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Hi All,
I've received a claim and i'm looking for some advice - if anyone could help i would be forever grateful
Heres the background of whats happened:
I recently called a company and asked them to quote on structural calcs for a hip roof (council requested it from me as part of a planning application approval) - they came out, had a good look around in the existing roof space, took lots of notes and left... as they were walking out i also mentioned i needed to get beam calculations for the side of the house... they said that was nothing and would get them sorted for me.... so he puts his ladders and things away, turns around and says it'll be £200 and it'll take 2 weeks.
Great, I'm happy with that, and could do with it being done asap - so I say i'll send him dimensions of the house and extension later on, which i did via email - in that email, i also asked for the price so we have confirmtion...
A month later, no response.... so i start calling them on a daily basis.
After about 5 days of ringing them and being told someone will call me back (and not being called back) - someone finally took the call, they apologised etc and started work.... they started asking questions about the existing roof (i think they took notes of all this when they came out, but they had,i assume, lost the notes by this point) - so they did the work within a few hours and called me to collect it, which i agreed to do the next day
When i collected the work, i was handed an invoice of £600 - triple the original quote!
I disputed it immediately, in person - and they told me "they had redesigned the roof and this and that etc..." - i was in shock to be honest, so asked how payment was to be made and left.....they sent it via email shortly after and i forwarded that to the council. (possibly a bad decision in hindsight, but i expected us to be able tocome to an agreement)
So I asked a few other people - friends / family / people that were working on the extension etc - and everyone said what had happened was wrong and not legit.... so the next morning i sent an extremely polite email further disputing it, and offering the quoted figure plus 10% to cover unforeseen circumstances, and asking them to come to an agreement amicably.
They called me going nuts, threatening to sue me etc... (i had to put the phone down as they were literally screaming)
So, there was no chance of any negotation whatsoever- but i replied saying my offer stood, and i welcome any offer from them to resolve the matter,
~2 months passed and they sent me a letter saying the council have been told to not accept or allow the documents and that they wanted full payment or would take me to court.
Again, i sent a polite reply reminding them that my offer stood,telling them that the invoice figure is unacceptable (at least with the quote of a third of the price) - and i welcome any offer from them to resolve the matter.
They responded to the letter again refusing to negotiate and advising me that they would let the court decide. in the letter they make an admission that £200 was quoted during the visit, but claim that was just for the beam - if thats true, why did they not quote for the main job? why did they not reply to my email asking for a price? There has never been any mention of £500 plus vat, although they claim they told me - which is completely untrue.
So.............. I'm guessing i need to reply with the option "I admit part of the claim" ? however - if i do this, should i pay the £200 or £220 before submitting the form? i'm reluctant to do it if they have told the council not to accept the documents - as this makes the documents useless and of no value.
I't's unlikely that the company will accept my admission of £200 of the claim - so it'll end up going to the court for a decision - but im concerned about getting a CCJ....
- Am i correct in thinking that regardless of the verdict, if i pay it within 30 days i dont get a CCJ / it gets removed from everything? - paying it isnt an issue, i'm disputing it on principles, so it'll be paid quickly.
- If they accept £200 - do i get a CCJ, or do they just ask me to pay it?
- if the court rules i should pay £200 - do i get a ccj?
- If i pay £200 now, and then make the admission and its ruled at £200 - is that it? (with no ccj)
- On the basis that the company have already told the council not to use the documents - could it be ruled i owe nothing (or should i claim that i owe nothing - in my head that feels morally wrong, but if i cant use the documentation, then its of no value? - i would hope that if any payment is ruled/accepted they would contact the council to allow me to use the documentation?)
Thanks for any help, and sorry for so many questions!
Cheers
Chris
I've received a claim and i'm looking for some advice - if anyone could help i would be forever grateful
Heres the background of whats happened:I recently called a company and asked them to quote on structural calcs for a hip roof (council requested it from me as part of a planning application approval) - they came out, had a good look around in the existing roof space, took lots of notes and left... as they were walking out i also mentioned i needed to get beam calculations for the side of the house... they said that was nothing and would get them sorted for me.... so he puts his ladders and things away, turns around and says it'll be £200 and it'll take 2 weeks.
Great, I'm happy with that, and could do with it being done asap - so I say i'll send him dimensions of the house and extension later on, which i did via email - in that email, i also asked for the price so we have confirmtion...
A month later, no response.... so i start calling them on a daily basis.
After about 5 days of ringing them and being told someone will call me back (and not being called back) - someone finally took the call, they apologised etc and started work.... they started asking questions about the existing roof (i think they took notes of all this when they came out, but they had,i assume, lost the notes by this point) - so they did the work within a few hours and called me to collect it, which i agreed to do the next day
When i collected the work, i was handed an invoice of £600 - triple the original quote!
I disputed it immediately, in person - and they told me "they had redesigned the roof and this and that etc..." - i was in shock to be honest, so asked how payment was to be made and left.....they sent it via email shortly after and i forwarded that to the council. (possibly a bad decision in hindsight, but i expected us to be able tocome to an agreement)
So I asked a few other people - friends / family / people that were working on the extension etc - and everyone said what had happened was wrong and not legit.... so the next morning i sent an extremely polite email further disputing it, and offering the quoted figure plus 10% to cover unforeseen circumstances, and asking them to come to an agreement amicably.
They called me going nuts, threatening to sue me etc... (i had to put the phone down as they were literally screaming)
So, there was no chance of any negotation whatsoever- but i replied saying my offer stood, and i welcome any offer from them to resolve the matter,
~2 months passed and they sent me a letter saying the council have been told to not accept or allow the documents and that they wanted full payment or would take me to court.
Again, i sent a polite reply reminding them that my offer stood,telling them that the invoice figure is unacceptable (at least with the quote of a third of the price) - and i welcome any offer from them to resolve the matter.
They responded to the letter again refusing to negotiate and advising me that they would let the court decide. in the letter they make an admission that £200 was quoted during the visit, but claim that was just for the beam - if thats true, why did they not quote for the main job? why did they not reply to my email asking for a price? There has never been any mention of £500 plus vat, although they claim they told me - which is completely untrue.
So.............. I'm guessing i need to reply with the option "I admit part of the claim" ? however - if i do this, should i pay the £200 or £220 before submitting the form? i'm reluctant to do it if they have told the council not to accept the documents - as this makes the documents useless and of no value.
I't's unlikely that the company will accept my admission of £200 of the claim - so it'll end up going to the court for a decision - but im concerned about getting a CCJ....
- Am i correct in thinking that regardless of the verdict, if i pay it within 30 days i dont get a CCJ / it gets removed from everything? - paying it isnt an issue, i'm disputing it on principles, so it'll be paid quickly.
- If they accept £200 - do i get a CCJ, or do they just ask me to pay it?
- if the court rules i should pay £200 - do i get a ccj?
- If i pay £200 now, and then make the admission and its ruled at £200 - is that it? (with no ccj)
- On the basis that the company have already told the council not to use the documents - could it be ruled i owe nothing (or should i claim that i owe nothing - in my head that feels morally wrong, but if i cant use the documentation, then its of no value? - i would hope that if any payment is ruled/accepted they would contact the council to allow me to use the documentation?)
Thanks for any help, and sorry for so many questions!
Cheers
Chris
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