Can you sue a government department for loss of income if they've admitted a mistake which caused this?

[lexusit]

I'm an IT contractor with SC (government clearance). Operating via my own ltd company.

Long story short, I've already lost one contract and have had a 6 week delay starting another one. Normally SC is transferred from previous place to new place in about a week.

In this case, even though I had a letter from 2017, the previous place had "lost" all record of it. After 6 weeks, client wouldnt wait any longer so it was goodbye.
I've got a 2nd gig (just before xmas) but I can't start without SC.

Its taken them this long to investigate and they've admitted they made an error in 2017 and did not record it properly. Its all sorted now - no thanks to them - I had to apply for SC from scratch.

I've had 6 weeks of no income because of this. (I was offered contract Dec 23rd with expectation that SC would be transferred in a week or so - my start date is now 28th Feb). Notwithstanding the one contract lost, I'm massively out of pocket because of this. I appreciate people make mistakes but its been a very tough 6 weeks financially.

Am I even able to sue a government department? Is there any point? Where would I start?

 

[Paul Norman]

I would say that there is no point. The process is going to cost a significant amount of legal fees up front, with no certainty of outcome.

Its uber frustrating. And you can certainly make a significant fuss - and probably should. But the legal process will take a long time, all the money, and is prone to random outcomes.

 

[lexusit]

So annoying.....
Not even worth small claims court (few £100)?

 

[Mark T Jones]

This is a rare opportunity occasion where I would disagree with @Paul Norman

I made notes to sue a local council a few years ago - sent an LBA - was accidentally copied into a reply which said 'what the hell is going on?' Within a week was settled plus a random sum of compensation.

As with all claims, you need to quantify and justify the claim with hard facts and evidence

 

[Fagin2021]

This may or may not be appropriate in your case but it worked for me. I can’t say I planned it – it just happened this way and is probably the approach I would take in a similar situation...

I got into a dispute with the Environment Agency (not quite a Government Department but as near a dammit).

In brief, the EA had done work on my land that caused a hillside to erode and after several years, triggered a landslip that cost me thousands to put right.

I wrote to the EA (the cost of remedial work was easy to quantify) asking them for a reasonable contribution towards the cost (about half).

The EA denied any liability and refused compensation.

I continued writing and asking for compensation and they continued refusing it. Eventually, I told them that I was considering taking them to Court.

After a body of correspondence had built up I used the Freedom of Information Act to request all internal emails and documentation related to the case.

This turned up two critical documents:

• An internal report that said the erosion probably was the result of their work but would be difficult to prove.
• A memo from an in-house lawyer saying that if I could prove it, a court would almost certainly award compensation.

Armed with these documents I tried again and they coughed up.

The lessons I learned from this incident was that if you get into a dispute, make it less trouble for the other party to concede than to continue fighting...

• Stay polite.
• Propose the solution.
• Persevere until you become a real (but polite) nuisance.
• Draft every piece of correspondence as if it’s going to be read out in Court.
• Let them save face if possible.

 

[lexusit]

This is a rare opportunity occasion where I would disagree with @Paul Norman

I made notes to sue a local council a few years ago - sent an LBA - was accidentally copied into a reply which said 'what the hell is going on?' Within a week was settled plus a random sum of compensation.

As with all claims, you need to quantify and justify the claim with hard facts and evidence

Thanks Mark....

The loss of the first contract may be difficult to prove. The delay with the 2nd one - maybe. BUT they have admitted in writing they made a mistake.

Obviously, one thing - I don't want to drag my new client into this argument at all....

 

[IanSuth]

Following what Mark & Fagin said, reply to whoever sent the correspondence admitting their error.

Ask them what the procedure is for claiming compensation for your consequential losses due to that error and see what they reply.

It will cost little in time and energy to do

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thanks Mark....

The loss of the first contract may be difficult to prove. The delay with the 2nd one - maybe. BUT they have admitted in writing they made a mistake.

Obviously, one thing - I don't want to drag my new client into this argument at all....

Do what @IanSuth says - there is a reasonable chance they will dip into the compo bucket.

If not, you need to make a decision whether you are for the legal process for which you will have to demonstrate a clear, quantified link between their mistake & your consequential loss.

 

[lexusit]

Yeh well the department in question, in the end, refused to pay anything saying yes it was their mistake but they are "sorry". Yeh thanks for that.

Any suggestions for what sort of legal company I should speak to next?

 

[lexusit]

Whoa £2000 up front wanted by most solicitors.....

Small claims route on my own I think....