A solicitor client is refusing to pay for a new kitchen and bathroom installed in his property. **Settled**

[BankFodder]

By the way, somewhere on the Law Society webpage you may be able to check this person out and confirm that they are a solicitor and whether they are currently insured and practising

[Eckington]

Will do but it'll be in a day or two due to work. 

[BankFodder]

Whenever you are ready

[honeybee13]

It may not take very long. Here's a link to the page.

 

Solicitors Register

WWW.SRA.ORG.UK

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The Solicitors Register is a service for checking a solicitor or firm that is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

HB

 

[Eckington]

I called the Estate Agent and the person I spoke to knew the property. He informed me that it was refurbished to a high standard, that it was on the market for about a month and that it had recently been let. There had been a lot of interest in it.

 

He asked why I was so interested in this property given that it was now let and I explained that I was owed £4900 for installing the new kitchen and bathroom and that the owner was refusing to pay. He asked if I wanted the information feeding back to the owner and I declined the offer. 

 

Before we start a Money Claim, don't we need to send a final late payment letter giving the client notice that if full payment is not received in 5 days then we shall, without notice, begin legal action. Please comment 

[BankFodder]

I think it was a mistake to disclose to the agent why you are interested. The agent works for the client and I expect the information will feedback.

Yes, you have to give a warning – you have to give 14 days in a letter of claim.

Let me say now that if you aren't sure about the steps then please start reading up about the steps involve taking a small claim in the County Court. It's straightforward but it is a good idea to know the steps before you start so that you aren't rely completely on us and that you have confidence in what you're doing.

Read up on this forum – and elsewhere and then start drafting a letter of claim and I've already said, keep it scant

[Eckington]

I have downloaded and read the protocol. I note that it is slightly different for the Construction and Engineering Sector. 

I feel the next step is to send a formal final late payment letter which i have drafted and attach.

 

I have also drafted a Letter of Claim in readiness for the next step. Copy also attached.

 

Both letters are redacted and in PDF.

 

Please advise if they are detailed and acceptable. Many thanks

Redacted Final Letter for Payment to Client.pdf Redacted Letter before Claim .pdf

[Eckington]

Hi,

Could someone please comment on my previous post.

3 months have now passed since the project was completed and I feel it is necessary to send a final request for payment giving 14 days notice. This would take us to 3rd January 2022.

On 5th Jan we would then send the Letter before Claim giving 28 days notice.

That would take us to early Feb when we would apply online to the court.

 

The advice on an earlier post was that the process could take up to six months so I am keen to follow a step by step approach that I hope you agree with . 

 

[BankFodder]

I gave your post a "like" which indicated it was fine and should go

[BankFodder]

Incident I can't remember whether I mentioned to you that you should say to him that as he has declined to give you his current address, you are sending everything to the rental address because that is the last known address and as he owns it and operates it as a business, you are confident that he will come to know of the proceedings when they are eventually issued.

[Eckington]

Ok. Thanks for the thumbs up.

We'll email the final late payment letter today and inform him that we'll send a copy by post to his address with your comments.

[FTMDave]

Just to make sure - your letters include demand for payment for all the work you carried out, don't they?

[Eckington]

It does. The full amount he owes

[Eckington]

Hi and Happy New Year.

The Final Payment letter was sent on 20.12.21 giving 14 days notice.

On 01.01.22 we received an email from the client, a redacted copy is attached. It didn't appear to be good news and so as planned, we prepared to send the Letter before Claim on the 5.1.22.

Then to our surprise and joy, payment in full was received from the client on 2.1.22. 

What a relief. What a nice start to the year. Thank you for all your help and support.

 

The question is - is it over and settled or is the client likely to pursue his counter claim.

Would you please view the email attached and give your view. Many thanks

S

Redacted Client email dated 1.1.22.pdf

[BankFodder]

I don't entirely understand what's going on.

This email appears to be from him to you but quite frankly apart from the pompous starting style of communication, it's also been produced quite recklessly because I see at least two ridiculous typos.

If you had your money in full then I think I would probably not take any further action.

I don't really understand because he says there's a counterclaim outstanding to which you haven't responded but there could only be a counterclaim if you have issued a claim in the first place – and so far as I know, you haven't. Is this correct?

I think the thing to do is to keep us updated if you hear anything further – but it looks to me as if it is probably settled and you don't need to worry. I have no idea why he has decided to cause so much trouble about it.

Any lessons to be learned from this? – Maybe make sure even little things are put in writing and even if you can't decide a price at the time, you should probably note at least that the work may incur further charges after a full investigation has occurred.

Anyway well done. Happy New Year.

If you do a bit of investigation here, you may even discover a donation button lurking around although I don't think we did very much – maybe mainly we simply gave you some support and confidence.

[Eckington]

Thank you for the feedback. Typos were noted.

Hopefully there will be no further communication from him.

We never did submit a claim against him so technically he should be able to counterclaim against us. We just asked for payment, again and again, the last time being a Final payment letter as per the Protocol 

Thank you for your support. We really appreciated it. Just to have a guiding help was so reassuring. We will make a donation but will first we'll wait a few weeks to be sure there is no further comeback from the client.

S

[FTMDave]

2 hours ago, BankFodder said:

I don't really understand because he says there's a counterclaim outstanding to which you haven't responded but there could only be a counterclaim if you have issued a claim in the first place

IIRC the pompous so-and-so referred to his "losses" as a counterclaim during correspondence with the OP ... without any litigation actually taking place.  It's just a strange use of the term "counterclaim" which he seems to have made up himself.