Customer dispute/claim

[jackson030207]

Hi and help!
We are a small LTD company (husband and wife set up) and have just received a claim from a customer totalling £7500 for complaints with our work.
Is there anyone on here that might be able to advise on our obligations as we are sure they are trying to pull a fast one but want to handle it correctly.
Thanks for your time

[Amethyst]

It will hugely depend on the work you undertook for the customer, the contract / terms, and what the actual complaint is. Can you tell us a bit more?

The probably law you need to refer to will be the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

[jackson030207]

Hi, thanks so much for your quick response. The customer hired us to install the plumbing and heating at his new build. After being beaten down on the initial quote we agreed to install a water softener F.O.C to get the job. It was never stated what brand or type nor cost would be involved.

Towards the end of the job we sent a link to a softener we recommended and the customer text back to say they preferred a different one which was a filter as they preferred not to use salt, we agreed to purchase that one and then installed it. Around 4/5 months later we were told that his family were having skin reactions and they thought it was due to the filter that was installed. We attended the property, removed the filter and sent it back to the manufacturer for testing. They concluded there was nothing wrong with the product and although it is rare some people can have reactions. However the company refunded the cost of £500 and we forwarded that on to the customer. In the meantime he took it upon himself to instruct Harvey Water Softeners to install a softener and then told us we would pick up the cost. We offered an alternative solution and agreed to install it for free even though our terms and conditions state that labour will not be covered if the product is not found to be faulty. We heard nothing more until a letter has been sent to us yesterday claiming around £7500 of compensation for a whole list of things which are completely unfair. The complaints list includes work that was not quoted, damage to units we didn't install, compensation for work that is yet to be carried out because they weren't ready for us (we have offered to go and carry out the work but he has hired someone else)

Its a complete mess....

[des8]

Do you not carry professional Indemnity Insurance?

[jackson030207]

Unfortunately not

[pt2537]

you say you have received a claim, is this a County Court claim or are you just referring to a letter of claim from the aggrieved client?

With regards to the claim, if you havent done the work and werent contracted to do it, then hes blowing in the wind, and if he has submitted a claim then you may want to apply to strike out certain parts of it.

It sounds to me you have done everything you need to do, and on the face of it you appear to have a good position to challenge the claim