If you believe that you are the victim of a breach of contract, it is no good sitting on your hands and you should consult a specialist lawyer without delay. In a case on point, a tiling company ended up more than £80,000 out of pocket after missing a contractual deadline.
The company had been engaged to perform specialist tiling work at a couple’s home. After its final bill went unpaid, it referred the matter to an adjudicator and the couple were ordered to pay £44,838, plus costs of £41,534. The company applied to the High Court for summary judgment in the amount of the award.
In ruling on the matter, the Court rejected the couple’s plea that the company had been engaged not by them but by an intermediary which had acted as the main site contractor and which had since entered liquidation. In performing the role of project manager, the intermediary had acted as the couple’s agent and the contract was thus between them and the company.
In rejecting the company’s application, however, the Court noted that the contract provided that any dispute arising must be referred to an adjudicator within four weeks of the referring party becoming aware of it. Analysis of correspondence established that that deadline had been missed by over a month. The Court acknowledged that the couple could be regarded as having won the case on a technicality and reached its conclusion with no great enthusiasm. However, the contractual deadline was unambiguous and the law had to be applied.
