Consumer rights for services

[Amethyst]

lol, other half just showed me this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn4DKMxUCy8 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwxOPiCkkk4 - he's not your mechanic is he ( or van as it's a 2011 van too ) ? ( that'd be a bit too much of a coincidence I think - http://www.atyours.co.uk/ )

[Julesg7]

Amethyst - thank you so very much for your help. It's much appreciated and making me feel less alone in all of this. My husband's fully committed to it but he's not a paperwork kind of guy so it's all falling on me.

I think your questions above are great but the only thing I don't understand is why we need to request this information from him. I thought I just needed to draft a statement of defence (and possibly counterclaim) to accompany the court papers when I lodge them so would just need to tell the court that we had not had this information.

[Julesg7]

OMG!!!! I've just seen the post above about YouTube - yes, it is him! He's making money from our repair job on our driveway!!! I've copied screenshots down showing our our van's reg but again, have no idea where we stand from a legal point on this. Surely he should have sought our permission first though. Well done to your husband for finding this. Sorry, I know I'm negatively biased but he gave me the creeps from the outset and has proved himself to be horrible money-grabber! I have other evidence too but don't want to post it publicly.

[Amethyst]

It's a tactic thing - ask the right questions and he realises he doesn't have a case, that you are taking it seriously, he's in too deep or he fabricates evidence... all of which help you when it comes to filing your defence - rather than filing defence and waiting for him to come up with info in his witness statement. Also if he doesn't comply he can be ordered to.

[ostell]

So a lot of that additional time was spent filming the operation so that he could sell it !! Sooo.......... An invoice to Mr Barrett for £2,000 for the use of your van and premises for production of video for commercial purposes and commision of 25% on all sales. Plus £600 for the breach of GDPR in the release and publishing of your personal information, on the internet. DVLA have determined that VRM details are subject to the restrictions of GDPR.

Or you could counterclaim for these sums, though a suitably made out invoice, and a link to it, might just result in a withdrawal of claim. Make sure you take a copy of it.

[des8]

Re comment in post 15 Public Liability
Public Liability Insurance is not compulsory for any one in the UK.
the nearest we get to it is Third party liability under the road Traffic Act.

In any case even if the mechanic had PL it would not be of any use to OP.
You should be asking if he has professional indemnity cover (also k/a Malpractice insurance) which might even be included in a mobile mechanics Insurance
PI insurance covers financial loss, personal injury and property damage resulting from negligent act, error or omission while working for a client.

[Julesg7]

Ostell - thank you so much for this further information. Are your figures (£2,000, £600 & 25%) based on proper guidelines or just a educated guess in the circumstances?

We've got to go out shortly so I may not be able to check back here again until tomorrow now, not that I expect quick replies - we've all got busy lives and I'm just grateful for the time all posters have taken in assisting with this problem.

[ostell]

Just figures to scare the shits out of him while not being over the top.

What do film companies pay for the hire of premises to produce a film

£600 has been claimed before for data protection breaches, he has used your premises for additional business purposes without your permission so he should pay for it.

Of course if he goes ahead then you will inroduce those fil clips to the court to show that he was taking longer than he should because he was spending time making that film.

[Amethyst]

Gosh, it is the same guy - wow.... well like Ostell says it's possibly why he took so bloody long doing the change. I don't think he'll have made many £6 off his video as he's left the 'pay' version publicly available. So we could add a question;

Did you obtain permission to film the work being undertaken on the defendant's property ?

I'll put the request together

[Amethyst]

Re comment in post 15 Public Liability
Public Liability Insurance is not compulsory for any one in the UK.
the nearest we get to it is Third party liability under the road Traffic Act.

In any case even if the mechanic had PL it would not be of any use to OP.
You should be asking if he has professional indemnity cover (also k/a Malpractice insurance) which might even be included in a mobile mechanics Insurance
PI insurance covers financial loss, personal injury and property damage resulting from negligent act, error or omission while working for a client.

Thanks des, I think that's what I meant - insurance in case something was done wrong and causes a major problem/crash etc ... his websites states 'insured' so one would hope he does have insurance or there might be a misleading advertising involved too.

[Amethyst]

Your name
Your address
Your postcode


Date

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Address
Address
Address


Dear Sirs,

PRELIMINARY REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION - CPR PART 18


In the Northampton County Court Business Centre
Claim No. XXXXXX


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Claimant

v

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Defendant



To the Claimant,

You are requested to provide the following clarification or information under CPR Part 18 and the Part 18 Practice Direction by 4pm 17th September 2018 :

1: You are claiming £930.28 please provide a full breakdown of this sum including any copies of invoices.

2: Please provide copies of receipts for the Parts purchased in order to complete the works.

3: When you attended the Defendant's property did you give a quotation for the work, parts required or any time estimate. If so please provide a detailed account.

4: In your advertising literature you stated that you are insured. Please provide details of such insurance.

5: Please provide a breakdown of payments received from the Defendant.

6: Please provide a detailed breakdown of the works undertaken

7: Please provide a detailed breakdown of the hours worked.

8: As the work progressed did you keep the Defendant update with any progress or changes to your original quotation ?

9: Are you registered for VAT and is VAT included in your invoices ?

10: Did you obtain permission to film the work being undertaken on the defendant's property ?

11: Was any consideration agreed for such filming?

Please be reminded that a Statement of truth is to be completed with the response to this request for further information by the Responding Party. You should send the reply to the above address to arrive by 4pm 17^th September 2018.

Kind regards


xxxxxx
Defendant

[Amethyst]

Can you tell us the date of issue of the claim please. ( or the date defence needs to be filed by ) ( 33 days from date of issue)

[Julesg7]

Thanks again all for your contributions. I've got so much going round in my head but am making notes as I go along too. Unfortunately I didn't have much time over the weekend after Saturday afternoon but it was good to get away from the stress of it for a while.

Needless to say we are extremely unhappy that he has posted videos of this online (both paid for and free) - my husband is actually livid which doesn't happen very often!

I've also been searching on the net to try and find out if there is any difference between losing a defended case and losing a defended/counterclaimed case. I'll keep looking but if anyone knows the answers...

Someone else has mentioned about not referring to law in the defence but surely we have to to make our defence strong.

Right, at work now so need to get on. Can't even take any time off at present so afraid I just have to do bit and pieces where I can.

Thanks again all :-)

[Julesg7]

Amethyst - just seen your most recent post - I'll review in my lunch break later however the date of issue was 28 August making the date of service 2 September. I have filed the acknowledgement of service stating that we are defending the whole claim so now have until 30th September I believe (although due to personal circumstances we actually only have until 25th, and preferably well before this).

[Amethyst]

Things in his favour
The work was completed, and to a good standard ( ? )
You didn't ask him to stop work.
You didn't ask him for a specific quote up front.

Things in your favour
He didn't provide you with a quote
He has provided invoices or a breakdown of time
He filmed his work ( using additional time ) ( and appears to be profiting from that film which was taking without permission)
He didn't provide any receipts for parts
He didn't ask permission to proceed when coming across any problems which would extend time and require additional parts


It's an argument about the amount of an invoice under a simple, verbal, contract so is likely to be resolved through mediation. You have already paid him what you felt the work was worth ( maybe a bit more ). It'll come down to was the xxx hours reasonable ? Were the parts actually required/obtained at reasonable cost ? and had you agreed to pay for those parts, extension of time.

Part of the verbal contract was that you needed the vehicle for Monday and he agreed to do that, therefore the time estimate agreed ( I believe from what you have said ) was 2 days. Anything beyond that should have been discussed and agreed.

If you defended then you'd have opportunity to pay with 28 days from Judgment so the CCJ isn't recorded against you. It's small claims so costs would be limited ( to time off work and travel for the other side - not sure he'd get away with £40 an hour for attending the hearing but he might - though it's likely to be restricted to more like £100 unless the judge found you were action unreasonably.

I'm not entirely sure what you are considering counterclaiming for ? To enter a counterclaim you'd need to pay the court fee, and then he'd need to defend the counterclaim. No difference really in what would happen if you lost the counterclaim - you wouldn't get your court fee back and would have to pay his costs ( for that part ) IF the judge awarded them.