Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months. HELP

[bb41]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

I can't afford a solicitor and the amount of paperwork supporting my position will take ages to send off, as you will see their claim is very brief

[Amethyst]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

Got it, just waiting for a better copy - or you could just type out the text in the particulars of claim box.

[mariefab]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

Just checking because they seem to have made several other errors so far......
Originally they were pursuing your Mum's estate. Have they now corrected this on the summons?

[Amethyst]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

POC

[bb41]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

Just checking because they seem to have made several other errors so far......
Originally they were pursuing your Mum's estate. Have they now corrected this on the summons?

They went through my Mums probate solicitor to find me, as soon as my Mum passed away was the first time they got in touch. The letter went to the probate soliton for my attention.

The address is not the correct address where the work was carried out

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

Just found this post. It's a shame I didn't see it last year when you first posted. I have read the first page and last page of posts so forgive me if my comments duplicate others.

What form of JCT contract was used. There is an adjudication clause built into JCT contracts, a process which is regulated by the Housing Grants Construction & Regeneration Act 1996. However, it doesn't apply to residential occupiers (s.106). Nevertheless, as the development was an annex for your mother it may fall under the Act. I will have to do some research to determine if it applies. If you can get an adjudication going, neither party can recover costs so I doubt the solicitor will want to continue with it!

The JCT contract also has an arbitration clause built into it. If the clause is active in your contract you can stay any legal proceedings under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 but you must not have taken any procedural steps other than to acknowledge the claim (see section 9(3)) otherwise you are committed to legal proceedings.

Update....Just checked Coulson on Construction Adjudication (written by HHJ Peter Coulson), at para 2.46 it says that if a residential occupier signs a contract that incorporates one of the JCT forms then he is prima facie agreeing to adjudication in the event of a dispute. The authority is Vitpol Building Sevices v Michael Samen [2008]. See also Mr & Mrs Christopher Shaw v Massey Foundation & Pilings Ltd [2009]

[bb41]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

I'm pretty sure it was a JCT contract, it was done by the architects and was a bog standard builders contract

Ripped off..... thank you for your intended research. My other point regards the interest. These people go months in-between replies, as I said in the update post I last heard from them December last year

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

I've updated my earlier post. See post #66

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

I'm pretty sure it was a JCT contract, it was done by the architects and was a bog standard builders contract

This is very worrying. How familiar are you with the architect/client/builder relationship?

If the architect is advising you to certify money when clearly there are defects then this is serious. Firstly, the architect has not only breached his terms of engagement, if there are any, but also the fundamental ethics of the RIBA and the ARB. The architect may also be liable, and if you have to go to court you may want to bring them in as a Part 20 defendant.

The authority for negligent certification and/or supervision can be found in the case of Sutcliffe v Thackrah [1974].

See also http://www.keatingchambers.co.uk/res...istrators.aspx for a brief summary of who owes what duty to whom.

[bb41]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

The architect recommended the builders from the 5 tenders sent out. He knew them and had work done himself by them.

Do I effectively have to go through arbitration before court. I never had a LBA and the property address is wrong too

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

You ought to have or should be able to get hold of the JCT agreement that you signed.

You do not need the full contract with all of the clauses. You need only the Articles of Agreement. The clauses are standard for each contract so the users are presumed to have a copy of the terms. For example if you were using JCT 2011 Minor Works Contract, you would have signed the appropriate Articles of Agreement for that contract and you would be presumed to have a copy of the terms. There are lots of different versions of JCT.

Article 6, 7 & 8 (depending on which JCT contract you are using) refers to the procedures for dispute resolution which are Adjudication, Arbitration or Litigation. In any event the Pre Action Protocol for Construction & Engineering disputes will also apply.

Adjudication is governed by the HGCRA 1996 as noted earlier. The process takes about 35 days from the nomination of the Adjudicator to the decision being given. The decision is binding but only until the losing party submits the case to the court for a new hearing. This is rare, parties normally accept the adjudicator's decision.

Arbitration will replace a court hearing so you will not have to do both. The Arbitration Act 1996 prevents the court from getting involved other than to support the arbitration process If you go to Arbitration, the arbitrator's decision is final & binding like that of a judge. It can be appealed in the court but only on points or law, jurisdictional issues etc.

The costs of adjudication are not recoverable. The losing party will also (usually) get the bill for the adjudicator's fees, circa £5k - 10k depending on the complexity of the case. Arbitration is like court, both parties have solicitors/barristers and costs follow the event, that is the loser pays and it isn't cheap. The benefit is that the adjudicator/arbitrator will likely be either a Surveyor or Architect who has the necessary skills to understand your dispute and the legal qualifications to make a decision/award.

If you go to court, I suspect this will end up in the Fast Track. Arbitration is like court and in either you could end up with costs if you lose. If you can and want to go arbitration, you need to apply for a stay (see CPR 62) of the county court claim.

If you can and want adjudication then you would need the other party and the court to consent to a stay whilst the adjudication is on-going.

I suspect you have home insurance and it might be wise to give them a call.

[bb41]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

This information is very much appreciated thank you, I will go through my contract this morning as I've earmarked today to go through all my correspondence .

I just don't understand that I had to get an independent surveyors report which assessed the build and put a cost of repair at over 16k, and they are charging me for things they didn't provide like kitchens and bathrooms they feel hard done by

[des8]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

As suggested by Ripped Off and in post 25, try your current household insurers legal expenses cover.
There may be a time limit for claiming though, especially as this matter has been ongoing for sometime.

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

I have a copy of the JCT Minor Works Articles of Agreement and Guidance Notes. Unfortunately, they are copyright materials and I wouldn't want to get into trouble. However, a simple google images search for 'jct mw articles of agreement' will bring you to a site called contractsfinder.service.gov.uk where there is a downloadable PDF version.

Weird how the government can get away with it but if I attach it, I'm likely to be done for copyright infringement.....go figure.

[bb41]

Re: Cowboy builders taking me to court with a no win no fee lawyer after 16 months.

I have just finished my defence since starting at 9.00 this morning, broken one printer and used a ream of paper. I have supplied all supporting invoices, pictures, surveyors reports and a synopsis in chronological order from start to finish.

What I did find funny if not irritating is I have 4 final invoices , 1 from the solicitor and 3 from one member of the building company all dated different dates and all with varying amounts by thousands !!!

I also found out the address the claimant has put on the claim is totally different to the one that the builders use officially and the one at Companies House ( They went Ltd last June) The address is one of the builders personal address .

I have never heard from the boss of the firm or his sidekick

Ripped off I am just going to check out the link ...many thanks