Parcel2Go and Evri (again!). Lost parcel. Who do I proceed against?

[Sadstory]

Hello, Forum.

This is a familiar story of paying P2G to have a parcel delivered for me by Evri, and Evri have lost it.

 

I have been through the process of trying to contact Evri (hopeless!) and opening a claim with P2G.

 

A fortnight after my claim was opened, P2Gcustomer services advised me that the parcel was now confirmed lost and they started to process my claim.

Their offer was received today and, as expected, comprises only a refund of the carriage fee plus £20 compensation, being the standard amount included in the carriage option I chose upon booking.

 

My actual financial loss suffered as a result of the loss of my consignment is £1680.

 

I aim to pursue this loss through judicial process and I'm encouraged by the success others on here have had when following the advice posted.

 

I will open a Money Claim account and start working on my letter before action.

 

My first question, though, is who should I proceed against?

Should I issue my LBA to P2G, or would I be better off by-passing them and proceeding directly against Evri under the provisions of the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999?

[dx100uk]

there are quite a few successes under P2G.

 

 

[BankFodder]

Before you do anything, start reading lots of the stories on the sub forum and particularly the information threads starting with this one below :

 

The courier industry and your lost or damaged property – some general principles

Don't start taking any action at all until you have done the reading and you are familiar with all of the principles which have been set out or with the experiences of other people in similar position as yourself

 

[Sadstory]

Will do, Bankfodder. Thanks.

And thanks too to dx100uk. I'll report back here when something of interest has happened.

[Sadstory]

I am doing my preparatory reading as advised, and a point has arisen on which I would appreciate your view.

 

In your paper "The Courier Industry and your lost or damaged property ..." (linked to above), you explain that the Courier must be given a fair idea of the size of the exposure it is accepting when it takes on your parcel. In the event of loss or damage, the claimants award will be limited to the value that he or she stated when booking the service.

 

That is perfectly reasonable, but I find myself in a bit of a bind because of that rule and the way it operates in the particular circumstances of my case. My consignment was a part removed from a classic car and I was sending it to a specialist for repair. When asked for the value of the consignment there was no way I could furnish a real market value because:

 

a) The part comes from an Italian car built in 1969. Second hand, broken replacement parts are more or less impossible to find.

 

b)  Even if I were to find a broken second-hand replacement, there is nothing to say that its value would be the same as my example which was lost. The value would depend upon the state of the replacement and the amount of work needed to restore it to working order. Of course, the actual state of my lost part would not be known until it reached the repair specialist and was stripped for inspection. Of course this never happened.

 

Accordingly I entered an estimated figure of £200 when asked for the value of the consignment.

 

Since the consignment has been declared lost I have searched far and wide for a used replacement, contacting all the specialist dealers in this country, but none of them has a usable spare. In the event I have been forced to buy a brand-new remanufactured unit from a specialist in Turin - currently the only place in the world from which the part can be sourced - at a cost of Eur 1550 delivered, plus £304 Customs duties and import VAT. The total cost to me is £1680.

 

Whilst I appreciate there is an element of betterment in claiming the cost of a new part when the lost consignment was a broken used part, this is in fact the only course of action open to me if my car is ever to run again. On the basis that Evri should indemnify me against the cost of getting myself back into the position I would have been in if they had performed the contract satisfactorily I would like to claim the full amount and not be limited to the £200 estimated value of a part which proved impossible to locate. 

 

In your view, is my claim limited to £200 or can a claim for £1680 be sustained? Alternatively, should I claim for some value in between to reflect the avoided repair costs (which are an unknown, since the part never reached the repairer, but could have been anything from a couple of hundred pounds to over £1000).?

[dx100uk]

not a chance imho.

 

dx

 

[Sadstory]

Fair enough. £200 it is then.

 

Do you think I will encounter any difficulty down the road when I am asked to provide evidence of the value of my claim, since I will not have a receipted invoice for £200 in respect of either the lost item (which was removed from under a car bonnet, not purchased) nor for the replacement item (which was new and cost £1680)?

 

[Sadstory]

I have done a good amount of preparatory reading, I have opened my MoneyClaim account and drafted my Summary and Statement of Truth. Here it is :

 

"On 9th August 2022 I contracted with the Defendant to deliver a parcel to a UK address using Evri as the courier service. The Parcel2Go reference number is P2G105868899. The parcel was not delivered. On 29th August the Defendant advised me that the courier had lost the parcel and invited me to claim compensation for my loss. On 6th September the Defendant offered me compensation of £26.91, which I have declined. This claim is to recover the actual measure of my loss, which I contend is £500, plus any charges and fees associated with reclaiming these sums."

 

One point to note is that, as per my post - three posts above - I entered the value of my consignment as £200 on booking. This was simply a finger-in-the-air estimate, and was made with no expert knowledge of the market for second-hand car parts. To be honest, I didn't think that anything would turn upon the value I entered in that box, since I opted not to insure the consignment anyway.

 

I have since contacted a number of specialists for this make of car and found out that my number was a significant under-estimate - a true value being of the order of £500 (I have documentary evidence).

 

I have used the £500 number in my Summary of Claim since a) it seems that is a more accurate measure of my loss, and b) it gives me some headroom to negotiate if and when we come to mediation. Can you advise whether it is pointless to claim this amount given that my booking request quoted £200?

Edited September 8, 2022 by Sadstory

[dx100uk]

You can't claim anything above the items value declared to the claimant, bar court fees etc 

 

You don't use a summary nor statement of truth on mcol 

 

You construct a particulars of claim , however that's for day 15 once you send a letter of claim first 

 

 

 

 

[Sadstory]

I'm confused.

 

I read your post linked to above (Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims) before I registered with MoneyClaim. However, it appeared to me that the Protocol only applied to businesses claiming a money debt, whereas I am simply an individual. I concluded it did not apply to me and therefore proceeded according to the guidance in the thread "Small Claims Actions in the County Court : FAQs ; Work-in-Progress".

 

Hence I logged-on to MoneyClaim, registered and started following the links and "Next" buttons to prepare my claim, which resulted in the claim document headed "Summary and Statement of Truth", from which an extract appears in my last post. I must have mis-clicked somewhere along the line since you say I have gone up the wrong procedural street?

 

Re-reading the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, the requirements at Para 3 appear to be detailed, complex and onerous, but I see that you have suggested the use of a much-simplified letter here : 

Can I assume that I could make use of a similarly abbreviated letter? Do I need to append an Information Sheet and Reply Form as per Appendix 1 to the Protocol, and a Financial Statement form as per Annex 2?

 

Many thanks for the continued guidance.

 

[dx100uk]

simple answer is NO

 

just follow that thread

its all in there and numerous other

evri claimform

or

evri court claim

 

threads here on CAG

use our enhanced google search box.

 

i think we are over 50 parcel claims now, i've never known anyone to get so tied up and confused.................

[Sadstory]

Here is my proposed Letter before Claim:

 

" To Parcel2Go.com

   The Cube

   Coe Street

   Bolton

   BL3 6BU

 

On 9th August 2022 I contracted with you to deliver a parcel to a UK address using Evri as the courier service. The Parcel2Go reference number is P2G105868899. The parcel was not delivered. On 29th August you advised me that Evri had lost the parcel. Your contractual obligation was to deliver my property safely to the intended recipient. This is  my notice under the pre-action protocol that, in the event that you do not reimburse my loss within 14 days, I intend without further notice to issue a claim through the Northants Bulk Court against you for the value of my property, being £200, plus carriage charges plus my costs.

 

Yours faithfully"

 

This has to go by regular post, doesn't it?

 

Thank you for your continued support, though I do not appreciate the barbed response. We are all trying to learn something here ...

Edited September 9, 2022 by Sadstory

[Sadstory]

Progress report to the forum:

 

Having exhausted the Parcel2Go online claim process, under which I was offered the standard compensation of £20 plus return of my carriage fee. I sent them a written complaint, as recommended in this thread (post #7):

 

See attachment "Parcel2go pre-action letter 1.pdf for a copy of my letter of complaint, which was served as a paper letter via Royal Mail.

 

This produced a refund of the carriage fee within a couple of days , plus a separate email response containing an improved offer of compensation (£100)  as "a goodwill gesture".

 

I rejected the improved offer and, in line with the advice in the thread above (post #7) I sent them a pre-action letter as shown in the attachment "Parcel2go pre-action letter 2.pdf" .

 

This letter was sent both via Royal Mail and as an attachment to an email to their "complaints" email address.

 

We'll see what happens now. I suspect they will make me go the long way round for my extra £100.

 

 

 

 

 

Parcel2Go pre-action letter 1.pdf Parcel2Go pre-action letter 2.pdf

[dx100uk]

Well get ready to mcol on day 15.

 

Dx

[Sadstory]

Well, here's a turn-up for the books!

 

After receiving my written complaint P2G reiterated their "goodwill offer" of £100 and then again after they received my letter before action. I rejected both offers. The 14 days response period has not yet expired.

 

However, today I got an email from the original consignee telling me my parcel has finally arrived. After six weeks in transit (between Shrewsbury and Norwich). Good news, in a way, except that I have already purchased a new replacement for the lost part in reliance on at least two messages from P2G (sent to me via their online claims handling screen) saying that a comprehensive sweep of Evri's depot has been carried out, the parcel has not been found and must now be regarded as lost. The new replacement for the lost part cost me £1700 including import taxes.

 

So I suppose I no longer have an action against P2G for non-delivery. Do you suppose I have any other breach of contract action against them? Do I have an action under any other branch of the law (ie. not contract) since I have shelled out  a considerable sum on a replacement part in reliance on their reports that my parcel must now be regarded as lost?

 

Do you advise that I abandon my existing claim and commence another one under a different head?

 

[dx100uk]

simple ans again i think is no.

 

6 weeks is a long time, but i think it was a bit quick to write off it appearing and order a new one.

dont think there is anywhere you can go forward now with this, unless anyone knows better??

 

sorry.

 

dx