Man spends £250,000 suing PC World over laptop he bought 16 years ago - wins £8,000 - Polidicks

An oil worker who has been facing bankrupcy by spending £250,000 on legal fees today won a 16-year court battle over a laptop. Richard Durkin, a 44-year-old father of two, claimed that HFC Bank ruined his credit rating after he tried to back out of an agreement to buy a computer from PC World for £1,499. He took his case to court and initially won, but it was overturned. However, today the Supreme Court in Central London allowed his appeal and ruled he should receive damages of £8,000. [url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2589727/Bankrupt-father-two-spent-250-000-PC-World-legal-battle-1-499-laptop-wins-16-year-fight.html[/url]

Well won't it also mean that more importantly, the other party has to cover the legal fees?

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;44362381]Well won't it also mean that more importantly, the other party has to cover the legal fees?[/QUOTE] his credit rating is apparently ruined though

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-26731192[/url] Massive respect for this man. For those who don't know it was HFC (HSBC) which screwed him over. I am with HSBC and will be looking for another bank in light of their bad-practices.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;44362381]Well won't it also mean that more importantly, the other party has to cover the legal fees?[/QUOTE] which means technically he'll be receiving 258,000, which will probably save his ass

Britain's currency has gotten better over the years, which means that theoritically, the guy won practically, well

He was originally awarded £116,000 but it was overturned

[QUOTE=ShadowSocks8;44362537]which means technically he'll be receiving 258,000, which will probably save his ass[/QUOTE] No, he is getting a sum of 8000 for the damages caused, the court fees are not part of the damages afaik. There is nothing about the other party paying his court fees. He didn't even pay the court fees himself though, the Law Society of Scotland did.

[QUOTE=deadoon;44363938]No, he is getting a sum of 8000 for the damages caused, the court fees are not part of the damages afaik. There is nothing about the other party paying his court fees. He didn't even pay the court fees himself though, the Law Society of Scotland did.[/QUOTE] Even though the difference between the fee's and the outcome is crazy. It's still good that he didn't end up footing the bill in the end and actually won 8k out of it. Albeit extremely late

[QUOTE=deadoon;44363938]No, he is getting a sum of 8000 for the damages caused, the court fees are not part of the damages afaik. There is nothing about the other party paying his court fees. He didn't even pay the court fees himself though, the Law Society of Scotland did.[/QUOTE] Pretty sure all awards in courts in the UK include fees being paid. [editline]26th March 2014[/editline] Silly question though if they allowed his appeal does that mean he has been awarded £8000 on top of the original settlement? [editline]26th March 2014[/editline] Also lol at the daily mail comments calling him an idioit and saying he should have just admitted he was in the wrong. When discussing court cases it should be required to at least link to the judgement. I have so far only read the factual background and it seems like a clear cut case. He bought a laptop, was told it had a modem in it and was informed if it didn't he could return it (because opening it prior to purchase is a no no) and cancel the credit.

[QUOTE=deadoon;44363938]No, he is getting a sum of 8000 for the damages caused, the court fees are not part of the damages afaik. There is nothing about the other party paying his court fees. He didn't even pay the court fees himself though, the Law Society of Scotland did.[/QUOTE] The loser (or their insurance) paying court and attorney fees for the winning party goes without mention in Germany, I'd be very surprised if it was different in the UK. The US system where you can ruin someone with undue accusations is pretty strange from my perspective, here a lot of people also have legal insurance that will cover all initial costs. [editline]27th March 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=sloppy_joes;44362422]his credit rating is apparently ruined though[/QUOTE] Not necessarily, I'm pretty sure rating agencies are required to correct erroneous ratings once they're overturned there too.

I'm glad that he won the case But around 98, most of the laptops on the market had PCMCIA card slots at the time. They came out with a lot Laptop cards, including both Ethernet and Modem cards. I wonder why he didn't just go buy one of those?

[QUOTE=Sword and Paint;44362506][url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-26731192[/url] Massive respect for this man. For those who don't know it was HFC (HSBC) which screwed him over. I am with HSBC and will be looking for another bank in light of their bad-practices.[/QUOTE] Isn't HSBC like the UK equivalent of Bank of America and Wells Fargo in terms of shittyness?

[QUOTE=Michael haxz;44366623]I'm glad that he won the case But around 98, most of the laptops on the market had PCMCIA card slots at the time. They came out with a lot Laptop cards, including both Ethernet and Modem cards. I wonder why he didn't just go buy one of those?[/QUOTE] Because he was assured that it had a built in modem and as a result was mis-sold. Its a matter of principal really.