Case study: £14,005+ settlement for breach of contract judgment
Our specialist dispute resolution lawyers helped a couple whose car was sold without their knowledge while in a garage’s care.
Background
Our clients, Mr and Mrs B, took their classic car to a garage to repair a fault with the gearbox. The car was owned as an investment rather than as their everyday transport. The garage failed to carry out the repair, telling our clients it would take time to source and fit a new gearbox and that they would be contacted when the car was ready for collection.
Instead, Mr and Mrs B were contacted by the DVLA and informed that their vehicle had been sold, without their knowledge or permission.
The challenge
Mrs B had already obtained a default judgment for £10,000 against an individual, Mr A, but was struggling to enforce it. The judgment had been made against the wrong party. It was Mr A, not the garage itself, named in the original proceedings.
Barcan and Kirby’s specialist team was instructed to help resolve this. Our first step was to apply to add the garage as a defendant, along with Mr B as a claimant, and to increase the claim to £15,000 to reflect the full loss suffered.
Our approach
We prepared Amended Particulars of Claim to reflect the additional parties and the higher claim value. The garage responded with a defence and counterclaim, arguing it was owed over £35,000 in storage costs. We filed a defence to the counterclaim to challenge this.
To encourage early resolution, we made a Part 36 offer for the garage to pay our clients £10,000 plus costs to date. The garage did not accept.
The outcome
The case proceeded to a final hearing, where Mr and Mrs B were awarded a judgment of £14,005. This sum exceeded their original Part 36 offer and their statement of costs. Because the garage had rejected a reasonable early offer and the final judgment exceeded it, the garage faced cost penalties as a result.
Get in touch
To discuss a breach of contract claim with one of our specialist solicitors, call us on 0117 325 2929. Alternatively, complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will be in touch.