Need some help with company making a claim against me

[Helpwithsmallclaims]

Wondering if anyone can offer me any kind of guidance or help with a small claims case.

Person did some work on our house but it cant be signed off as it's bad with some major issues. Have had others inspect it and agree it's awful and needs significant work to put right.

The situation is quite complex but the short of it is they had more money than they should of due to various reasons, they invoiced us which we disputed and they couldnt answer our questions and got quote hostile making un reasonable demands before they would fix issues.

Now they are making a claim for the unpaid invoice stating we are refusing to pay with quite a weak argument as to why they are right with incorrect Information.
We need to use the remaining un disputed amount which we agreed to pay once things were put right to pay a new person to put right what they have done. (We dont want them back in our house now after we gave them 1 chance and it was still a mess after)

My question is what is the best way to respond to their claim that will hopefully get it thrown out.

1. Only answer the points they made with why we dispute what they are saying and how they are incorrect.
2. Answer the points as above and add in alot of information they have failed to make known in regards to situation as a whole.

Who reads the defense and what do they do with it?

What's the best way to lay it out?

Do these things get thrown out or will we end up in court?

Is it worth putting in a counter claim knowing they wont be able to pay to make a point?

I dont want to overload with information but I have currently written 6 pages of defense explaining the actual Ins and outs of the exact situation and the path of why we are where we are.

CAB and a solicitor agree with us that we shouldn't have to pay under consumer rights act. We canf afford to pay the solicitor to take it forward.

Due to this person being an acquaintance we only did a job list with payment plans.. no actual contract per se with terms and conditions etc.. is it worth putting that in??

Any help someone can give me would be appreciated. This person has turned quite nasty and has been quite awful in emails to me. Their company also have ccjs against it although our beef is with the individual

We have also found out that a relative has started another company for them to work under.
Thanks all

You can't get this thrown out without going to court. The only way you can stop it going to court is to settle, which would not be appropriate in your situation.

When you file your defence a copy will be sent to the person suing you. It will form part of the bundle of documents that will be referred to by the judge and both parties in court.

It doesn't sound like you want a refund from them so you can't counter claim.

Set out your case clearly and in a logical order. Make sure you keep to the point - a relative starting another company sounds irrelevant, for example.

There clearly was a contract, it just wasn't in writing. Unless the fact there was no written contract is relevant, don't put it in.

You have now written contract? Do you have a quote or anything in wrong?

Spelling. Ffs.

We have a list of items which make up the job with a total cost and then a payment plan.

Due to the person's circumstances, running out of money and personal financial difficulties we ended up paying nearly all the money. Where as we should have about 17% left to pay.

It's quite complicated so I am not sure how much detail I should give on my defense regarding that. The money remaining makes up a small bit of their invoice but then they have added on alot of additional stuff. Some of which to begin with we agreed to but as he had more money than he should we wouldnt pay until he completed the job. We then disputed the rest of the invoice and he has refused to meet with us to discuss.

The persons emails are lengthy, confusing and aggressive at times to the point of bullying which cab and a solicitor agreed they were. (Plus others who have read them) but I am not sure if I should include those emails at this stage as an appendix or wait till it goes to court.

I honestly cant see him willing to settle. He is dead set that he is right and we are wrong on a very top level overview basically hes completed, we havent paid and have changed the goalposts.

But with all the additional information, complex situation of his making and requests that isnt the case.

We would do a counterclaim if it makes our case stronger but I an not sure if it would just look like we are being petty. However by the sounds of it if he gets this defense and sees our intention it may change is stance (unlikely but possible)

Thanks for your help. This whole thing is keeping me awake at night and has done for months.

We would do a counterclaim if it makes our case stronger

Only if you have a realistic claim that he should give you back some of the money you have paid to cover the cost of fixing the work. Your first post suggested that you have held back enough money to do that. If that is the case you cannot lodge a counterclaim.

@prh48bridge

Thank you that makes sense. Unless the judge rules completely in his favour resulting in us having to pay all of the money (some of which we know we dont owe as he is charging twice and the build isnt water tight so not complete) then there is enough of what is owing to pay for another contractor.

His reasons for the build not being right are incorrect as well. It's what he has done which caused the problem but I am hoping the report from the new contractor backs that fact up enough

Although according to the payment plan he should still be owed £5k as the job is not complete but due to his mismanagement of the money, asking us to pay for materials and begging us for an advance there is only £500 left.

We then have half of the invoice amount which we have agreed to in the past but held off paying as we disputed the rest of it and the job was not completed.

Those 2 outstanding amounts combined would pay for the work to be done. However we are wondering if there are grounds for a counter claim to get the £4500 back even if the judge rules we need to pay the total invoice amount.

Sorry it's really complicated and so long winded. I have no idea how to get this across in our defense case

Might it be worth paying for professional advice to at least write a defence? I don't believe you would need to instruct a solicitor to go to court but they might be able to unpick the confusion and boil it down to the relevant details.

If this is a small claim you will not be able to reclaim any solicitors fees even if you win. I would therefore avoid using a solicitor unless you really have to.

If I understand your latest post correctly, you've paid him in advance so you only owe him £500, not £5000, so you need some money back to pay for repairs. You should therefore lodge a counterclaim. However, I'm not entirely clear of the situation from your posts. For your defence you need to set it out clearly and logically - we agreed the price for the job as £x, on date A we paid £y as per the payment schedule, on date B we paid an advance of £z...

You are overthinking the issue of claim and counterclaim. The judge will look at the totality of the case to determine who owes what to whom.

If the judge rules you have to pay the full amount

Don’t worry about overloading information OP, judges are well versed in dealing with lengthy texts. Read through every line and ask yourself if it’s necessary to the story. If it is then it stays. Don’t just reply to the pursuer’s points, defences are your chance to paint your picture.

It’s unlikely it’s going to be “thrown out” so be prepared. The judge will read the defences, and will ask further questions at heading if required. As pp said a copy will go to the pursuer too.

After you’ve sent your defences you’ll shortly thereafter receive a court timetable, which will have a date on it for sending evidence by. So you don’t need to send evidence with your defence now, that’ll be lodged at a later date.

If you’re England/Wales you can recover solicitor costs in small claims but it is very limited. It is designed for part litigants though and you will be guided by the court in what to do.

If you feel you shouldn’t have to pay for some or all of the work you have already paid for, then yes counterclaim. In this type of litigation the judge can’t grant what isn’t being asked for. If you only don’t want to pay for the work they’re suing for you don’t need to counterclaim for that as the judge is deciding upon that already.

Good luck!