Being sued by builder - filed a counterclaim

[Manxman in exile]

Don't get bogged down over the 4x the contract value.  It's not that important whether it's 4x, or 3x or 2.5x

 

The point is that your builder issued a claim against you for £2866 outstanding on a contract he says was worth between £4000 and £5000.  (Don't worry for the moment that you also engaged him on a second job for a couple of grand - that's not so important for the moment).

 

In response to his claim for £2866, you put in a counterclaim for £16000 in respect of (a) work you say he had not completed, (b) unsatisfactory work that needed re-doing, and (c) damage you claim he caused to your property, but you haven't provided any evidence to back up the value of that claim (apart from a list) and you haven't provided any evidence that he was negligent or even that he caused the damage.  Or if you do have that evidence, you do not appear to have shared that with us or with the court.  (If I'm mistaken about that please forgive me, but that is what I see when I look at this thread.)

 

Can you also see that it looks a bit odd that you believe somebody has caused £16000 worth of damage to your house, but instead of suing him for causing that damage (a) you engage him to do more work for you, and (b) you wait for him to sue you for £2866 before counterclaiming your £16000? 

 

I think most people would have sued him straight away, so the way you have done it makes it look a bit like just retaliation to his claim, with no substance.  Do you see?  Please understand I'm not suggesting that is the case - it just looks odd...

 

If you take time to consider some of my points in post #199, it might help you get your head around some of the issues you face and how to approach them.

[FTMDave]

If today's judge, and indeed MiE, can find deficiencies in your defence and counterclaim, it begs the question of why your useless former solicitor was allowing such stuff to reach court.  I don't know how much you have paid this oaf but I think you should think about getting some, if not all of it back.

 

I have no idea how this all works in 2022, but in the mid-1990s I made a compliant about a useless solicitor I had paid to their own professional body, won, and got a good wedge refunded.

 

I also wonder whose bright idea it was to refuse the builder's offer to pay you your money at £100 a week.  You would have had the debt admitted and money coming in, albeit slowly.

 

Also, and I know you have already done this, but please upload the builder's particulars of claim, your defence and your counterclaim here in this new thread.

[Manxman in exile]

@FTMDave  -  yeah it needed a new thread and I see you've linked to the old one concerning the set-aside hearing in #5 above. 

 

I think you did a valiant job organising a sensible and reasoned  argument for @simeon1964 to use in opposing the set-aside, but I suspect it was always doomed to fail... 

 

I'm more or less out of my depth as well really, and I know absolutely FA about civil procedure rules.

 

The problem I've got is I've never managed to get my head around the basis of either simeon's  defence or his counterclaim.  I find it much easier to understand the claimant's case than simeon's.  But I suspect that's mostly because I can't follow everything that has happened and simeon has been struggling to explain it effectively.  I think if you can ask other experienced members of the site team to have a look at the thread it would be a great help to simeon as I'm not sure what further constructive advice I can give.  (I can see holes in his defence and counterclaim but don't know how to fill them!)

 

If he's being realistic and serious about counterclaiming for £16000(!) then I think simeon might need more hands-on help and to be able to discuss the issue with someone face to face.  I'm wondering citizen's advice or seeking another solicitor?  I know some CABx hold lists of solicitor firms who'll provide 30 minutes free advice and I'm wondering if that is worthwhile.  £16k is a lot of money to have at stake if he's got a valid counterclaim.

 

And yes - on the basis of what we've read in the previous thread, his original solicitor seems to have been utterly useless.  But we don't know everything that happened there.

[Manxman in exile]

And just to add - simeon is saying that as a result of the property damage caused by the builder the house is infested with rats and virtually uninhabitable!

 

So there's no doubt that simeon needs good advice from someone on seeking recompense.

[FTMDave]

Now that the dust has settled after the hearing, personally I would be very tempted to write to the builder's solicitor.  He/she has been way out of order and given there will be another hearing and ample room for intimidatory tactics I think it's important you fight back and show you're not to be messed with.  How about -

 

Dear XXXXX,

 

I refer to the mountain of e-mails I have recently received from you, most of them totally unconnected with the matters in dispute between me & your client.

 

However, I am writing in the spirit of cooperation that you suggested, to point out that your administration department made a mistake on Sunday and accidentally e-mailed the bill for your client for Monday's hearing to me instead.

 

That is no problem for me, I realise such mistakes are easy to make in the era of e-mail.

 

Please kindly note though, that when you carry out work on behalf of clients, that the addresses to be billed are the addresses of your clients.

 

Kind regards,

[BankFodder]

@simeon1964

good idea of my site team colleague to take this opportunity to start a new thread as this case seems to go onto the next stage.

However, visiting this thread is like wandering into an interrupted conversation and it's very difficult for people who are not familiar with the original thread to understand what is going on.
I hope you won't mind but I'm going to lock the thread and it will be very helpful if you would start off your own new thread and give us a brief outline of what has happened so far – in a bullet pointed chronology so that your summary will then give anybody who visits this thread the context for the rest of the discussion.

Also, starting a new thread will mean that it is tweeted out on Twitter and that also may help it come to the notice of other people who have similar problems.

Please start a new thread – with a bullet pointed summary of the situation so far.

Thanks