won Claim for return of College fees-service not provided - now Suing for loss of earnings.

[needadvice1]

Hi,

 

I am looking for a few bits of advice...

 

I am looking to sue a private teaching college and I am 90% sure I would win the case but I wanted to confirm on thing...

 

When I bring a claim, if I lose and the defendant has paid a solicitor etc for representation, will I have to pay for those costs?

 

Thanks!

[bedlington83]

It depends on which track the claim is assigned to. Is it for less than £5K? Just out of interest, why are you so certain that you'd win?

[needadvice1]

its under 5k and i'm pretty sure i'd win because the other party are so wrong...!

[MARTIN3030]

In small claims costs are discretionary-so it would be up to the Judge on the day.

If the other side won and the facts of the matter showed that you were wrong to bring your action,then costs could be awarded against you.

Generally solicitors costs are not awarded against a litigant in person but at the end of the day-all factors have to be taken into account.

However if you win then you could claim up to two thirds of what it would have cost you to use a Solicitor to fight your case.

[bedlington83]

However if you win then you could claim up to two thirds of what it would have cost you to use a Solicitor to fight your case.

Really!? I thought only actual costs could be awarded, even to a litigant in person (e.g. cost of travel to court etc.).

[bedlington83]

its under 5k and i'm pretty sure i'd win because the other party are so wrong...!

Morally wrong and legally wrong are sometimes quite different.

[MARTIN3030]

You can claim £9.25 per hour this can be for things like researching case law or CPR etc.

On top of this you have things like traveling expenses stationary phone calls etc.

 

The 5k ceiling is not absolutely rigid-a Judge can allow a little over.

If you dont know the amount you are claiming then you would state "not more than 5k" if you wanted it to stay in small claims.

Depends what you are thinking of taking them to court for...there are different pre-action protocols depending on that.

If you are so sure you would win-why are you asking about potential costs against you ?

[needadvice1]

Morally wrong and legally wrong are sometimes quite different.

 

 

legally wrong mate

 

i paid for a service they did not provide.

 

anyone think it would be Ok to post the details on here and have oyu guys give it a once over?

[needadvice1]

I wont be claiming anymore than £2000. It may even be around £1000. It highly depends on what the judge deems reasonable for damages in my situation.

 

BTW, I'm a little confused now about the info being supplied. My original question was about what "expenses" the defendant can claim IF they win the claim bought by me, the claimant.

[bedlington83]

anyone think it would be Ok to post the details on here and have oyu guys give it a once over?

I think you'll have to. Make sure you get rid of any personal details, including your own, and company names

[needadvice1]

ok, ill do that tonight

[needadvice1]

BTW, plese can we go back to orignal question before I post more details...?

 

My original question was about what "expenses" the defendant can claim IF they win the claim bought by me, the claimant.

 

Help?

[bedlington83]

It depends. We'd need to know the details of your claim and what you've done to resolve the matter before you file the claim. If you've gone straight to court without trying to resolve the problem directly with the college it will may make you liable for their costs. It depends on the judge to be honest.

 

But before we start talking about costs let's establish if you actually have a claim

[needadvice1]

hi all,

 

please find documents attached.

 

any comments would be very helpful

 

thank you all in advance for your help and advice

email 200309 edit.doc

Notes.doc

Edited May 17, 2009 by Rooster-UK

[needadvice1]

what's up with this approval for attachments?

[needadvice1]

what do we think?

[Rooster-UK]

Hi needadvice1.

 

I have approved the first two attachments, but the third one (a letter) contains personal information.

If you would like to remove the name and address and any other personal info and then re-post it, that will also be approved.

 

Regards, Rooster.

[needadvice1]

Please find the last doc attached again.

 

Sorry mods, for any hassle caused

notice litr EDIT.doc

[legalpickle]

Can I ask the name of the institution?

 

To answer your posts:

 

1. In small claims costs are awarded for unreasonable behaviour by either party. This is at the discretion of the judge, but usually only granted in cases where it should have been blatantly obvious that there was no case to answer. There is no guarantee however that costs will not be awarded against you if your lose. Usually such costs would have to be proportionate to the amount claimed, but if your documents filed are substantial then this can get quite high.

 

2. Compensation [for stress & aggravation] is a very difficult area of law. Grounds for compensation are;

a) Through an Ombudsman/Adjudication/Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") scheme. Various sectors are covered by various schemes [such as the Financial Ombudsman Service for the financial sector, CISAS & Otelo for the telecoms sector], some obligatory and some not. There are well over 100 different schemes that cover different sectors. In such cases compensation can be awarded, and if awarded can be enforced in a court.

b) In cases of Personal Injury. Speak to a Personal Injury Solicitor, preferably a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers ["APIL"].

c) Racial Discrimination & Disability Discrimination.

d) Breach of contract - where SPECIFICALLY provided for in the contract.

e) Breach of contract - where it is an INTEGRAL part of the contract that enjoyment be provided through the contract, for example: package holidays, wedding planning, etc... Courses do come under this for some, but the law is very difficult to interpret so your specific circumstances need to be VERY clear.

f) Where another Act, Regulation or Directive provides specifically for such compensation, such as cancelled flights/denied boarding (EC Directive 261/2004) which is now much clearer thanks to European Court of Justice ruling C-549/07.

 

The general rule in all those where the amount of compensation must be decided by the court, is that compensation can only be awarded where;

a) The action would cause a reasonable person stress and/or aggravation.

- or where the person had a pre-existing condition that contributed to that stress and/or aggravation -

b) The defendant/s knew of the pre-existing condition prior to entering into the contract AND that the action would cause a reasonable person with those conditions such stress and/or aggravation.

If neither of these are the case or proving them would be too difficult then it is unlikely compensation could be awarded.

[legalpickle]

I am reading your letters and you seem to just want to quote any law that even may not be remotely relevant. How is the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act remotely relevant? Which third party would be suing that would be relevant to you?

 

I just want to get everything understood before I even endeavour to assist you.

[needadvice1]

My employer would be the third party. They are affected by my non-progression.

[legalpickle]

My employer would be the third party. They are affected by my non-progression.

IF they had the ability to claim then they would only be able to claim losses because of that non-progression. Proving those losses would be next to impossible. And they would have to be foreseeable losses. I suggest you drop that thought of action, because you'd definitely need a Solicitor to fight such a very difficult case and I would guess would have a high risk of having costs awarded against your employer if you even tried initiating such proceedings.

 

So who are these people?

[needadvice1]

Am I allowed to say who they are?

 

What are your thoughts on the rest of my case? The third party claim was not at all the main claim I was making, it was just a coupel of lines as a bit of a side note.

[legalpickle]

Am I allowed to say who they are?

Yes.

 

What are your thoughts on the rest of my case?

There definitely seems to be a claim for a refund and maybe consequential damages. Compensation might be a bit difficult.

 

The third party claim was not at all the main claim I was making, it was just a coupel of lines as a bit of a side note.

Yes, but by writing things like that people take you less seriously, as it wouldn't stand a remote chance of succeeding.

[needadvice1]

Ok, thank you very much for the reply.

 

Can I ask why you'd like to know the name of the company? I don't mean to be odd but I'm very new to this sort of thing so I don't have an understanding of the normal protocol.

 

Also,

 

How much do you think I could claim for in terms of damages?