Help needed with small claim court

[Darren2912]

I sold my car to a private buyer on eBay he left me good feedback then next day he contacted me saying there was faults on the car then he said that he is taking me to small claim court he sent no garage reports ect I even offered £400 refund as a good will gesture he then said yes fine then changed his mind again I have now received a money claim letter from the court anyone that can give me advice what to do or any legal advice thankyou

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Hi Darren,

I threatened a garage when they failed to service my car and I had a claim against me on a holiday rent. Both were through the small claims court.

The fact that he has not provided copies of reports and that you offered a refund will be in your favour. The court process is more of an arbitrary one, they say you should write and seek settlement before going to court.

If you have had an official claim from the court then I would respond otherwise they are likely to find against you. This happened on my holiday one and the defendant did not turn up at court. Having said this, the defendant never paid the court fees as directed.

In your defence I would make it clear you sold the car without any guarantees, that you asked for evidence of the car’s faults and that you offered a settlement. I would also ask for the court fees to be paid by the claimant if found in your favour.

I would suspect that the judge will ask for the car failure evidence and if forthcoming he may ask you to pay the £400 but you can say less the court fees.

It is a private sale and buyer beware, and if you have no business reputation to about, you could just ignore it. The claimant may still have to take you to court for payment even if they find in his favour.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I am guessing you sold the vehicle as sold as seen with no warranty !
How old was the vehicle and how many miles had it done and did you describe it accurately ?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Be prepared.

Was there any merit in the claim?

We're you up front and honest in your advert / narrative?

Respond factually and concisely. If you were honest and the vehicle was sold as seen, you should be OK.

But 8n truth, you never know with courts

 

[fisicx]

Standard practice on eBay. They are pulling a fast one. Ask for a copy of the garage report.

 

[MBE2017]

This will come down mainly as to whether you sold it as a trader or private seller, and if any questions were honestly answered, faults pointed out etc.

 

[smallclaimsassistance]

If this was a private sale, the only obligation on the seller is that the goods must be as described. The relevant law is the Sale of Goods Act. This applies only if you were both consumers, and you were not making a trade sale (you say you were selling “my car” so it sounds like this should be the case).

If the vehicle stopped working after you sold it to him, it is for him to prove that you knew or should have known about the faults prior to the sale, and therefore that when you sold the vehicle to him, you effectively withheld that information.

The only way he can do this is by production of an expert engineering report which states that:

The vehicle was faulty:
The faults were “x,y,z” (all faults must be described in the report):
It is more likely than not that the faults were known to you before the sale.

Even then, in addition to the above, he must prove that the description given of the vehicle by you (either verbally or advertised) differed from the reality. It’s quite a difficult thing to prove. In essence, unless there was something obviously wrong with the car, and the engineering evidence he produces proves you probably knew about it and you misled him, he is likely to lose.

It sounds like he hasn’t obtained engineering evidence so his claim will not succeed without it.

From what you say, it sounds like this may be ripe for a strike out application.

Dean

 

[Fagin2021]

Good advice above. If you are selling a car privately the AA have a simple 'Sold as Seen' Contract that can be downloaded here..https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/buyers-sellers-contracts

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Good advice above. If you are selling a car privately the AA have a simple 'Sold as Seen' Contract that can be downloaded here..https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/buyers-sellers-contracts

A lot of dealers are now selling trade ins as scrap There is no harm in making this clear if its a bit of an old dog

 

[Michael Gerard]

If this was a private sale, the only obligation on the seller is that the goods must be as described. The relevant law is the Sale of Goods Act. This applies only if you were both consumers, and you were not making a trade sale (you say you were selling “my car” so it sounds like this should be the case).

In B2C contracts, the Sale of Goods Act was replaced in 2015 by the Consumer Rights Act (as has the SOG&SA and UCTTR). However, the CRA does not apply to a private seller (nor did the SOGA), hence there is no obligation on a private seller to disclose any faults (doctrine of caveat emptor). That said, a private seller cannot misrepresent goods and the goods must match the description and photograph.

 

[Michael Loveridge]

I sold my car to a private buyer on eBay he left me good feedback then next day he contacted me saying there was faults on the car then he said that he is taking me to small claim court he sent no garage reports ect I even offered £400 refund as a good will gesture he then said yes fine then changed his mind again I have now received a money claim letter from the court anyone that can give me advice what to do or any legal advice thankyou

What nobody has said is that from a practical point of view you must file your Defence within 14 days of receiving the Claim Form. If you fail to do so your buyer (the `Claimant') can and will obtain a default judgment against you. This means that the Court has decided you must pay the full amount claimed, and the Claimant can then enforce the judgment by sending bailiffs to collect the money.

If you need more time to prepare your Defence you can instead file an Acknowledgment of Service (the form will have been included with the Claim Form). By completing and filing that you get an extra 14 days to file your Defence.

This is in some ways the most important aspect of the matter. There are many fraudsters who sue people and companies in the small claims court hoping that the victim will fail to defend it so that they get a default judgment even though the claim has zero merit. Although you have the right to ask the court to set the judgment aside it's a relatively expensive and complicated procedure, and many people just pay the judgment to get rid of it.

"In your defence I would make it clear you ... offered a settlement. I would also ask for the court fees to be paid by the claimant if found in your favour."

No, you should definitely NOT mention the offer of £400, as this could be interpreted as an admission of liability. Even though you probably didn't use the words `without prejudice' (which would have made it impossible for the offer to have been disclosed to the court without your consent) it clearly was made on that basis, so should not be referred to.

You can't ask for the court fees to be paid by the Claimant - as a Defendant you don't incur any court fees.