Posted by
stankey
14 yrs ago
My husband and I had a cottage in Scotland that we let out for holidays. UNfortunately we have been caught out by a crook from Northern Ireland. She is suing us for personal injury saying she fell down the stair as the light was not working in the hall. We have been failed miserably by our lawyer back home and now ludicrously, we are being taken to court in Northern Ireland. The deal is now that we pay out around 8000 pounds settlement or we go to court in Ireland in the summer and risk lsoing more money. I am so distraught, particularly as my husband is not working and we have a 3rd child on the way and really struggling financially. Either way we have to cough up at least 8000 pounds. We have no savings. This woman is a crook who has done this before and I am so angry. What would happen if we ignored the case altogether? How can we pay this amount if we do not have it? Any advice please as we have been let down so far by incompetent lawyer in Scotland. I feel it should never have got this far.
Please support our advertisers:
Don't ignore it as some day somewhere it will catch up with you.
So, just offer a payment plan. Just pay X amount each month over Y number of years. You may have to prove you cannot afford to pay the 8000 at once. If you do not have the 8000 then you don't have it so the only way she can get paid is accepting this offer of an amount each month.
Do not be generous as this offer is negotiable so start at say 250 per month (~3 years). If she feels she needs the money from you then 250 per month is all you can give.
Please support our advertisers:
lalib
14 yrs ago
It would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984 or 1995 (I can't remember from my land law days - use google) Just to know whether the claimant has any grounds at all. A bit of case study may be required as well.
Secondly as you were renting your cottage do you have any liability insurance and a permit/license to do so.
If you have insurance then this may cover instances (legal fee's) where you are the defendant.
I know its easy to say but the more research you do the better. You can guide your lawyer (and the court) to the fact that this not the first time the claimant has relied on the Occupiers' Liability Act.
Hope this helps.
Please support our advertisers:
Offer 500 quid and see what she says. I think 8,000 is a bit of an opening gambit. You could just get a flight to Ireland and represent yourself. Personally, can't see how a bust light can translate into 8,000 quid in a UK court - but times have changed since I left. It's important to bear in mind that this is the UK and not the US. You could always try the old legal mantra of 'deny, deny, deny'.
Please support our advertisers:
If the woman has done this before as stated in your message, then find the proof to back up up and counter claim against her.
Please support our advertisers:
I would report her to the police fraud squad if you feel she makes a profession out of this.
Please support our advertisers:
[UPDATE] Please note that fee quotes stated in historic postings may be out-of-date.
Unfortunately these matters do arise and notwithstanding you have representation in Northern Ireland, the Court System/Litigation is worldwide an expensive proposition that can be manipulated by dishonourable parties.
Yours is a difficult situation because IF you ignore the court case, they will no doubt move along to a judgment of some size (probably exceeding £8,000 asked for), this Judgment can potentially be registered against you and judgment will also be potentially registerable against your property in Scotland. The ultimate results of such registration could be the forced sale of the property to satisfy the judgment which could be much in excess of GBP8,000 currently requested.
We would stress that you immediately seek some further advice on the matter of enforceability of the Northern Ireland Judgment in Scotland; if it is of assistance we would be pleased to give you our general view on steps to be taken although we must state clearly that we are not neither Scottish or Northern Ireland lawyers; notwithstanding, the general principle should be similar to most Common Law jurisdictions. We also have excellent legal contacts in Northern Ireland and that you may wish to access to gather a view. Please contact our office should you wish to let us have a view of the matter in more detail.
Weir & Associates
Solicitors & Notaries
16th Floor Tak Shing House
20 Des Voeux Road Central
Central
Hong Kong
Tel : 2526-1767
Fax : 2868-3568
email : WeirLaw@weirandassociates.com
www.weirandassociates.com/weirlaw
Please support our advertisers:
Weir and Associates,
thank you so much for your reply, it's all been very stressful considering we have only 1 job and 3 kids! Yesterday my dad had to fly to N.Ireland to be a witness in the court case. He is an old man who was ver nervous about the whole thing. After much stress and a lot of money, the court case was adjourned until June as the courts were busy! I feel at least our witness appeared for the court case and so we have done the right thing so far. Apparently, the claimant's lawyer in Ireland is a 'slippery character' which worries me. I know she has 3 witnesses and is fully prepared. Unfortunately I am also aware that our lawyer has not prepared in the way that I had hoped and I suppose in this rspect I am glad the case is adjourned. My husband is now collecting evidence and contacting other people who stayed in our cottage and returned time and time again because they really liked it. Should this not be the work of our lawyer who hasn't appeared to collect anything except a statement from my father and another witness? Will this adjournement cost us more money? Do you know if my father can claim travel expenses?
I really appreciate your help. The only reason we haven't sought advice from a lawyer here is because of financial restrictions, so I really do appreciate the advise you have given here on this site.
Please support our advertisers:
Do you have any contact with the woman who is doing this to you or is it all through her lawyer?
If you can get hold of her email address or phone number you can let her know (in a way that she can't prove it was you) that it's a lot cheaper than 8000 pounds to get someone bumped off in Northern Ireland. I'm not suggesting you actually have her bumped off, but she is obviously targeting you because you look like an easy target. So you need to make it clear that you will be fighting this in and out of the courts.
I had a situation where someone owed me money on a business transaction and he was doing a dodgy saying he had no money even though he drives US$500k car and owns a massive house. I made it clear that he was not getting away with it and he ended up paying.
Please support our advertisers:
Please don't do what the previous correspondent suggests. That is just going to get you into trouble.
Please support our advertisers:
Insurance? You may be covered under household contents for example. My UK policy covered me... May be different for rentals tho...
Please support our advertisers:
To clarify - both personal liability and legal costs are often thrown in... u may be insured without realising it.
Agreed - I don't advise Gaz's suggestion unless you are a triad.
Please support our advertisers:
You must be logged in to be able to reply.
Login now
Copy Link
Facebook
Gmail
Mail