Potentially being taken to court. What should I do?

[rpm]

tbh, I`m thinking of the answer machine calls where the customers speak at 100mph and I struggle to get their name and address.
What is it with some people speaking to a machine for gawd sake!

 

[ShaunCorbs]

tbh, I`m thinking of the answer machine calls where the customers speak at 100mph and I struggle to get their name and address.
What is it with some people speaking to a machine for gawd sake!

or keep saying emm emmm then the phone goes dead

 

[armyash]

The customers partner also said to me she would be happy to accept the payment in instalments "because she knows you don't have a lot of money"

That was a strange thing to say as I've never discussed my finances with them, it makes me believe even more that she is a bit of a snob. Must be because I get dirty in work I couldn't possibly earn good money. Even when I would say hello or at the end of the job I was overly polite if anything always grateful for my payment and she would look at me like something she had stood in.

I earn half decent money and my partner earns good money. Not that this has anything to do with the matter but I took it as a way to belittle me.

 

[rpm]

Mate on my life, went to maybe a £4mill house the other week, knocked on the front door and the lady asked if I would use the door round the back!!!

 

[rpm]

The customers partner also said to me she would be happy to accept the payment in instalments "because she knows you don't have a lot of money"

That was a strange thing to say as I've never discussed my finances with them, it makes me believe even more that she is a bit of a snob. Must be because I get dirty in work I couldn't possibly earn good money. Even when I would say hello or at the end of the job I was overly polite if anything always grateful for my payment and she would look at me like something she had stood in.

I earn half decent money and my partner earns good money. Not that this has anything to do with the matter but I took it as a way to belittle me.

Excellent, offer her a £1 a week

 

[armyash]

I'm going to write a letter tomorrow to explain everything to them. I will ask for all the relevant information, say why I don't accept liability.

I will say I surely needed to be made aware of the situation before any repairs were Carried out or at least been informed sooner than I have been.

Will say all calls will be recorded and logged.

Will explain it was an accident and that all reasonable care was taken when carrying out the work. Will add some plumbing related stuff in about pipe in screeded floor depths, not being run in the best place. Toilet was already there.

Will add plenty more and may have to write it a few times. Will send recorded delivery.

All thanks to the replies on here! Thanks.

If it ended up in court and I lost. I could live with that but I don't like how it's all been done.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

i would say this "Will explain it was an accident" as it sort of admits

i would say along the lines of

sometimes accidents happen etc

 

[armyash]

Does anyone have a link to something that shows I legally should have been made aware of the problem or been given a chance to arrange repairs before it got this far.

I have been told to quote consumer act 2015 but I can't find anything that shows what I need. Im hoping to quote something in the letter.

 

[Scott_D]

I would probably say something along the lines of
Please send me pictures and copies of all invoices and reports so that I can pass it onto my insurance company to investigate. Unfortunately as you didn't notify me of the issue, give me chance to rectify myself ,arrange another comply to do so or involve my insurance provider I don't think there is anything that can be done.

 

[Best]

You will probably over think this and worry too much.
Just keep gathering any evidence and facts together and stay calm. Also hope the woman gets angry and says something stupid in writing.
Get a friend who has some experience in legal sort of issues to help you at each stage.

 

[Welder]

Shaun etc. Sorry, but you are wrong on the recording of your own calls.

You DO NOT need to inform anyone you are recording UNLESS it is to be used by another party. That was straight from the ICO and when we joked about that being recorded he said perfectly fine.

YOU may legally record what you like so long as it is for your OWN use. That includes using it as evidence if ness as that's for you. As soon as third parties are involved (training, quality etc) then notification is needed.

I'll carry on reading now...

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Shaun etc. Sorry, but you are wrong on the recording of your own calls.

You DO NOT need to inform anyone you are recording UNLESS it is to be used by another party. That was straight from the ICO and when we joked about that being recorded he said perfectly fine.

YOU may legally record what you like so long as it is for your OWN use. That includes using it as evidence if ness as that's for you. As soon as third parties are involved (training, quality etc) then notification is needed.

I'll carry on reading now...

You sure about this as there's new rulings coming down due to the Facebook stuff that includes all records etc

 

[Best]

You sure about this as there's new rulings coming down due to the Facebook stuff that includes all records etc

Still think the rule - as long as the information isn't passed on to a third party, then it is still legal.
I did it once to protect myself from any possible allegations and it proved handy to note take later precisely what was said.
Sadly I think recording audio and often video is now the way to do a lot of business, just to keep accuracy and to protect ourselves from false allegations.

 

[Welder]

AA. Your life, but as I've explained, I've been there done it and won.

As I have already said, you are being mugged. This is actually VERY simple to resolve so do not be sidetracked.

Send a letter asking for full details of everything. By that I mean a complete breakdown - her story and copies of everything. Happy to put it together for you if it would help. You have my number so you can text me an email address. The point of this is to see what they have. You cannot begin to negotiate if you have no info and no point to start from. The letter needs to 'infer' that its point is to assess your liability so you can cough up an appropriate amount. However it must not even infer any form of liability.

Once the info is received it shows their hand. Once their hand is exposed an appropriate response can be formulated. It allows you to go back and either say 'fine here's £50' or 'go away'.

DO NOT try to make a letter look legal. It is fraught with problems and will immediately put them on the defensive. It has to be an honest letter (always keep 1/2 and eye on the fact it may end up in court), reasonable and open. In other words very carefully crafted an unambiguous in its content.

This can very easily go away. Let me know if I can help.

 

[Welder]

100%. GDPR applies from 25th May and until then its old (98) data protection act. Even so, so long as it's for personal use its fine. GDPR is all about non exploitation.

 

[Old Account]

That’s not even close to the repair costs. I would have thought about £500 and more. How comes that the engineer who got called out knew exactly where to look for? That would have been one of the needle in te hay stack one.

I’m pretty sure the previous one has caused it and blames it on you

 

[armyash]

Yorkshire dave, I will text you my email address this morning and I will call at some point this afternoon when I am free. Thank you.

 

[Last Plumber]

Without having to read through all this post again, did you see the 'drilled hole', I mean could it have been a pitted copper pipe?
If you've already said then ignore me, I have lost track a bit now.

 

[Last Plumber]

See so many where silicone used instead of screws though LP.
Now starting to think the tiler would of seen the pipes(?).

I agree with that one. It happens a lot and may well have been done here to avoid drilling pipes.

 

[armyash]

That’s not even close to the repair costs. I would have thought about £500 and more. How comes that the engineer who got called out knew exactly where to look for? That would have been one of the needle in te hay stack one.

I’m pretty sure the previous one has caused it and blames it on you

I don't know what the final costs are, just that I've been asked for £300.

 

[armyash]

Without having to read through all this post again, did you see the 'drilled hole', I mean could it have been a pitted copper pipe?
If you've already said then ignore me, I have lost track a bit now.

Only picture I have of the damage is the picture I have posted on this thread.

 

[Best]

£300 is a modest sum and often a small amount like that is a ploy to get the tradesperson to just pay up to avoid any trouble.
Interesting she said she would accept instalments as she knows you don’t have much money (in her opinion).
That’s very telling, as she assumes she is getting cash payments from you, rather than paid from your insurance.

 

[Last Plumber]

Only picture I have of the damage is the picture I have posted on this thread.

If you've not even seen the 'alleged drilled hole', then don't lose any more sleep. What are the grounds for taking you to Court?

That they allege you drilled through a pipe which came to light some months after but rather than give you the opportunity to investigate and rectify any mistake you might or might not have made, they decided to get another Plumber to repair it, discard the evidence and send you a photo of a repaired section of pipe along with an invoice for £300? Have you seen the invoice?


Honestly Ash, I doubt this would even get passed a solicitor never mind into a Court.
I would politely, in person, with her and her partner, explain that they should have contacted you as soon as they suspected a leak.
Don't get into an argument, just explain as nice as you can and walk away. I cannot see her taking this much further to be honest.
I know Solicitors near me (North West England) charge £240 per hour. Not many people would start that ball rolling for the sake of £300. Especially not if the case against you is as weak as it sounds.

I am only a Plumber offering advice and giving my opinion here. It is not legal advice from a professional legal person. I can only tell you what I would do in your shoes, as a Plumbing person.

 

[Harvest Fields]

For all you know mate. The weight of the tile and the new toilet may have just shown a week joint in the pipe or better still the pipe could have just pin holed.

 

[Stigster]

No pressure drop?

About the pressure drop, it is unusual to find but I have come across a pipe that had been screwed into actually effectively sealing the leak. I don't think you could get it to seal if you actually tried but it can happen. I have been to a leak that was caused by a screw in a pipe that was damaged weeks ago but only started showing after some time. If you were to drill through tile and screed but not into the pipe and then banged a screw through the lot and into the pipe, I could see it sealing up or at the very least only showing a tiny pinhole type spray which might not show for a while.

Just a thought as to the unusual length of time between the work being carried out and the leak showing at the boiler.

Ash, after your call to trading standards to see where you stand I hope you at least feel a bit better about this horrible situation. I really think the law is on your side with this one.