Damage to item when staying at paid for house with large group

[Sb12345]

Hello

I have received an email 'without prejudice' asking for a 4 digit amount of money. The email asserts that myself as the person who made the booking for the "paid for" house must pay this 4 digit amount to repair some damage to some items in the house. No one within the party knows if the damage was made by us or who if so within the party made the damage. The amount seems excessive for the damage that has been alleged in two areas of the house and at this stage there is no 'proof' (evidence?) that the damage was made by us (the party group).

Main points
-although booked through a booking agent no disclaimer was signed (the property owner did not bring it over to sign), does this mean we are not liable (if any damage was indeed caused by us)
-no evidence has been sent that the damage was caused by the party (i.e does the owner need to send before during and after photos to prove it was us?) only photos of the alleged damage have been sent but I would imagine this doesn't prove anything
-there were a number of issues with the house that we weren't happy with including lack of caution tape (Health and safety) in areas of low ceiling and trip hazard on the floor, other damage that was noted to furniture etc., Does this help us to argue this ? Or are they very much separate issues

Please let me know if there are any other questions or other relevant points that I need to make to assist in resolving this issue.

At this stage the only correspondence I have is an email 'without prejudice', what does this mean legally. Could this matter be taken to court ? If so what would the likely outcome be


Thankyou very much for any assistance and apologies if this is in the wrong forum

[ostell]

Without prejudice means that the letter cannot be shown to the court if the offer is refuted. Many people use this all the time with the belief that it is all the proper wording to use and protects them from their letter being shown in court. It doesn't, there was no offer.

Write back and ask for before photos and a copy of the inventory signed by a member of the party. Don't bother with the "wothout prejudice" unless you are making an offer to settle.

[Sb12345]

Thankyou so much for the quick response!

Can I ask what should we do if we believe we caused the damage? Should we just make a payment. Or they need to provide us with full accurate and proper information etc. And also if they don't have a 'before' and 'after' photo do we just refuse to pay on the basis that it can't be proven or will a court not be interested and just think on balance it was likely caused by a large group etc

[ostell]

Court is balance of probability.

If you are making them an offer to settle the matter then you do write a "without prejudice save as to costs" heading. You are making an offer and yif it proceeds to court then you don't want that offer details made know to the court. If the court award less than your offer then you you produce the letter and ask for your costs.

But in the first place ask them to prove their loss. You can not be expected to pay for betterment, ie if they are claiming for damage to a 15 year old carpet they cannot claim for the cost of a new one.