When building jobs go wrong!

[Agile]

I met a friend tonight who told me about a problem he has with a lady who he did £12,000 of building work for.

She paid £3500 but would not pay any more. He claimed £4999 via the small claims procedure. She counterclaimed £10,000 although £1000 of that for "stress" was deleted by the Court.

The Court told them to agree on a surveyor to inspect and report. They both paid £450 each to a surveyor. He told my friend the lady would not let the builder join him on his visit. My friend insisted he should be there so that he could explain what has been done. The surveyor still went on his own.

The draft report did not find any shortcomings in the work but commented on the prices quoted as mostly being too high although the rewiring figure was too low.

My friend was not happy and told him that he would not accept the report because he had not been present at the inspection. The surveyor replied that he would not represent them any more.

They are now in a stalemate and the Court has recommended they agree to arbitration.

I would have expected that as the prices had been quoted and accepted before the work began then its too late for the lady to make any complaint about then and something the Court would have no jurisdiction over.

Does anyone have any serious and potentially helpful comments on this situation?

Tony

 

[Shytalkz]

If his offer was in writing and she accepted that quote then that's the contract consideration. If he did that work then he's entitled to payment per the agreed sum. If he did extras and didn't agree on price before doing, then that's up for valuation if they can't agree. Why has the muppet already knocked £3500 off just to go to SCC?

 

[Agile]

I do some boiler repairs for him on behalf of his clients. I find him a very genuine and trustworthy person who always pays for my work on the spot in advance of his clients paying him.

In expect that he has a group of clients who see his helpfulness as very valued and who treat him properly and ensure that he is paid so that he will continue to help them.

Few people would do so much work without being paid as it went along but he is such a nice trusting fellow that he seems to have been taken for a ride by this lady.

Because he does not spending money on solicitors when he has done nothing wrong he probably thought that the SCC action would prompt her to pay. He was therefore rather shocked when she retaliated by counterclaiming £10,000.

I have asked my solicitor friend to have a chat with him this evening and as a favour to me she says that she will try to take over the case if she thinks that she can help to resolve it for him. I will then get to see the paperwork and can help from behind the scenes. I might offer to present the case on the day on a per bono basis as I dont like to see honest tradesmen stuffed by those who just dont want to pay.

Tony

 

[Shytalkz]

Unfortunately they are out there and, if you're not going to get turned over, you have to work to the lowest common denominator and have signed paperwork.

Sadly, these days, it's the only way.

Counterclaim is a classic tactic, aimed at getting you to drop the case.
SCC is overrun these days, it takes ages to even get to judgment and, if they claim poverty, you have to accept a pathetic weekly sum.

I don't bother with that now, any lates go straight to the credit management company with whom I have an arrangement, they chase and, best of all, it cost the punters an extra percentage on top for their costs.

None of which helps your mate over this one. It's good that you are offering him some assistance.

 

[joe-90]

More fool him for not arranging for interim payments.

 

[Thermo]

helpful as ever then

 

[toptec]

Attempting to give advice without the full facts would not be helpfull to Agile nor to his friend. I agree with Shy that SCC is more for hitting back at larger companies and that it is not the panacea people think.

Agile has already done the best thing by getting proper legal representation for him. I would not recomend you speaking for him in Court though, unless you are experienced in these matters. The judge will always want to hear from the man himself.

As I have said before there is always more to the story than one is told. For a good example ask Blas.

 

[Agile]

If I did, I would be representing him in the sense of presenting his case and questioning him. He would still be there and he would be saying what was appropriate to help his case.

Like many folk he would be very bad at clearly explaining the situation.

I have presented a few cases before and not bad at speaking ( according to my solicitor when I returned from being a witness recently ).

Tony

 

[^woody^]

There is either a bit of missing information, or the guy did not present himself adequately at court, or set out his case very well with the disclosure documents.

If he had a contract, then the Judge should have been able to give a judgement if the claimants case was properly set out, with all the details and facts.

If a surveyor was recommended by the judge, then there was enough ambiguity in the claimants case, and the defendants counter claim to warrant an expert opinion. But the surveyor should have had explicit directions as to what he was to report on - he is working for the court not either of the parties. And he should only comment on what he as been asked to comment on.

With regards to going to arbitration, do you mean mediation? This is non-binding, but shows a willingness to settle. If mediation does not come out favourably, then they can return to court for a judgement, but by the looks of things based on the events so far, the judge may go along with some of the clients counter claim

Or just return to court and ask for a judgement without mediation.

 

[Shytalkz]

The courts will usually expect both parties to try mediation before a case returns to SCC for judgement. You can't be forced to; but it can have an impact on the outcome if you don't.