Ignoring Recorded Delivery

[virtuo]

Hi all, Been having a spot of bother with a tradesman and have been looking to take him to Small Claims to recover the money paid up front for some work that he carried out on my house - without elaborating too much he removed a supporting wall and didn't support the joists above properly.

Anyway, we have sent the first polite letter asking for a reasonable reimbursement by Royal Mail Recorded Signed for. Problem is that he was out when the delivery attempt was made, so was left a card. The guy is obviously suspicious of unexpected recorded mail and has not collected it from the depot (only a 5 minute drive from his house).

So I have a question. If this ended up in Small Claims (after I have sent my second recorded letter after 14 days, and that in theory also doesn't get collected), could he claim he didn't receive the letters? I know I have to prove I made every reasonable attempt to contact him, but other than something with his signature saying he has received it I don't know what exactly would hold up.

I was thinking of recording myself delivering the letters by hand but it's probably not the best option (I'm a soft programmer and he's a rough looking builder with a short temper..!)


I remember from way back that RM did a "Recorded Delivery" that was just them confirming it had been posted and didn't require a signature, but that doesn't appear to be a service they offer any more.

What would you guys do? And of course I know "IANAL" and will take all input as such.

[MrDLips]

Take a photo of you posting a letter through his letter box?

(dont take one of the dump you do through it tho)

[SUMMONER]

Put your letter into an empty Amazon parcel/packet. Don't forget to black out your name on the mailing label. He will never suspect that it is coming from you.

[MrDLips]

Still doesn't prove he received it

[KeyboardDemon]

Is this guy a member of a trade association/group?

If he is you could approach them, membership usually gives customers the reassurance that their builder will work to a particular standard and in return the builder can use that association's logo to show that he meets with their approval. Contacting them might make him take you more seriously if there is a threat that he could lose his associateship.

[peterb]

Royal Mail still offer proof of posting, and special delivery includes that.

Subject to IANAL, provided you have sent the letters to the appropriate address, that is generally acceptable. AFAIK, Court documents are just sent by normal mail these days and that is sufficient to have been served.

Don't forget that if you win your case, you still have to get payment. A friend of mine went down that route and ended up getting a lien (or charge) on his house. As soon as he sold his house, she got the money owed, but it took some years before that happened. Hopefully you won't need to go to that extreme.

[virtuo]

Cheers all, wasn't expecting answers this late.

Guy doesn't appear to be registered with anyone as far as I can tell. The council and trading standards are very interested in catching up with him though, which is nice.

My first letter went Guaranteed Signed for so I do have a proof of posting, just not a proof of delivery which I feared might be the undoing of my claim.

I don't know much about the guy other than his name/phone number - had to sleuth out his address. Came as a recommendation and I was tired of being let down by no-shows before that. Fortunately I learned my lesson and have a great company in now doing the work. At 5 times the price

His 14 day warning on the first letter has now lapsed so I will send letter 2 the same way. If he doesn't collect either within 28 days then RM send it back to me as "Not collected" which should look bad against him. I might send a normal 1st class just as a courtesy as that will be waiting on his doorstep.


I have been considering recording myself delivering it but unless I can show me physically handing it over to him I wouldn't think it'd be proof it was received.

I'll sleep on it Thanks for the insights, don't like asking on Hexus but I just know there are people here that can put forward good arguments and make sensible suggestions.

[peterb]

You may find this useful

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...l/rules/part06

I haven't read it all, but I think if you have shown that you have made reasonable attempts to serve the documents, you are OK. Once you start proceedings, the court will serve the documents. Again, subject to IANAL, if you have shown reasonable attempts to resolve the matter before resorting to legal process, that will count in your favour. If he ignores a court service and fails to appear, you are likely to win by default.

You then enter the next stage of enforcing the judgement, because the court will not do that automatically.

[Bluecube]

I don't know the specifics but there's something somewhere that says proof of posting is proof of receipt.

[badass]

Sending recorded delivery is enough. It's just for proof of attempting delivery. They don't need to receive it.
Won a couple of court cases against dodgy traders in the past

[Saracen]

Be aware, though, that if this bloke is of the type that the council and trading standards want a word with him, you may end up discovering that winning the court case is easy, as he won't show up. The hard bit, and perhaps impossible bit, is getting money out of him even having won a judgement. If he's that disreputable, he may have little or no assets in his name that even court bailiffs can seize.

Two things are essential before you take small claims action, seeing as doing so, and enforcing it, will cost you money :-

1) Assess your chances of winning, and
2) Assess gour chances of successful collection.

Get it wrong, and you throw good money after bad.

Sometimes, and I'm NOT suggesting it in this case, the smart move is to chalk it up to experience and walk away.

Another smart move, and I say this for others reading, since you've already worked it out, is to check tradesmen out before you employ them. If they're unusually cheap, for instance, that may not be a good sign.