Scottish Water - Again!

[AliG]

My parents' house is completed internally as of today, with just some landscaping works to be done.

 

I went along to go over the place with the architect so that he could issue the practical completion.

 

I got there to find that Scottish Water, having verbally agreed a way of us connecting our surface water to the sewer around a month ago, are now trying to renege on this. Literally an email was received at 1422 today.

 

I was furious, the SE wanted to meet on site to discuss yet another solution. We have already spent thousands of pounds trying to meet their ever changing requirements as well as tens of thousands of pounds due to previous delays caused by them.

 

My opinion was absolutely not. We had a verbal agreement. They only offered this after in their words first consulting with someone more senior and the agreement was given with no caveats. Thus as fas as I am concerned legally we can rely on what they said and they cannot just change their mind because some other senior person does not like it.

 

I have asked the SE to put this to them, noting that verbal contracts are binding in Scotland and their actions and words gave us every reason to believe that we could rely on their verbal agreement. I also noted recent guidance on verbal contracts from The Supreme Court in Scotland.

 

I am absolutely dumbfounded.

 

@markharrodo you have any thoughts?

 

[markharro]

Hi and sorry to hear about this. A verbal contract should be binding in a situation like this I would have thought. With verbal contracts the problem is establishing what was agreed. In the first instance it would be useful if you could press them in writing to say if they do at least accept that they did reach an oral agreement with you and, if so, in what terms.