Can I claim against UK firm operating in Spain?

[terry178]

Hi all. Bit of a bad situation and legal action needs taking if at all possible but i am not sure it can.

My mother has moved back from Spain to the UK. She got removal quotes from various companies including one run by an English family in Spain (Murcia area). The ones in Spain came out to her house and seemed very nice, offered to buy her vehicle to save her bringing it back to the Uk etc etc, so they got some damn good deals out of her before the removals even happened.

They quoted her a price and she agreed, they said they were fully insured and reputable bla bla, and they do have many good reviews so it all looked good. They have storage warehouses etc and their own vehicles. They did the removals to my mum's new place in south Wales. There were no end of problems, huge delays where they didn't deliver half of her stuff for weeks or maybe months late. I was sure they had lost it or stolen it but they may have just been trying to avoid a trip until they had a job going that way. Either way, LOADS of her stuff is missing and loads is broken and damaged. Rugs black with mould - they said their warehouse leaked and they would claim on their insurance so "nothing to worry about" etc. Now she realises there is a lot more stuff missing including family heirlooms, tools, clothes, all sorts.

She has spoken with them several times. They offered her a "token gesture" of £500 a while back, saying "just to show good will while we put a claim into the insurance". My mum said no thanks, as she was concerned it was a ruse and £500 wouldn't go anywhere near covering the loss/damage. Long story short, they have now ignored her last 3 or 4 emails and won't take her calls. Completely ignoring every contact and my mum wants to know if she can sue. I said it would be tricky as the firm will claim they are Spanish based, but all their vehicles are UK plated and my mum (victim) is in the UK. On the other hand, the agreement was made in Spain so I suspect that means the only way to sue them is through Spanish jurisdiction, and I suspect the swines know this which is why they appear not to be concerned.

My mum wrote to them telling them that if she didn't receive a reply by last week, she would be taking legal action seeking the full payment back (£4000) for removals contract due to breach of that contract. There is more to it, huge amount of time and hassle and upset as well as many old family items have been lost. A while back I told her to start recording phone calls with them, and she has some rather interesting stuff on tape, such as an employee telling her that the boss saw some of the broken items like an old lamp (gift from now deceased mother) and told the employee to say it had been lost, when actually it was sat in the warehouse. The employee told her this himself and we have the call recorded. There is lots of this stuff which I won't bother going into, I am just hoping someone can advise if this case is a dead duck due to jurisdictional issues, or if there is some way to seek restitution via UK/Welsh court system?

Any comments appreciated.

[R0b]

If the contract was made in Spain, it is likely that it will be deemed as governed by Spanish law. In the absence of any terms to the contrary, your mother could issue a claim in the English courts.

However, there's a number of hoops to jump through, for example the courts might question whether they are the appropriate forum to hear such a case. Even if they were, your mother might need to draft in experts in Spanish law if the claim was defended. You've then got the issue of enforcement meaning you then have to get a Spanish court to rubber stamp the English judgment as being enforceable in Spain subject to any Spanish law and then there's the issue of enforcing the claim over there and even then it might be all for nothing if they are claiming to have no cash.

I've only scratched the surface the cost and expense of going down this route is much more likely to outweigh the damages being claimed.

How did she pay? She might be able to claim under s.75 if paid by a UK credit card.

Also have a look at the link below as a possible alternative, though admittedly I've never done such a claim.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/busines...e/index_en.htm

[terry178]

Thanks very much, that's interesting. I have no idea what S75 is (chargeback type thing maybe, I will look it up) and I had never heard of the EU claim. Not sure how that would fare with Brexit but some very interesting stuff to get looking into, thanks again.

[R0b]

Chargebacks are debit cards but s.75 is a protection under the Consumer Credit Act (per section 75 of that Act hence the name) which any contract of a value of more than £100 means your credit card provider is jointly liable for any breach or misrepresentation. They can rely on the same defences as the trader and note that you only need to satisfy the requirement of the value being more than £100, you can pay a £10 deposit on credit card and still qualify for protection.

Well, we still exist in the EU until at least the end of the year so you have 10 months to get judgment in your favour. I think this might be your best bet because if you can get judgment before we bow out of the EU, the judgment should still continue to be enforceable after.

[terry178]

Just found out she paid cash unfortunately

EU claim looks a good bet though, thanks very much