Honest opinion

[Worried1234]

I hope someone will be able to help me. I feel so anxious and tearful right now. I’ve received a threatening letter and fear there is more to come. I’m frightened to post the details on here. Not sure what to do.

[echat11]

Hi Worried1234

Welcome to LB

Please stay calm, the site can advise and support, but you do need to provide a summary of the matter.
No ref no's / name are needed.

[Worried1234]

Thank you. I have been all over the place with this. I wrote a letter asking a company to do something I believe they are obliged to do as part of our contract. There are clauses in the contract I made reference to. They wrote back to say I was making defamatory statements in the letter. If I repeat them in public, they would take action against me for for defamation. They gave me a cheque and told me to seek legal advice. If I don’t seek legal advice, they will send a letter before again for defamation.

[echat11]

Thank you. I have been all over the place with this. I wrote a letter asking a company to do something I believe they are obliged to do as part of our contract. There are clauses in the contract I made reference to. They wrote back to say I was making defamatory statements in the letter. If I repeat them in public, they would take action against me for for defamation. They gave me a cheque and told me to seek legal advice. If I don’t seek legal advice, they will send a letter before again for defamation.

How can you make 'defamatory' statements, if you are referring to clauses in a contract?

All you are asking them to do is honor what they have stated in the contract.

EXC Might be your area, can you please take a look.

[Worried1234]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me.

I referred to a clause to do with maintenance. I said because of something happening it was highly likely there could be damage to my property. I said the equipment is not in good condition. That’s my opinion.

I have other concerns. Misleading information in a brochure and letters before I signed up. Lease not independently witnessed. An additional page added to my contract with a signature executing the lease without my knowledge. I feel worried and confused. They also assigned the contract without my knowledge to another company. They are supposed to tell me if they assign the lease to another company. They have added a charge to the leasehold deed attached to my property.

[echat11]

Have you complained to Trading Standards?

des8 atticus can you please take a look.

[Worried1234]

Trading Standards won’t help because it’s been more than 6 years. It’s a 25 year lease. We should have had access to a consumer code, but we don’t due to the way the business has been set up.

[atticus]

What is this contract? Reading the OP's posts, it appears that it may be a property lease of some sort. I wonder if this is a 'park home' or timeshare type of situation.

Nor does the OP explain the nature of the problem. What does the threatening letter threaten? What reasons are given for making such threats? What does the OP want?

Until we are given more clarity, I am unable to understand the real problem, let alone attempt to get to the heart of it.

Does the OP have insurance that might assist? This includes legal expenses insurance cover.

[Worried1234]

Hi Atticus,

Sorry it’s taken me a while to reply. I got myself in a bit of a state.
I have leased solar panels. The company is refusing to carry out maintenance and add pigeon guards. They say the panels are generating sufficient energy so they don’t need to come out. I want them to carry out maintenance to avoid damage being done to my property. The pigeons are blocking my gutters with filth. I’m worried about potential damage to my roof with the birds damaging wires. The birds are noisy and there is filth and eggs everywhere. The contract clause says they are responsible for maintenance (to keep the system in good condition and furnish any and all parts, mechanisms and devices so required to keep the system in good working order). They said they can add bird guards at around £1k. I have the brochure that clearly says absolutely free, no one off charges & free means free. I said they need to clean the panels because they are filthy & add bird guards. They are now threatening me with defamation. I’ve been told by a consumer code that as the tenant they are responsible for bird proofing the solar panels.

I have had advice over the phone using the legal cover on my home insurance. The solicitor told me it wasn’t defamation. Unfortunately, the solicitor wouldn’t be able to represent me in court because my insurance doesn’t cover defamation.

There are many other issues I have with the company. They have registered a charge at Land Registry. The charge belongs to a company I’ve not heard of. I wasn’t told they would use my property to secure a loan. They have added a page to the lease without my knowledge. Their in-house solicitor has signed to execute the deed on behalf of the company. No idea if this is above board or not. It probably is.