Help being taken to small claims court.

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I inherited a flat from my great aunt and have just sold it. The FTB that bought it wanted most of the furniture and as I already have a house and don’t need it I agreed to leave most things. Most of the furniture is 15 plus years old but my aunt had amazing taste and didn’t stint on quality.
One of the things left was a sofa bed, probably @10 years old and I’ve never used it.
The FTB are now requesting £1500 as the sofa bed mechanism doesn’t work so won’t pull out. They are pissed!
At first they text me wanting money and when I said that the sofa wasn’t integral and wasn’t paid for so I wasn’t going to buy them a new sofa they have gone to the small claims court.
I have spoken with my solicitor and he said that they never asked for the condition of the sofa and didn’t pay money for the sofa so they don’t have a leg to stand in but do they? Would the courts side with them?
I have no receipts for the furniture and didn’t even know about the bed not working.
Anyone experienced anything like this?

There was never any monetary value attached to the sofa, they offered on the house, you accepted the offer, they asked you to leave the furniture you didn’t need it so said ok. They are idiots

To reassure you

The forest court date is a preliminary hearing in which the judge will ask them what their cause of action is

They will have to explain where it is you promised to pay for the sofas after gifting them.

It will fall apart. Please enjoy their humiliation.

The case will get thrown out.

Ps they will be asked for contractual evidence of the sofa agreement

Of which I'm assuming there isn't

Yeah absolutely, this is so true

What they have spent since or would/would not have done is irrelevant

I wouldnt even talk about the cost of removal of the sofa because you don’t want to get lumped with the cost of it.
most councils do it for free or nominal amount.
or you could have done it for free at the time of moving out as your mate has a van (at least that’s what you say if you need to)!
don’t offer solutions or would be solutions. It is not your job and it is irrelevant. Good luck.

This is infuriating.

The only thing I would be offering them is the opportunity to withdraw their claim to prevent any further time or effort wasted on both sides.

I would be very tempted to look into whether you are entitled to claim lost earnings / costs for attending court and use this as leverage to convince them to withdraw.

Don't budge an inch!

In that case " I heard from a neighbour that they have already got rid of them so we’ll see. " You would like to see the items which have the problem and get an independant assessment done

@Izzynohopanda that is the most frustrating think. They kept talking about reports and removals and buying new sofas but when asked for the report and receipts they just said no we will show them in court! Argh!
I don’t think they have anything, why not share it.

Forgot to mention that they now need to pay, I believe, another £120 to take this to court. In for a penny I suppose. They must have wasted a lot of money on this, it could be a case of we can’t stop now we have wasted all this money.

They're nuts. Seriously they are more bonkers than a lot of things I've seen on here, and I've seen some pretty bonkers things. Just defend yourself with the truth and watch their 'case' crumble. The phrase 'laughed out of court' was made for your buyer.
And update us! But don't get stressed about it, you're just unfortunate to have encountered someone who's grasp on reality is tenuous.

Good God. This really is the epitome of "wasting the court's time". They have absolutely no case. You cannot claim for furniture you were given for free. Thousands off the house? They are absolutely deluded! I don't recall if they are FTB's but assuming they must be as nobody is this thick, surely?

Following just because it’s ridiculous and I can’t believe they are trying to pursue it further

Hahaha can't believe they're taking it Sofar
Idiots!

Just found this post.

my god the absolute cheek of these people.

I'd imagine it'll be laughed out of court.

Keep strong OP and can't wait for your update.

I'm cringing at the cheekyfuckeryness of this. I don't even live in the UK but still am aware enough to know they haven't got a cat in hell's chance of winning this.

Have asked this before but you haven't answered:

Did you include the sofa-bed on the Fixtures and fittings form?

What lunatics. Let them go to small claims court, surely it’ll be decided in your favour. Tell them they may become liable for any legal bills you incur.

What horrible people. I agree that if they had anything like a report they would have shown it. Honestly what a waste of the court's time. Hope karma bites them somewhere unpleasant

I’m really curious about what your solicitor thinks of how this has progressed.

@mm81736 yes we did say we were leaving it on the form as there was a space for it, along with the curtain poles and curtains. That kind of thing. We have been informed by our conveyancing solicitors that it’s not integral, they didn’t pay for it and didn’t ask the condition so they don’t have a leg to stand on but it’s still a worry.

It is such unnecessary stress for you OP and I can't understand why they are making such a bloody fuss

If it is included in the sake, then it is not correct to day they paid nothing for it.
I think the SCC would award them something, but certainly not the whole price of a new sofa-bed.

From a conveyancers website

@mm81736 That information refers to fixtures and fittings ie things which are an integral part of the property like fitted wardrobes or fitted to the property eg light fittings, showers etc.

Free standing furniture is something different and these claimants do not have a leg to stand on.

I recon this does change things somewhat. If the sofa bed was included in the sale, they did pay for it, and so I'd say there is a reasonable expectation for it to work. You can't just include broken things in the sale.