Land surveying consultancy - client refusal to pay for services

The Client

A land surveying consultancy.

Value of Dispute

£12,000

The Commercial Dispute

A land surveying consultancy (the Claimant) had a claim against a client (the Defendant) who refused to pay for their services, because they disputed the quality and level of work provided. Despite attempts between the parties to reach a commercial compromise, the client ceased all contact and told the consultancy to take them to Court.  

How Escalate Resolved – Services Used

Escalate were engaged and attempted to resolve matters on a pre-litigation basis but received a similar response to the consultancy. The defendant was warned that by forcing the claimant to issue legal proceedings without fully trying to resolve matters between the parties first, it was highly likely that they would be criticised by the Court and face substantial additional legal costs.

The defendant ignored this advice, and rejected settlement offers made, as they were adamant that they wanted their day in Court. This resulted in a 1-day hearing in which the Court sided with the claimant and awarded Judgment for circa £40,000. Despite the original dispute value being ‘only’ £12,000, because the claim had been dragged out by the Defendant, they ended up with indemnity costs against them – plus a substantial amount of interest – together with the original debt itself, which resulted in a 233% increase in the final amount awarded.