Letter Of Claim for death of cat now Court Claim received.

[FTMDave]

Well the first thing to understand is that you're not actually being taken to court.

 

What is happening is that you are properly, formally, being threatened with court action.

 

Courts don't like cases being started without the parties attempting to resolve things first.  Thus they have to send you a Letter of Claim before starting a court case, which you have the chance to reply to - and you should reply.

 

How you reply depends on your position.  Are you willing to pay something?  Have you offered to pay something in writing?

 

Or do you want to tell them to shove the whole claim?

 

8 hours ago, danyboy72 said:

she is also now claiming the initial cost of the cat for £500...there is no receipt for the cat or proof of purchase for the cat...and i didnt even see the cat! it could of even been a stra

This made me immediately laugh.

 

My car cost me £6000.  Er, 15 years ago.  It's probably worth 60p now.  If someone writes it off in an accident, I get 60p.  The law is quite clear on this.  I don't get to have a car as mine was 15 years ago.

 

I'm afraid it's the same for a cat.  If you were responsible - not saying you are - they could claim the value of an old, knackered cat with a hernia.  Not the original £500!!!

[FTMDave]

The thing to realise is that in a certain sense you are writing for a possible judge.

 

If this gets to court a judge will be completely uninterested in the fact this woman's partner swore at you.  This will just be seen as waffle.  The court case will revolve around if this person really did have these expenses, and if so if you are liable.  No judge will think it unreasonable for you to require proof that these expenses really exist.  So how about -

 

 

Dear XXXXX,

 

thank you for your Letter Before Action of 13 March.

 

The letter contains several statements which you must know are untrue.  As you have been looking up the law, I suggest you look up the serious consequences of making false statements in Witness Statements and in court.

 

I do not accept liability.

 

However, in order to perhaps move towards settling this matter I would be interested in receiving any evidence of injury or damage and expenses incurred.

 

For example I require pictures of the cat before and after the incident. I would also require a report from the vet which apparently treated the animal. If there are two vets then I require a report from each of them including invoices for any expenses incurred. 

I would also like detailed proof of burial costs, including that your cat has been buried by using a 'JCB Digger' .

 

In respect of your claim that the cat is a pedigree Bengal cat, I require to see any registration documents and evidence of pedigree and the bill of sale which you must have received when you originally bought the animal.

 

I would also like clear and accurate documented mileage for your petrol costs and the miles per gallon of the model of your car.

 

I understand from what your partner was saying at the time that he is a police officer and so therefore I would like to have his collar number.

 

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

 

Yours,

 

XXXXX

 

 

Don't let on about her not being able to claim for £500.  If she does so, so much the better for you, it'd be a massive own goal.

 

Also block any phone numbers now and don't do anything by text, only Royal Mail.

 

Don't rush and send the above off.  BankFodder knows a hell of a lot more than me about such claims and will want to tweak the letter tomorrow.

[FTMDave]

Let's see what happens when they receive the letter and have to prove the "losses" they suffered.

[FTMDave]

There are no guarantees, but ...

 

... I must say i was thinking the same as dx.

 

I've had to deal with my fair share of dysfunctional families in the past and can just imagine the three of them egging each other one about how they are right and you are wrong and they're going to give you such a hiding.  "My family are always right".

 

Unfortunately for them it's not their family who would decide in court, it would be an unbiased judge.

 

Let's see what they do when they actually have to produce some evidence as per your letter.

[FTMDave]

We generally recommended to send normal 1st class post, with a free Certificate of Posting from the post office.  Legally that's quite sufficient as proof of delivery, and avoids the problem you're having.

 

If it hasn't been delivered by late morning tomorrow then get another copy sent off 1st class.

[FTMDave]

Any update?

[FTMDave]

There's a lot to plough through, but I notice immediately that they've been a lot more conciliatory since you've challenged them to prove their case.

 

You're right about what she can claim in petrol and it's a nonsense to want the whole £500 for the cat given it was five years old when it died and was no longer worth that amount.  This is essentially half the amount they're claiming.

 

You could point this out or you could not tip them off about how pants their claim is and let them balls it up.

 

I suppose it depends on what you want to achieve.  Do you want to stick two fingers up to them given their attitude or are you prepared to negotiate and pay £300 or similar?

Edited April 18, 2023 by FTMDave
Typo

[FTMDave]

Other quick thoughts.  A quick calculation on petrol for my car to travel 145 miles is around £31.50.

 

What's all this nonsense about burial costs?  Don't these people own land in the country?  I grew up in a similar place and when the dog died my father dug a hole and buried the dog!

[FTMDave]

I don't want to minimise the upset when an animal dies.

 

My cat got run over and when I found out I went for a long, long walk into the countryside to try to calm down while shedding a lot of tears.

 

The person who found her dead in the road buried her in his garden and only found out later I was the owner.

 

I thanked him and that was that.  i didn't get a priest/vicar/rabbi/imam/humanist to carry out a burial ceremony!

 

What a load of baloney that you need to hire a JCB to dig a hole to bury a cat.  Couldn't muscular boyfriend do it?

 

 

[FTMDave]

You need to reply to them, although not urgently.  They took long enough.

 

Have a think about what you want to do. 

 

You could offer the £300 in full and fair settlement or else tell them to do a running jump and let them mess up in court.

 

Also hang on a few days to see if BankFodder replies to the thread, as BF is by far the most experienced Cagger on these matters.

[FTMDave]

Any update here?  Have the other side bottled it (so far)?