You will know from our 4th April 2025 post on this website that Summary Judgment was obtained against Firstport Property Services No.10 Limited (“Firstport”) at the Guildford County Court Hearing on 31st March 2025. The sealed Court Order was received shortly afterwards and it specified in detail what information Firstport was required to provide to LMC by various fixed deadlines. It also mentioned a target date in July for a further Hearing at which this information would be assessed by the Court.
Firstport produced to LMC, just before the first deadline, most of the information required. The bundle included the accounts as at the termination date of their contract and on the same day they sent an “Offer to Settle” – an official Court document detailing their offer and giving us 21 days to decide whether it was acceptable to LMC.
In broad terms, the offer was to pay over to us the final balance due (as shown in the accounts), an additional sum as an incentive to bring the case to a close, plus our costs for the period between the Summary Judgment Hearing and our acceptance of the offer (the Court had already ordered them to pay our costs up to the date of the Court Hearing and this sum was promptly settled by Firstport in early April).
The directors of LMC examined Firstport’s “Offer to Settle” closely and after due consideration it was decided unanimously that it should be accepted. Firstport and the Court were advised.
Yesterday, we received from Firstport directly to LMC’s bank account the full amount of the settlement, plus the further costs we had claimed. We should say again that all of LMC’s costs have been paid by Firstport and so there has only been a positive impact on our finances resulting from the action we have taken.
So we are very happy finally to be able to draw a line under this sorry affair and to close our file on Firstport. It has been a very long and complex process requiring many hours of work, but it was worth it in the end!