Has anyone here successfully sued for Defamation?

[Rosiegirl]

We have some very unpleasant neighbours. (not just in our opinion) In the past we had a few disagreements/arguments with them. Nothing has been said/done for 5/6 years then suddenly they have written a "rant" to the local parish council, complaining about everyone and everything (obviously hate living here), within this letter, they specifically mention me and my business in a derogatory way. I have taken legal advice and have been told it is definitely defamation, but to even get a letter sent will cost £300, and I have been warned if it goes to court it will be High Court and could cost a fortune, and defamation/slander can be very hard to win, even if it looks cut and dried. I have been told I can send a Cease and Desist letter myself, to warn if anything else happens, we will definitively take them to court, but feel if it comes from me they will not take it seriously.

Would a letter from a solicitor hold more weight, or does it matter at this early stage. Has anyone got any other advice, or gone through this themselves?

I?m afraid it does cost a fortune to do it through court and the general view is it?s very hard as it?s difficult to prove a financial loss.

I would have thought the fact they may ignore it is isn?t important IF you definately can follow through, as it?s really about creating a paper trail and taking all reasonable steps to warn them that it is defamatory and giving them the opportunity to stop without punitive action? That?s the advice I?ve been given by the police.

But it depends if doing anything may start a war that you can't win, versus if what they're doing is so bad it's going to force you into a war anyway, in which case you've nothing to lose.

In my case untrue and defamatory claims are being used as an excuse for harassment and public vilification, which is then causing others to join in as a result of believing it. :(
(I asked on here for help in wording my letter but received no answers so removed my post as I thought maybe it was being ignored as it broke some rule/unspoken rule that I'd missed.)

I wish you luck, it?s miserable to have done nothing wrong and be at the mercy of someone else?s random vitriol and how others react to it.

You are unlikely to get someone here to draft you a letter before action. it's a very complicated area of law, which is why the initial letter will cost £300. Whoever does the letter for you will have to sit down with you and take full particulars.
The court can make an injunction to restrain future defamatory acts.

Thank you for your responses, I don't necessarily want a letter drafting, but before we bother taking it any further, I wondered what other peoples experiences have been. The more I look into it the harder it seems.

Well how about looking at it from a harrassment angle? They have mentioned you and your business in a letter to the local parish council. That in itself need not have a detrimental effect on your business and tbh if you took it to court you would most likely lose as the letter was not made public. Defamation cases usually concern public spats that have resulted in a business being tarnished. Look at the cases of TripAdvisor where small businesses have suffered as a result of disgruntled ex-workers or neighbours or even total strangers posting extremely bad reviews and warning people away. The businesses just have to lump it as they cannot take TripAdvisor to court - they didn't write the reviews, so they would have to take the individuals who hide behind a nickname to court and many of them cannot afford the costs involved to do that.

However if you feel that this letter amounts to harrassment you can inform the police. It very much depends on the content of the letter. Or you could send something along these lines:

Dear xxx

It has been brought to my attention that you have named myself and my business in a recent letter sent to the local Parish Council dated xxxx.

The allegations detailed in the letter concerning myself are untrue and extremely unpleasant. Please be advised that any further accusations will be taken seriously and reported to the police with copies, along with a copy of this letter. This may result in court action being taken against you.

I must ask you, if you have any complaints, to address them to myself in person so that I may aim to resolve the problems in a civilised manner.

Yours sincerely xxx

Then with the letter the police know that you have taken action and have asked that complaints be made directly to you. Also you have only mentioned that you 'may' take legal action, so the threat is there but it doesn't mean that you have to carry it out. Further letters that name you in person can be construed as harrassment as it is both upsetting and distressing for the person named.

HTH

Thank you Rhubarb0. I have also been looking at other cases, where harassment charges have been brought instead of a defamation/liable case. I feel this isn't going to stop, so will consider it from the point you have made.

Thanks again.

Rosie

Just one correction to Rhubarb0 - you would not lose a libel case just because the letter was not made public. It is still libel even if it is in a private letter from one person to another. It would, however, reduce the level of damages awarded.