defending a terminal dilapidations claim
the challenge:
Business Post, a major logistics company, had been served a
terminal dilapidations claim for over £50,000 by their landlord
after making plans to relocate their operations. Business
Post wished to dispute the claim and reduce the sum it was liable
for.
our approach:
Liaison with our client revealed that they had
not taken an assignment of the lease and the previous tenant still
held legal possession. No steps to regularise any new
occupation had been taken by the landlord either, so we were able
to argue that no repair obligations sat with our client and dispute
our client’s responsibility for the works listed in the schedule of
dilapidations.
the result:
We successfully argued the position with the landlord
accepting that our client only had minimal responsibility under an
implied ‘fair wear and tear’ obligation. By achieving this
via without prejudice correspondence, and therefore without the
cost of defending any proceedings being incurred by our client, the
claim was reduced to under £10,000, including the landlord’s costs.
This equated to a reduction of over 80% on the initial
claim.