Solicitor advice failure - possible professional negligence - property Section 20

[Andyorch]

Is this a Part 36 offer ?

[Andyorch]

Sorry scratch that its a Small Claims Track claim not applicable your claim is for £7K ?

[Lunar69]

Yes, no mention of section 36 ( I was re-reading the letter to double check).

 

Claim was for £7604 inc vat

[Andyorch]

Plus costs of issuance and inevitably a hearing fee, therefore its way off the mark and why should you agree to waiver your rights. If they are offering 3.5K that implies there is a case to answer (they have already raised it by 1K) and possibly will raise the offer further as the hearing approaches.

 

I personally would hold out and reject the offer/take my chance and see how a judge views your claim. You know the finer details of your claim and you know there has been an injustice...stick by the claim there is still time for them to better the offer.

 

Andy

[Lunar69]

Thanks Andy, Is your view that their defence reasoning strong?  I'm not a betting person but would appreciate a hint of my odds of winning the case? 

And is my next step to issue my claim via the small claims court or should I counter offer? I am prepared to go all the way to Court but may settle if the amount was closer to my claim. 

Blanked out copy of 2nd offer Sol letter dated 6th October 2022.pdf

[Andyorch]

Its impossible to say how a court would view it and the chances of their success in defending a claim. If you can prove direct loss incurred because of their actions then Im sure a court would agree (you would have to particularise direct loss in a particulars of claim and be able to evidence it later in the process) 

 

If you cant do this in support of your claim and your initial 7K contains a negligence amount resulting in what you feel is satisfactory compensation then that's a little harder to prove. You could go back and ask them to meet you half way by say £4k I'm sure £500 increase would not be beyond them in settling the matter. But as stated if your financial loss is £7.5 K provable then stick it out and either way you cannot sign anything to waiver your rights for any useable future claims.

 

Hope that helps.

[Lunar69]

I believe my claim of £7604 is only the provable direct loss - that I am having to pay for the works the council are doing under the Section 20 and the bill should be sufficient? The bill is £7604. Is this sufficient proof?

 

I am not looking for compensation, just that they pay for the cost of the Section 20.

 

Thanks for your advice Andy (I am a novice, never been to Court before).

[Andyorch]

Okay thanks....well this will be a complex claim and if your not aware issuing the claim through MOL your particulars will be restricted and you may therefore have to issue separate particulars. Your particulars of claim will be paramount in achieving success and therefore you must research on how to draft the particulars and also familirise your self with the MCOL process.

 

Post     your intended particulars (MCOLRestricted version and fully particularised draft) for opinion before submitting your claim.