Customer claiming against you after 6 years!

[Murdoch]

Why isn’t the customer claiming off their insurance company ?

 

[Welder]

Let me get this, now if a shower valve fails after being in service for 6 years, or a toilet fill valve fails after being in service for 6 years, you are saying Yorkshire Dave that the installer is responsible for them? Rubbish, liability ends with the warranty given or what's the point in giving warranties in the first place?
My tv is now 8 years old, think I'll claim for a new one from the company that plugged it in to my wall socket 8 years ago.

Oh dear. Might I respectfully suggest you read what's written and not extrapolate to daft conclusions.

I did not say it was about product failure at all. They are likely going to be coming at this from the point of view of a duty of care during the install. If anything is installed in such a manner that it is unprofessional or installed in a manner that goes against manufacturers instructions (unless those instructions can be demonstrated to be contrary to usual or formal standards) then you remain liable until what a judge would describe as a reasonable term has elapsed. That term is not fixed. It depends entirely on what is being discussed.

However, there is a formal and well defined process these scroats need to follow to be even considered in a court of law. This is why I do not believe there is anything to answer here. That said, I am neither a solicitor nor a lawyer so it is well worth the OP speaking to one who specialises in this aspect of the law rather than a generalist.

 

[townfanjon]

I will leave it to a solicitor, I’m out off the trade now anyway and company closed so don’t know how I stand with it being closed etc

Surely theres no claim on this now .

 

[Rovers21]

Surely theres no claim on this now .

That’s what I would have fort especially when the company doesn’t even exist now and isn’t trading. How doncompanys get away with changing names every year etc

 

[Phil]

What was the original job? Can you remember?
Were you worried over a particular fitting at the time?

 

[Rovers21]

It was a barn conversion that we did for a contractor. Not been told where the fitting is just that it was on a compression on a cold main, so possibly the stop tap. Which could have been turned off and then bashed etc

 

[Ric2013]

If it was a limited company, then my understanding is that your personal liability for that company's performance is limited, usually to £10. The point is that the company ceased trading and is not you as an individual, so you need to be very careful not to portray yourself as still connected to the company (in spite of the fact that you were the owner back then). So do get proper advice on what not to say or write.

EDIT Just re-read the opening post. When the OP said 'the company ceased trading', I read that to mean it was a limited company. Not sure, on re-reading, if that was the case at all!

Back to liability in general, you are responsible for carrying out the work with due skill and care, and to hide behind the wording of a warranty will not help in court. The warranty is in addition to statutory rights and those rights cannot be deleted by a contract. In practice, firms often do try to hide behind warranty terms and fob people off, but they cannot get away with this if it goes to court.

In practical terms, though, I'd like to know how this customer intends to prove that the failure of the joint is somehow your fault after all this time. I think they will try to push you for an out-of-court settlement because I expect if you dig your heels in and refuse to give one, then they will probably lose the case and leave with nothing.

 

[bacon_sandwich]

There is no liability to the installer after the warranty has expired. If there was, then we'd all be liable for every fitting and appliance on every job going back years. Furthermore if work has been done on your pipework by another plumber which will happen over time if a new tap is needing installed or additions to a bathroom are required, then again you are not liable for the original pipework after someone else has worked on it as technically it's been tampered with.
Regardless the OP needs to seek professional legal advice from either a lawyer or Citizens Advice as I doubt if anyone on this forum is qualified to do so.

I am an adviser for CAB, yes, its true, there are people here that have a wealth of experience and knowledge. I advise the OP to contact their nearest CAB, it wont be far away, but the general process is that if you receive such a claim, you hand it to your insurance company, who have the skills and resources to determine its merit, generally plumbers dont know the law..... lol

 

[bacon_sandwich]

That’s what I would have fort especially when the company doesn’t even exist now and isn’t trading. How doncompanys get away with changing names every year etc

Just because a company is not trading does not mean it is free from all liabilities from the past. Dont forget a company is just a bunch of directors or owners. You have not stated the status of the original company. Dont poo poo this away, it could be a real threat

 

[Ric2013]

Just because a company is not trading does not mean it is free from all liabilities from the past. Dont forget a company is just a bunch of directors or owners. You have not stated the status of the original company. Dont poo poo this away, it could be a real threat

That is a fair point well made.

 

[Rovers21]

The company at the time was a sole trader, then I went to a new limited company when I purchased a house etc

 

[bacon_sandwich]

OK, as a sole trader, the liability is with you personally. As you can imagine its not much different to owing the gov tax, it carries on as a liability even if you decide to close the company. You can fight it / or ignore it and see if they do take it towards a court (dont ignore court documents) but costs mount up in the process, as mentioned dig out your insurance and hand it over to them. They may well ignore it as well, until court docs are filed, but thats at their cost and risk.
Good Luck

 

[Rovers21]

Cheers don’t don’t think my insurance from 2012 would cover it and with me being out off the industry now then not sure what happens. Will be emailing a couple of Solicitors’s today to see what they say.

 

[fezster]

A compression fitting failing after 6 years will be very difficult to prove. I would say the letter is speculative, at best, and probably hoping you will settle with them before it goes any further.

Engaging a solicitor is the best course of action, but you may be better off waiting to see if they escalate it any further before spending any money on one. If you have legal protection on your home insurance, it may be worth checking to see if they will assist in any way (though probably not for a matter related to your profession - worth checking though). If and when they issue court proceedings, I would spend any significant amount of money on legal representation.

I believe small claims are limited to £10,000 using MCOL so if their claim exceeds that, they will no doubt incur fees to pursue this. Chances are they are using their home insurance, so the insurance company would have to make a reasonable judgement on whether it is worth them spending money on pursuing this claim - they'll probably decide it is not.

 

[Rovers21]

Spoke to a solicitor today got to send the letter across to them. They said it would be very hard for them to prove after 6 years that it was my fault, and if the system has been worked on after the Blame could lie elsewhere. They reckon there just trying to scare me