Small Claims Court Advice Requested Please

[LivingThings]

Hi after a little professional advice if possible please - thanlyou (sorry massive essay coming!!)

I sold my Leasehold (Leaseholder is Somer Community Housing Trust so not just Joe Bloggs) flat 5 years ago and at the time the leaseholder was planning extensive works in their 5 year workprogramme so I left a £5K retention with the buyers solicitor to cover these costs should they arise.

Fast forward 5 years and the retention period is over so solicictor retuens £2.5ishK to me that was not used and the bills for what the rest was spent on.

Here I have a problem (talking rough figures here as no paperwork to hand) but:

There is a 2K ish bill paid - no probs as this was expected from the list of works proposed.

There is a £900 bill - I want to know what this covers but 5 months on are still waiting for a breakdown. The cover sheet for the bill looks very like the annual bills iused to get when i lived in the property which covered general maintenance, insurance, telefusion etc (none of which are in the ters o the retention)

There is another £240 being held against a quote for painiting the balcony from some painting contractor. (the retention was specifically for the Leaseholders cyclicalworks billed directly by them in the five year period - FAIL on all three couns here.

I had has written to the other Solicitor repeatedly aslking for y money back and a breakdown of the £900 bill to establishwhat (if any) of it should have been paid from the retention but they are refusing o co-operate.
I don't want (cant afford) to have the solicitor pursue this and would now like to take this to the Small Claims Court.

MY Questions are

1. I don'tnow how much (if any) of the £900 bill should be returned to me so can I actually take this to small claims court not knowing what amount I want back?
   

1. Can I claim any costs from my original solicitor pursuing this when I thought it would be a simple exchange of letters (6 months ago) (I will tell him to stop pursuing once I know if I can go to Small Claims court).
   

1. I can see no way that they can justify holding money against a quote for painting a balcony after the period of the retention has expired for work that wasn't covered or even billed bythe leaseholder - please tell me im right :)
   

Thank you so much

[MrAnchovy]

1. I don'tnow how much (if any) of the £900 bill should be returned to me so can I actually take this to small claims court not knowing what amount I want back?

Claim it all, it is for them to justify any reduction.

2. Can I claim any costs from my original solicitor pursuing this when I thought it would be a simple exchange of letters (6 months ago) (I will tell him to stop pursuing once I know if I can go to Small Claims court).

There is no reason not to include them in the claim. If the other side makes an offer that excludes them you can decide whether to accept it or let the court decide.

3. I can see no way that they can justify holding money against a quote for painting a balcony after the period of the retention has expired for work that wasn't covered or even billed bythe leaseholder - please tell me im right smile

On the facts you have disclosed you appear to be right, but there may be other facts that mean your are not (for example if the work has taken place but as the management company has not yet prepared accounts for the period the leasholder does not have an invoice that might change the position).

[digerd]

I checked with the small claims court 10 years ago, and was told there is no enforcement of a successful claim, so not worth the bother. Has it changed since then?

[prh47bridge]

The court does not automatically enforce a successful claim. The other party is supposed to pay up once you have a judgement against them. If they refuse to pay up you have to go back to court and take enforcement action. That has always been the case.

[MrAnchovy]

digerd I think you may have misunderstood; the small claims court makes orders it does not enforce them.

[digerd]

They told me it could not be enforced and that it was voluntary whether that person complied.

[digerd]

ps. I remember I was also told that enforcements were applied only in criminal cases and not in civil ones. They have only recently btought in enforcements for parking fines. There were none before, that is why so many never bothered to pay for them.

[prh47bridge]

I don't know who told you that but it is complete rubbish. It has always been possible to enforce court orders in civil cases. But you have to go back to court to get an order enforced. It is not enforced automatically.

[digerd]

How is the enforcement executed?

[IShallWearMidnight]

When I took Toys R Us to court nearly ten years ago, the next step after the failing to pay as per the order, was to get the bailiffs in. Best £50 I ever spent . The next steps were listed on the court website, so was quit easy to see what I needed to do next.

[DorsetKnobwithJingleBellsOn]

Bailiffs.

[digerd]

IShall How much did the small claims court cost 10 years ago?

[IShallWearMidnight]

can't remember offhand, but I know I claimed for admin (phone calls, stamps) as well, and was awarded all costs. Might have been £35? I know I could have claimed the bailiffs fee if (annoyingly) their payment hadn't crossed timewise with my bailiff instruction.

[IShallWearMidnight]

had a quick goolge, and the current fee structure is set out here. Doesn't seem to have changed much - my claim was for almost £400, so probably did costs £35

[digerd]

They told me it would be about £200, but was against cowboy builders I paid £2000, and was not done properly. It's still standing, but was bodged. So, you paid £50 for a court enforcement which included bailiffs going to the shop and getting the money? And sending it to you? Sounds very reasonable. Good for you.

[DorsetKnobwithJingleBellsOn]

Our recent claim for just under £2k cost us around £400.

[DorsetKnobwithJingleBellsOn]

Bailiffs were £100 in our case.

[digerd]

My claim was meant to get the builders to come back and re -build, so Bailiffs couldn't force them to do that.
In Germany, enforcements were another fine with all costs added = £1.800, and if judgement not complied with in 6 weeks, the enforcement fine, plus the original fine, if a non paid parking fine + interest at 4%, would be deducted from income source. They are ever- continuing and ever increasing enforcement fines to boot. The enforcement fines are paid to the plaintiff, only the costs go to solicitors. So, ensuring it does not pay to disobey civil court judgements. And is an imprisonable offence too.

[prh47bridge]

The small claims court only deals with claims for money. In your case you could have claimed for the cost of getting another builder to sort out the problems. Bailiffs could have enforced that judgement. The other side has to pay any bailiffs fees in addition to the amount in the judgement.

[digerd]

Thanks prh47. I have had other work done recently and employed members of Trust Mark and Federation of Master Builders who live in my vacinity and have been very satisfied. Shall not use people passing by, knocking on doors with a Call Centre as their "Head office".