Customer claiming against you after 6 years!

[snowhead]

To the O.P.
Do not communicate directly with either the Customer or their Solicitor.
Leave it to your Solicitor, or your insurance company to do the communications.

 

[Best]

Yea I will I’ll just let a solicitor sorted, if it was a dodgy compression fitting or installed correctly I’m sure it would never have lasted 6 months not 6 years

Citizens Advice would be free.
If you find out where you stand in law, then you can reply with your own letter, no need for the expense of a solicitors letter. Just take care to not admit responsibility

 

[Rovers21]

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

 

[Welder]

Your liability ends after the term of your warranty has expired.

Sorry, but you are WRONG. Your liability extends way beyond that. How do I know? Because I've been an expert witness against clots who thought they'd take the pi55 put of customers in that way for cr4p installs of showers.

As suggested, speak to your legal rep 1st.
I completely agree it's flying a kite as, I would have thought, there is no way they can prove beyond 'on the balance of probability' i.e. 51% that it was your work or responsibility that the thing failed. Far too many variables.

As already seen on this forum, they should also have both informed you and given you opportunity to correct if it were appropriate.

 

[Best]

To the O.P.
Do not communicate directly with either the Customer or their Solicitor.
Leave it to your Solicitor, or your insurance company to do the communications.

You are probably right to say use professionals, but some free legal advice and a reply letter to the customers solicitor should be easy.
It is not that difficult to reply with a letter which keeps yourself uncommitted.
Solicitors are only to scare people and I treat scurrilous letters with contempt.
Could end up spending more money to solicitors.

 

[Rovers21]

I’d ratger spend possibly 200/300 initially on a solicitor to make sure it’s all done properly etc

 

[Best]

I’d ratger spend possibly 200/300 initially on a solicitor to make sure it’s all done properly etc

And you probably will. 🙁

Did they say any amount for damage?

 

[Deleted member 96286]

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.

 

[Rovers21]

And you probably will. 🙁

Did they say any amount for damage?

10-15k, surely they would just go through there home insurance,

 

[Best]

10-15k, surely they would just go through there home insurance,

Not saying this happened, but their home insurance would look for somebody else’s insurance (yours) to pay up so to avoid them paying out.
Loss adjusters job is partly to find an excuse not to pay.
That’s if they had home insurance.

If you were called out to a leaking compression joint done 6 years ago by another plumber, - could you say for sure it was the plumbers fault at time of install?
Only if the olive was on edge of pipe, or one of the pipes was installed at a ridiculous angle to the fitting, etc.
I really think the customer is reaching too far

 

[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.