Small Claims Court - Rougue Builder / Drive Guy

[kiteboy]

Would this cover things cos now I feel we are in a kind of limbo period while ccj is delayed

Got this ready to send

"I see you've responded to the court claim....as I said allllll along this was never the route we wanted to go down....just wanted the drive we paid for. Just so it's clear though as we are in a weird limbo period now ....we will not be paying any additional costs to get this completed if you do come and do it....I hope you do but I'm more than happy to go to court if we have to aswell"

Do you think that would be suitable.....I'm thinking he may do it see and the whack me with additional costs that have never been discussed ....only when I offered way back to get it finished.....can you see why I'm worried?
Help

[JK2054]

you do nothing.

just wait

[kiteboy]

OK cool just hold my nerve then - I just keep thinking he has some sort of angle I dont know about and I just wanted to make it abundantly clear I wont be paying a penny more before he does anymore - hes apparently comming this afternoon now to pour some concrete

[JK2054]

just let it run and he'll do what he does.

[kiteboy]

Well I thought I would update people. He came back to do the side of the house. Only a small section. That turned out great. No issues at all with it. Hes just come back today and its gone horribly wrong again. I could see quite early myself the concrete didnt look too wet. Basically he put it down and couldnt get an imprint into it all all......I do feel quite bad for him now , he has tried andprobably wasted the best part of £1k today. He had the same mix, same company but its a complete disaster. So its all got to come up yet again. He did mention we will have to come to some form of agreement now so thats it ...he should have rejected the concrete if he wasnt happy. So will see what happens now. But my advice would be to NEVER have a concrete drive!....I would settle for 5K as its £100 per meter and we have 50m sqaure to do again in the front. I dont expect him to offer that but will see what happens. With regard to the court case, hes extended it and then requested mediation. I just hope we can come to an agreement now and then part ways. Hes also peeved off a neighbour one side of me too so dealing with the flack of that too....complete and utter disaster

[JK2054]

No, go to mediation, and make it clear that you have consumer rights. dont be the one to back down

[kiteboy]

Hi - the mediation period is set to end in on Novemeber the 4th - I said we would accept £4500 after his initial offer of around £2900 which we declined. I know he has lost out and we have too but we would be OK with £4500 just so we can move on..... he has accepted those terms via whatsapp. However he mentioned he was going to email some form of document over I expect that to be some sort of non-disclosure agreement or something but I still havent had anything through yet so we are still in limbo.......with the mediation deadline set to close what do I do now????....ive literally just seen theres a free telephone service so Ive just asked for that (a bit tight) but hopefully that may push him a bit further.....or should I just submit the claim now and go to court (he dragging things out for sure) .....I literally just have to click submit now. Until the money is in my account I dont beleive a word he says.

Just clicked sumbit now and while i thought that was the section regarding going to court - its not - 28 days for telephone mediation now - so its submitted

[kiteboy]

Hi all - have a call with the mediation people tommorrow. This Wednesday the drive guy sent me a letter and in bold it says "Without Prejudice Save as to Costs" Im just googling what that basicallyy means but in this letter he agreed to pay me £4500 and he will pay me within 21 days.

He also states this "Whilst I do not admit any liability for the problems which arose, I am sorry that problems were
experienced, and I am prepared to make a financial offer to settle the matter in the sum of £4,500" Does this seem OK to you guys?? Ive not signed the letter yet as I was going to tell the mediation people tommorrow that this letter have been recieved so its logged formally if you know what I mean.

OK just googled what it means so its that the offer is private essentially and it cant be used as evidence in court I take it. So the question now do I sign it and cancel the mediation telephone call or just carry on with the mediation anyway.

[JK2054]

do not sign it.

go to mediaton, see what you can get, don't go lower than that offer letter, but try to shoot higher, towards 5/5.5k. worst case is you can accept the 4.5k at mediation and he's legally bound by it.

[kiteboy]

Just saw this response - we have now settled out of court now - Im more than happy getting 4.5K as we have both lost out essentially. However I have also had the electric upgraded for free to the whole house (three phase) - so all in all its worked out OK really. Ive found another guy about 30mins away from me and hes done the drive in no time ....all sorted so we now have a drive again. Seeing how quick and easy it was to do by someone who knows what they are doing just makes you realise wot a p*ss take the original guy was. Thanks for all the help. It was a massive relief gettinhg the payment as partner is being made reduanfant so feels like a huge relief all round. Thanks for all the advice on here. Never had issues like this before and having that stick has worked. We feel lucky as if it went to court and won there was no gurantee of getting any money back......If Ive learned anything - dont pay anyone unless your happy with the job.... its been crazy how long this has dragged on ...thanks everyone