damages claim

edgal

theoretical question

bought a program for a laptop and it ended up completely messing up the hard drive, all data lost and the laptop left irreparable.

The loss of work data meant that couldn't complete a job so did not earn that commission and the PC isn't worth fixing.

The PC program company will only refund for the actual faulty software that was bought. Even though their program caused other the damages above.
Could an action be taken in small claims for the lost prospective income and the laptop break ?
Also the job was the first of what hoped might lead to future rehiring if a good job was done but that's obviously not going to happen again either.

Marcusm

You can't generally get legal advice here on actual circumstances only on theoretical ones. You could google "product liability" and "consequential loss".

edgal

Marcusm wrote: »

You can't generally get legal advice here on actual circumstances only on theoretical ones. You could google "product liability" and "consequential loss".

ok thanks, consequential loss research basically seems to say that PC damage would be recoverable ?
but not sure what can be done about loss of earnings and even the prospect of that future employment with them (it was implied that they might have more work in the future)

Pat Mustard

edgal wrote: »

theoretical question

bought a program for a laptop and it ended up completely messing up the hard drive, all data was lost and the laptop is irreparable.

The civil standard of proof is the balance of probability. Can you show, as a matter of probability (over 50%) that the computer program caused the damage that you have described?

Anybody can make an assertion that they have used software and that their computer got 'messed up'. Is that all you have?

edgal wrote: »

Could an action be taken in small claims for the lost prospective income and the laptop break ?

See here, here and see the relevant SI.

As to whether it might be a business small claim:

business small claim” means a civil proceeding instituted under this Order by a business purchaser against a business vendor in relation to a contract in respect of any goods or service purchased, but excluding any claim—

(a) arising from an agreement to which the Consumer Credit Act 1995 applies), or
(b) arising from an alleged breach of a leasing agreement, or
(c) for debt or liquidated damages

seb65

A lot of the time, software has a license agreement you have to click to install that limits the company's liability. Is this the case here?

edgal

seb65 wrote: »

A lot of the time, software has a license agreement you have to click to install that limits the company's liability. Is this the case here?

The policy agreement is lengthily but it does not appear to act as a disclaimer for the specific problem that occurred,
given some 'techy' explanation from the computer technician who tried and failed to recover the data above.
But in summary the disclaimer related to a particular model of PC that was not the one in question..
The only reasonable explanation for the crash and brake of the laptop is the software bought and installed from them...
It would only seem fair that one can be compensated for the faulty software... would this fall under the 1980 Act so maybe could go through some other body to recover losses or would they be recoverable ?

Pat Mustard

edgal wrote: »

The only reasonable explanation for the crash and brake of the laptop is the software bought and installed from them...

Did your computer technician say this?

edgal

The Mustard wrote: »

Did your computer technician say this?

Yes, though it wouldnt be able to be proven 100% because the software went when the PC was destroyed. But he examined the program that was bought (& is still available for sale) and said it was the cause.

Pat Mustard

edgal wrote: »

But he examined the program that was bought (& is still available for sale) and said it was the cause.

Cool.

Victor

seb65 wrote: »

A lot of the time, software has a license agreement you have to click to install that limits the company's liability. Is this the case here?

Those terms and conditions will have to be reasonable.

dan_ep82

Its very odd for a software to have such an effect. There are plenty of options to recover data unless the drive is bricked. What kind of software was it,as in what did the program do,vaguely even.

Marcusm

edgal wrote: »

The policy agreement is lengthily but it does not appear to act as a disclaimer for the specific problem that occurred,
given some 'techy' explanation from the computer technician who tried and failed to recover the data above.
But in summary the disclaimer related to a particular model of PC that was not the one in question..
The only reasonable explanation for the crash and brake of the laptop is the software bought and installed from them...
It would only seem fair that one can be compensated for the faulty software... would this fall under the 1980 Act so maybe could go through some other body to recover losses or would they be recoverable ?

If you bought it for business purposes (seeing as loss of business profits is what you are seeking indemnity fr), consumer legislation (sale of goods, supply of services acts etc) will generally not apply. You will be looking at breach of contract, if anything.

234

Marcusm wrote: »

If you bought it for business purposes (seeing as loss of business profits is what you are seeking indemnity fr), consumer legislation (sale of goods, supply of services acts etc) will generally not apply. You will be looking at breach of contract, if anything.

You seem very confused.

The 1893 and 1980 Acts do apply to sales in the course of business. And they are the same thing as breach of contract as they create a number of implied terms that allow you to sue for breach. Specifically, merchantable quality applies as much to commercial transactions as consumer transactions.

While there are some enhanced protections for consumers, the vast majority of the sale of goods legislation applies to commercial dealing as well.

LowKeyReturn

edgal wrote: »

theoretical question

bought a program for a laptop and it ended up completely messing up the hard drive, all data lost and the laptop left irreparable.

The loss of work data meant that couldn't complete a job so did not earn that commission and the PC isn't worth fixing.

The PC program company will only refund for the actual faulty software that was bought. Even though their program caused other the damages above.
Could an action be taken in small claims for the lost prospective income and the laptop break ?
Also the job was the first of what hoped might lead to future rehiring if a good job was done but that's obviously not going to happen again either.

My PC knowledge is somewhat better than my legal knowledge. The scenario described above is very suspect and I'm sorry to say I don't fully believe it; at least as described. Looks more like an exam revision question on exclusion clauses / contact terms if you ask me. Your lecturer must really hate you if they are giving you questions relating to software licences.

You may wish to have a read of Victoria Laundry (Windsor) Ltd v Newman Industries Ltd [1949] 1 All ER 997 for further info in regard to the loss of further work.

If you are not a fellow traveller on the path to legal enlightenment though drinking and the occasional bit of reading, my apologies, but find a better PC repair man and for the love of the Holy Byte - back up regularly.

Pat Mustard

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

a fellow traveller on the path to legal enlightenment though drinking and the occasional bit of reading.

Brilliant:pac::pac::pac: