"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
(Nick) wrote in message
. com...

Also - any thoughts on my case given the above brief one sided view of
things ?


I get the initial impression youve not consulted a lawyer. If not, why
not, you need to know where you stand in law, otherwise how can you
make the right moves.

With the small claims court, legal costs are not awarded, so both
parties know that he will be paying his legal costs in full. It is a
simplified process designed to minimise your costs and time
requirement.


Not always the case - they can award costs, but rarely do.

I won costs against a landlord once who had bought the freehold to the
building for some inflated amount and then attempted to recoup some of the
"investment" by inventing sinking funds, management charges, etc. He took
us to small claims, with the argument that our lease was plainly unfair (!)
but then sent a letter that arrived the day before attempting to back out of
the case, received after my father had arrived having travelled 200 miles to
represent us... turned up at court regardless, explained the situation to
the judge who then proceded to rule against the plaintiff & award us costs
for loss of earnings & my father's fees...

One can consult a lawyer on a one time basis rather than taking them
on to resolve the whole case, and this is a low cost option in many
cases.


That may well be a good idea - the OP ought to be aware of the extent of
their obligations under the contract. The builder could in fact be playing
a positioning game, expecting the OP to refuse adjuducation after a certain
amount of fees had built up and then perhaps using that to strengthen the
argument in court proceedings.

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk