Coat stolen from nightclub

[ZX123]

I paid to have my coat looked after in a nightclub cloakroom and was given a ticket as receipt to collect the coat at the end of the night. I left the club as it was closing and completely forgot about my coat, only remembering 10 minutes after it had closed. I immediately messaged the club via social media to inform them I'd forgotten to collect it and was told they hold it for a period of time and to come and collect it when they open. I went to the club 2 days later to collect and was informed it was not there and to come back when the manager was in. I then received a call that same night from the club manager to inform me my coat had been collected and to come back to view CCTV footage of it being collected.

I went back to the club, viewed the CCTV and advised the manager this was not me or anybody I know collecting the coat. The bouncer then went on to say he had given the coat out to this person, without a ticket as the person claimed they had lost their ticket during the night and that the person gave a description of the coat however all coats in the cloakroom are clearly visible from the front desk. The manager said he would investigate and get back to me within a few days which I accepted.

A few days later the manager kept delaying saying he needed more time to investigate to ensure there was no link between me and the person who stole my belongings. 2 weeks have now passed and the manager continues to ignore my calls and messages.

Today I sent a final text message advising him I will be taking it to a small court in order to resolve the issue due to lack of communication. I have never made a small courts claim and had a few questions. I'm aware I need to send a letter before claim as general practice. Do I send the letter directly to the clubs address? Does it need to be a physical letter or can it be sent online and if so would it be to their general info email address stated on their website? Do I need to go into specifics about the specific contract terms and act's they've violated eg "Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977" and the "Consumer Rights Act 2015 Services" or does it just need to be a general description of the situation as I've done above, along with my details, claim amount, how it can be resolved and a deadline for response?

Any help is appreciated greatly.

[R0b]

Your letter before action should contain enough detail about the dispute to enable the other side to know the case against it. For specific disputes, there are protocols as to how the LBA must be set out but basic breach of contract/negligence disputes like this, you would follow the Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols. Most LBAs under this protocol have specific format with slight variations but see below an example of how you might want to set it out with sub-headings.

There is no specific rule that sets out the method of the LBA under the protocol so you could send it by email or via their contact form. I would caution against sending any LBA where you do not have proof that it was sent. Standard practice would be to send to LBA to by post to the nightclub in question, first class post and obtain proof of postage. If the nightclub is a chain or has a head office elsewhere, it makes sense to send a copy there also.

If there's an email address you could do that in lieu of posting and equally you could hand deliver the LBA though if you do that I suggest you take a photo of the letter outside the nightclub with it in view so you have proof of delivery i.e. hold up the letter in focus with the nightclub's name or something to that effect. So long as you hand deliver it to someone at the nightclub it is deemed delivered - if they refuse to take it off you then it is also legally acceptable to leave it and place it on a table but again, photo evidence of you doing so as a back up in case they dispute it was never served on them.

BE AWARE: Before you rush into starting legal proceedings you need to be absolutely certain as to the correct name(s) of the defendants who should be listed on the claim form. Get this wrong and you could potentially end up spending more in costs to amend your claim than the value of compensation you are seeking or having to defend it from being struck out - no abbreviations, missing words or anything like that, it has to be exact. If you're struggling, give us some details of the nightclub and we can try to assist when you get to that stage.

Notice of intention to commence legal proceedings
This letter is sent to you as required by the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols (the Protocol), paragraph 6.

Parties to the dispute
The parties to this dispute are myself [insert your name] and you, being [insert full defendant's name and address]. If you have reason to believe that you are not a party to this dispute or the details provided above are incorrect, please reply to this letter and provide a reasonably detailed explanation. In the event that I commence legal proceedings against you and it transpires that: (i) you are not party to this dispute or (ii) any information about you as a defendant is incorrect and I am required to amend my claim in any way, I will ask the court to make an order that you pay my costs incurred on the basis that you had a reasonable opportunity to respond but failed to do so.

The complaint against you

The legal basis
[INSERT ANY RLEEVANT CONTRACT TERMS AND LEGISLATION YOU WISH TO RELY ON TO SUPPORT YOUR CLAIM AGAINST THE DEFENDANT]

The factual basis
[DESCRIBE THE FACTS WHICH CAUSED THE DEFENDANT TO BE IN BREACH OF CONTRACT]

Consequences of the breach
[EXPLAIN HOW THE BREACH HAS AFFECTED YOU. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU BOUGHT GOODS FROM THE DEFENDANT YOU MIGHT SAY THAT AS A RESULT THE GOODS NO LONGER WORK OR ARE DAMAGED IN TERMS OF ITS APPEARANCE AND THEREFORE LOST ITS VALUE]

Evidence supporting my claim

[REFER TO ANY EVIDENCE SUPPORTING YOUR CLAIM OR IF DELETE IF NOT APPROPRIATE AT THIS STAGE]

Action required
[THIS IS WHERE YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU WANT FROM THE OTHER SIDE IN ORDER TO RESOLVE THE DISPUTE]

In accordance with the Protocol, I require a response from you as to whether you accept liability and agree to compensate me as described above or, if you deny any responsibility, then you should explain why. If I do not hear from you by [INSERT DATE], I will commence legal proceedings without further notice.

[echat11]

I think this might be the same OP.

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...in-a-nightclub

[islandgirl]

I knew I had seen this problem before!

[atticus]

I have seen it elsewhere.

[ULA]

Yes user SG777 posted the same. I believe they are the same user.

ZX123 can you confirm thay you are also registered as user SG777. If so please let me know which registered username you would like to continue posting as, so I can delete the other account to avoid confusion.