# Help with Small Claims Court - any advice?



## Serafena (Dec 4, 2002)

Hi everyone

I posted about this a while back and it's still going on!

It's a very basic story:  our estate agent sold our house, we posted him a cheque the first working day after completion at the end of September, he apparently didn't receive it - the first we knew of this was court papers arriving three weeks later sueing us for the money!  We immediately sent a new cheque but he returned it and is still after the rest of his claim which is basically where after the 15 working days after completion, the fee reverts to 3% so this is the amount he is trying to get from us!  He also never sent us a new invoice after the deadline has passed, just went straight down the court route!

Absolutely no contact has ever been made from the company prior to the court papers except in a pack of papers we received from him on Xmas Eve (nice timing!) there was a letter allegedly sent to our solicitor after the first 10 days after completion had lapsed, chasing for payment.  We have countered this with a letter from our solicitor catergorically stating that she nor anyone else in the practice have ever received such a letter.

We are due to go to court on 27th March - does anybody have any idea how it will go?  I know it's down to the judge but it seems sooo unfair, we have never ever dreamed of not paying his invoice!  We had no idea he hadn't got the payment!

This is exactly the state of play, he is referring in his case to our letter of complaint which is completely irrelevant, just because we had a problem with the service given (ie, they undervalued our house, we put it on higher and sold it even before we had signed their contract, then told our buyer they had way overpaid!!!), this in no way was an indication that we would not pay the invoice which was obviously owed!  We have a feeling that it's because of our letter of complaint that he has gone down this route.

Any thoughts or help?  One minute I feel fine, like there's no way a judge would think he has acted fairly (surely court is for people who refuse to pay!) and then on the other hand I panic   It is such a lot of money and would wipe out our savings pretty much   which we worked very hard for.

The other really annoying thing is that because he sent the cheque back for the original amount, we had to pay the "admitted monies owed" via a judgement last week so also have to go through the rigmarole of sending the receipt to the court and asking them to remove it from the register!!!

  

Love Jen x

ps. the only "light" is that the total amount he is trying to get from us is over £5k but the judge has ruled it for small claims which is meant to be for under £5k


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## Libeth (Jul 17, 2007)

Hi Jen
What a rubbish situation to be in.  I am sure others will be along with some good advice but I went to Citizens Advice to find out about small claims because I own a business and hadnt been paid. We were told we had to prove that we had made all reasonable efforts to get the money off the person e.g. records of phone calls, invoices sent - we sent at least 10 copies of it over a few months and then reminders and then a letter saying they had 7 days before we would then take it to small claims.  After the 7 days we then were told we had to write to them to say we were instigating small claims proceedings.  Never got that far - got the money in the end.  So not too sure how it has ended up at small claims as it seems a bit odd if they have only sent you one invoice.  Anyway, thats just the way it was for us but not sure if it is different for you for some reason.  Just thought I would pass on my experience.  really hope you get it sorted out as its not the kind of stress you need.    What has your solicitor advised about it all?  Hope you get some more replies on here soon with some useful info.
xx


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## Serafena (Dec 4, 2002)

Thanks Libeth!

Well as I said, we had NO contact from him before the court papers arrived, except this one letter supposedly sent to the solicitor so I really really hope he gets penalised for not going down the right channels before starting proceedings!

Our solicitor also said that judges don't like estate agents or financial advisers  

x


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## Caz (Jul 21, 2002)

Oh dear! 

I am thinking that, logically, the fact you offered to pay in the first instance will go on your side. I guess you could also produce your cheque book stub with the details of the original cheque on it as proof that you had originally sent the cheque.
I don't know about legalities but, wheneve rI have been chased for money I have always been sent a remonder warning me that court action will be taken place if I don't pay within xx days. Not sure if this is a legal requirement but, certainly it's a courtesy if not so I imagine the fcat he hasn't attempted to do so would not look too well on him. Courts generally don't like having their time wasted by matters that could have been solved by just a simple phone call.

Have you tried looking on the CAG website for advice?

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum

I am pretty certain they have a section about small claims and someone there could talk you through what to expect. Failing that, it might be worth paying for an hour with a solicitor to give you advice and perhaps prepare a case. If you are successful, you would be able to counter-claim your costs back.

Lots of luck!

C~x

/links


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