AN IRISHMAN who took on one of Britain’s biggest banking tycoons and won, claims he has been short-changed by his legal victory.
Roofer Joe Loveridge, from Bray, Co. Wicklow, filed a lawsuit against Sir Victor Blank in March after the former Lloyds Banking Group chairman refused to pay a £4,350 bill for emergency repair works on his London home.
But despite a county court ordering Sir Victor to pay the full fee, Mr Loveridge, 48, now faces legal costs for the case that he is unable to claim back.
As a result, the roofer says he will be left with as little as £850 of the £4,350 he was owed for his work.
“I have been told that I will have to pay around £3,500 in legal fees,” the Bray-native told The Irish Post. “I would do this again, 100 per cent, because I got justice, but at the end of the day I do feel aggrieved. I should not be out of pocket by a penny but I am.”
Sir Victor lost the case and was served with a County Court Judgement (CCJ) on April 29 on the grounds that he failed to meet a 28-day deadline for submitting documents in his defence.
A solicitor from Lavery Haynes, who represented Mr Loveridge, confirmed that the 48-year-old will not be able to claim his legal costs because the value of his case was less than £10,000, making it a “small claim”.
In a letter to Sir Victor’s solicitor from Lavery Haynes, seen by The Irish Post, Mr Loveridge’s legal costs are said to be “approximately £3,000 +VAT”.
Mr Loveridge said he carried out repair work on the 70-year-old’s Hampstead Garden Suburb home after it was damaged by a falling tree last July.
Before the case, Sir Victor told Ham & High newspaper: “This bill is not being paid in full because Mr Loveridge did an appalling job. If he completes the job properly, he will be paid in full.”
After losing the case, he told the paper he had submitted his forms on time, but Northampton County Court had “mislaid” them. He added that he was expecting the CCJ to be reversed and expected a future hearing to be held.
Sir Victor Blank did not reply when contacted by The Irish Post.
