Hi, Just saying hello

[ElleT]

I'm feeling the angst as received a Claim Form from County Court business centre and I am defending the claim.

I had work done to my business vehicle which came to an extortionate amount, I exclaimed in horror at the invoice, paid a sum to the garage but not the full amount. After several people were also exclaiming horror, I sought professional opinion and was very balanced in my task, however, every single professional said the invoice is far too high and the amount I have paid so far is adequate. I relayed all this back to the Garage explaining I now have had 'seeds of doubt' cast to the full cost of their invoice,

I asked to discuss but they refused, explained where I was and how this has left the invoice in dispute but he still would not discuss just said you owe me the balance, pay up.

I had no proper procedure re the protocol for pushing a debt only a threat to take it to court. I wrote to him, he did not reply. I then received this Court claim form. I am defending it, but I want to know do I go into a huge amount of detail on the N9B form or do I deny each point but in a summary as the form only has 2 small boxes! I do appreciate you can add extra but I have been told the huge bulk of the defence happens next?

[Amethyst]

Hi Elle,

Welcome to the forum.

Could you tell us the date of issue printed on the claim form please. Have you acknowledged the claim with intent to defend ( gives you a bit extra time and time to request further details from the claimant before defending )

Also if there are particulars of claim if you could type those out please.

I'm going to tag R0b and des8 as this relates to a garage/car claim.

Before having the work done did you obtain a quote,or an estimate, did they have a list of things that needed doing etc. Did they quotes you for specific parts and labour?

How far out is the invoice you received compared to what you think it should have cost? You have paid part of the invoice and submitted a written complaint over the remainder?

The defence should be a straightforward response to the claim. Any documents and further detail will come later in Witness Statements.

[R0b]

Couple of questions:

1. Are you a self-employed, sole trader or some other business structure?
2. Were there any agreed terms and conditions either verbally or in writing?
3. Does the invoice break down the hours spent completing the work?
4. When you took it to other professionals, did they give you an estimate of how much the work should cost? Have you got written evidence from them?
5. Can you post up a copy of the claim form/particulars of claim word for word?
6. What percentage of the invoice have you paid, and how have you arrived at that amount?

Des will be able to confirm but I'm sure there's a guide on hourly rates for garage repairs.

[ElleT]

Thank you so much for your reply, to answer:

Date on the Claim form is 2.9.19

I have acknowledged the form giving me 28 days from this date to file defence

I have filled out the defence form but really don't know how much detail to go into at this point?

I asked the claimant for further details in a letter which he did not reply to

Particulars of Claim:
----------------------------
The C entered into an agreement to provide the D with goods/or services.
Following the agreement, the C provided goods and or services to the D and raised an invoice(s) for the agreed sum.
The D failed to pay the agreed sum of £5328.00 for the performance of the agreement timeously.
The C has requested payment but the D has refused or delayed to pay.
The C claimes the sum of £3828.00 being the unpaid balance of the price of the goods sold and /or services rendered by the C to the D.
The C seeks compensation arising from late payment to the value of £70.00 and statutory interest at the rate of 8.25% from the date the invoice became due at a daily rate of £1.20 being £321.54 as to today and continuing at that rate until judgement or sooner payment.
------------------------


I did not obtain a quote or estimate as the vehicle was an MOT failure and I was in need of the repair doing, I phoned the claimant and explained the issue and was told "We can fix this for you"

I dropped the vehicle off to them, thanked them for their help.

Re the cost, I estimated and thought about £1,000 as I'd had some welding done in the past and it was under a hundred!

As this was an MOT failure and was told "It is rusty" I allowed more.

I was flabbergasted at the Invoice.

The C did keep sending me photos of the rust and claimed it was bad, as I am not a welder I didn't know how to respond other than "Oh dear" (but then it was a MOT failure and that IS a welding job after all?)

It was after the work was done that fellow professionals to the C have said this is far too much, this is "a typical welding job".

I was advised not to pay any more than the £1,500.00 already paid to C

I spoke to 3 other welders, showed them the MOT failure certificate, the photos of the rust etc and the invoice, they all said the same, invoice too high.

I was always very balanced I did not 'lead' them into saying it was too high because I didn't know, I wanted an honest opinion, it was after all of them said the same that 'seeds of doubt' were cast.

I 'said' (Watsapp messages) to the Claimant all of this, but he still said, pay up!

I asked to meet to discuss he refused.

I wanted to explain why I was at this point and it was because of the opinions of other welders and mechanics that have caused me to feel I have been overcharged.
I also wrote to him asking for a more descriptive breakdown of his Invoice and other requests, but he did not reply.

I am Self-Employed - Ltd Company running the business single handed.

There were no agreed T&C's

The hours worked are in 'bulks 10 hours here 10 hours there (£50.00 an hour) - total labour £3900 Parts £540 then VAT

I have been told by another mechanic it is "a very vague invoice"

One Welder, who is a commercial welder, so used to seeing really extensive rust and huge jobs said "ridiculous, it's about £2,000 a sentence he should come and work for me he'd see much worse" N.B. £2000.00 a sentence referring to the MOT failure certificate.

des8
Trying to tag ROb

[Amethyst]

R0b ( he has a 0 instead of a O in his name )

[ElleT]

R0b I’ve replied to your questions hope you can gelp

[ElleT]

Couple of questions:

1. Are you a self-employed, sole trader or some other business structure?
2. Were there any agreed terms and conditions either verbally or in writing?
3. Does the invoice break down the hours spent completing the work?
4. When you took it to other professionals, did they give you an estimate of how much the work should cost? Have you got written evidence from them?
5. Can you post up a copy of the claim form/particulars of claim word for word?
6. What percentage of the invoice have you paid, and how have you arrived at that amount?

Des will be able to confirm but I'm sure there's a guide on hourly rates for garage repairs.

Hi, Thank you for your reply, I have responded to your questions, have you seen them?

[R0b]

Hello sorry, I missed this.

I guess the best way to assist you is for you to post up your defence then we can read it and provide any comments.

Obviously this is a he said she said scenario and I have to be honest if someone provided me with a quote around the £5k mark I would have been shocked and questioned it.

On the assumption no quote was given or agreed then i think ythiprobably need to base your defence around the fact that the work to be done was on a 'quantum meruit' basis. In other words, what the garage reasonably deserves to be paid for the work carried out where not contract had been agreed.

You also mentioned blocks of 10 hours though dont actually say the total number of hours the garage worked to complete the job.

Going out and getting a couple of independent and written quotes I.e. on company headed paper on how many hours the job would reasonably take and the cost and then work out the average of it. If theres a difference between that and what you paid you could offer that up or stick to your guns and let the court decide if what you've paid is reasonable but going to court without any actual evidence other than hearsay would not be advised.