it there either. They need a reference number.

In your letter of claim, you are going on about dental appointments in children and so forth. Forget it – it's not relevant and no one is interested. You are asking for compensation for time off work – this won't be recoverable. Forget it. Make sure that the issues you raise are all winners.

As far as I can see your claim should be for £170 for a coded ECU. £6.29 delivery fee. All the rest is non-recoverable.

So try and work out a shorter and more punchy version of your letter of claim and post it here.

Make sure you have read around the steps involved in taking a small claim in the County Court.

 

[BankFodder]

Well this is not a letter of claim – partly because it doesn't say that it's a letter of claim but also because it doesn't actually say that you are going to be beginning a County Court claim against them and in how many days.

In fact you are offering them an opportunity to negotiate further. It is what you want to do – then fine. But if you simply want to make a threat of legal proceedings if they don't settle – then it's not fine

[BankFodder]

Quote

Martijn De Lange

Hermes

Capitol House 1 Capital Close

Morley

Leeds

West Yorkshire

LS27 0WH

 

Reference claim xxx

Parcel xxx

Notice before proceeding with court action

 

On 13th January 2021 you agreed you would deliver for me my Car’s original coded ECU to my agreed UK delivery address. You failed to deliver and have advised me that you have lost the parcel. 

 you have refused to compensate me in full.

From you I am claiming:

£179.99 – Coded ECU replacement cost.
£6.29 – postage


Unless you reimburse me the total of or the £186.28 for the above mentioned goods within 14 days, I shall issue a claim in the County Court to recover this money from you, plus interest, plus costs without any further notice

 

Yours Faithfully

 

[dx100uk]

2 posts hidden

docx files contain all your pers details in file properties/info

just post them here as plain copy and paste text next time. or PDF don't use docx.

 

dx

 

[stormfly]

thanks, will do.

For some reason, I can't delete the first attachment

I'm ready to reject EVRi offer and issue the letter before claim. I've registered on the MCOL website and filled in my claim with the below particulars.

Should I tick the box to send the particulars directly to the defendant?

Should I also tick the box for the right to claim interest. If so do what date would I put for when the money became owed,  what is daily rate of interest up to the date of judgment? 

Thanks again

 

 

Quote

 

Claim Particulars

 

On 13th January the claimant paid the
defendant £6.29 pounds to carry out the
delivery of the claimant's Car's ECU to a UK
address.

On 25th January, the defendants admitted to
losing the Item. Despite this, the defendant
has refused to reimburse the claimant for the
value of a coded ECU

The claimant seeks £179.99 being the value of
a coded ECU. Plus £6.29 delivery cost plus
legal fees.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by stormfly

[BankFodder]

Well send off the letter of claim when you're ready. There's really no need to hang around.

In terms of the particulars of claim – you don't need to send anything extra. Do not click any boxes.

 

I wasn't aware that you actually had to calculate the daily rate of interest. I'm giving a shout to my site team colleague @Andyorch

[stormfly]

Rejection email with letter of claim has now been sent and copied to Martijn De Lange. Reminder in my diary for 16th March to proceed with Money Claim.

 

Quote

 

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, I am unable to accept your offer which I find most inadequate considering the value of the item you lost.

 

I'm sure Hermes is 'happy to pay up to the level of cover selected' and avoid paying the full amount owed for breach of contract. However, asking customers to pay for extra insurance for negligence is completely unfair and unenforceable. It is in fact the courier company that should be taking out protection for these eventualities.

 

I hereby attach a letter before claim notifying you of my intention to proceed with court action in 14 days unless I am reimbursed the full amount of the lost item.

 

A copy of this letter has also been sent by recorded post to your head office.

 

 

[BankFodder]

Make sure you post up the draft particulars of claim for us to look at

[stormfly]

I've removed Claim reference and Parcel ID 

 

Claim Particulars

 

Quote

On 13th January the claimant paid the
defendant £6.29 pounds to carry out the
delivery of the claimant's Car's ECU to a UK
address.

On 25th January, the defendants admitted to
losing the Item. Despite this, the defendant
has refused to reimburse the claimant for the
value of a coded ECU

The claimant seeks £179.99 being the value of
a coded ECU. Plus £6.29 delivery cost plus
legal fees.

 

[AndyOrch]

Calculating interest under the County Court Act
In many cases you can claim interest on the money you are owed.
To calculate this, use the steps below;

 Work out the annual interest: take the amount you’re claiming and multiply it by 0.08
(i.e. 8%).
 Work out the daily interest: divide the yearly interest from step 1 by 365 (the number of
days in a year).
 Work out the total amount of interest: multiply the daily interest from step 2 by the
number of days the debt has been overdue.

For example, if you were owed £1,000:
 the annual interest would be £80 (1000 x 0.08 = 80)
 divide £80 by 365 to get the daily interest: about 22p a day (80 / 365 = 0.22)
 after 25 days this would be £5.50 (25 x 0.22 = 5.50)

If you are claiming interest under the County Court Act you will need to complete some extra
fields for step 5, including the daily rate of interest. You need to add this amount of interest
to the total claim amount and enter it in the box for ‘amount claimed’ as shown at the
bottom of the example. This ensures that any interest due prior to issuing the claim is
included in the total amount claimed. This cannot be added to the claim at a later date
without making an application for permission from a District Judge which incurs a fee.
Please note that you can use the same daily rate to calculate interest from the date the claim

 

was issued to the date of judgment if your claim reaches that stage.

[BankFodder]

So from the date they lost the parcel

[stormfly]

They were quite quick to respond this time and have not moved from their position.

 

Do I still give them the 14 days or can I proceed with the claim now they have responded?

 

Thanks

 

Quote

Thank you for your recent email and the notification letter.

 

I am sorry you are unhappy with the outcome of your claim.

 

Please see the below screen shot of the details that you added to this order, which can also be confirmed on the Hermes invoice you have.

 

On this order the value was added as £100.00. The Free Standard Compensation Cover which covers up to the maximum value of £20.00 was selected rather than the compensation to cover the full value.

It is the customers responsibility to choose the correct level of cover to match the total value of your items. Should you fail to do so you accept the risk that you may not receive the full value of your parcel or goods in the event that your parcel is lost or damaged. 

 

 

As such the decision made is the correct one and is our final decision in this matter although I fully appreciate this isn't the answer you were hoping for.

Therefore, the maximum value Hermes will cover is £20.00, plus postage. Please provide the required details so this payment can be made.

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by stormfly

[BankFodder]

So I understand they are saying that the declared value was £100. What you have to say about that?

[stormfly]

I wasn't expecting Hermes to lose the item. At the time of arranging the delivery I wasn't aware of the full replacement value of a coded ECU. It was my estimate and in hindsight I undershot it.

[BankFodder]

You might as all say that I didn't bother to look before I crossed the road because I didn't expect to get run over.

You can proceed with claim but you won't be able to claim for more than the declared value.
If you have done the reading around, you will see that this issue has come up very often and explanations have been given as to why you can only claim for the declared value.

[stormfly]

Thanks,

Should I adjust the MCOL claim value and particulars?
Should I respond to Hermes offering to settle at £100 plus postage

Do I still need to wait 14 days now that Hermes have responded
 

[BankFodder]

Well I think you certainly have to modify your letter of claim because a statement of claim was based on a false premise.

It's very important to understand that you got to be accurate in what you're doing here – and when it comes to issuing the claim, you will have to sign a statement of truth.

On the basis that you declared £100, I'm afraid that your proposed claim was unwinnable and you would have had to back down – with the possibility of suffering a penalty in respect of costs.

So I think that you should renew the letter of claim, put down the correct figure and then proceed from there.

And frankly I think it's prudent to wait for the 14 days

[stormfly]

Thanks BankFodder.

I have renewed the letter of claim and resent via email - as a copy of the higher claim has already been sent recorded post. I will also adjust the particulars of the claim on MCOL.

In my email to Hermes, I have quoted section 49 of the Consumer Rights act, that the trader can not exclude their responsibility to perform a service with care and skill and have requested they settle for the declared amount to avoid court action.

Taking today as day 1. Then can you confirm that day 15   (16th of March) would be the day I submit the claim?

 

Thanks

 

SF

 

 

 

 

[stormfly]

They are responding quickly now and are using their contract to limit their liability to the insurance I did/did not opt in to.

 

Quote

Please see our terms and conditions for further information:

 

5.6 The amount of Full Cover which you have taken out for a Parcel, if at all, will be the extent of our liability to you for any Loss or Damage to your Parcel

 

[BankFodder]

Yes and they will repeat exactly the same thing in their defence to your claim as well.

You say that you read around the threads on this sub- forum so you are well aware that this is what they do and you are well aware of the arguments against

[stormfly]

I am indeed and have lots of notes ready to go.

 

I'll now wait the 14 days and issue papers on day 15.

[stormfly]

Hi again.

 

It has been two weeks since my letter before claim was emailed and posted on the 2nd March.

 

That makes the 14th day tomorrow. Do I need to leave 14 whole 24 hour periods and then submit my claim in the 15th day or am I ok to progress tomorrow?

 

Thanks

Edited March 15, 2021 by stormfly

[BankFodder]

Wait until it's clear 14 days and then issue on day 15.

I haven't gone through the Fed to remind myself of your situation – but do make sure that you understand all the principles and the arguments you will make when you are claiming.

Have you drafted a particulars of claim? Have we seen it?

[stormfly]

yep. here they are

 

Quote

On 13th January the claimant paid the
defendant £6.29 pounds to carry out the
delivery of the claimant's Car's ECU to a UK
address.

On 25th January, the defendants admitted to
losing the Item. Despite this, the defendant
has refused to reimburse the claimant for the
declared value of a coded ECU

The claimant seeks £100 being the declared value, plus £6.29 delivery cost plus
legal fees.