A local council has spent over £30,000 of taxpayers’ money challenging a man’s £5,500 claim over building damages in a decade-long dispute, a saga he says has “completely destroyed” him.
Iain Hunton has slammed Norfolk County Council for having an “open chequebook” composed of public money that they use to win cases to “teach a lesson”.
The feud first began in 2012, when he wrote to the council about damp issues within his property due to serious flooding on Sprowston Road - the street Hunton has lived on since 1994.
Work to fix the damage only began in 2014, with the local authority citing monetary reasons, however, the former media manager at Archant deemed the repairs to later be insufficient. Both Hunton and his wife suffer from health issues related to cancer and he claims the damp has made these worse.
Iain Hunton has been in a row with Norfolk County Council over damages incurred at this property thanks to flooding
Iain Hunton/Watsons
He decided to take Norfolk City Council - who took over all highway work in 2019 - to a small claims court that same year, believing that damages of around £10,000 that occurred to his home were the fault of the council.
At the advice of a judge, Hunton later reduced this claim to £5,500, following a surveyor’s report - which the 63-year-old paid for himself.
A three-year legal dispute began, which ultimately ended in a win for the local authority in December 2023.
A Freedom of Information request was later submitted by Hunton, where it was revealed the legal spat cost the council around £30,000.
Hunton spoke to GB News about the row and the price tag that came with it, accusing the council of “throwing money at the wall”.
“It seems to me that the council has an open chequebook with solicitors to win at any cost, which cannot be right because, after all, it's public money,” he said. “And that annoyed me so, so much.”
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Damp to the floor boards in living room
Watsons
Damp and rotten skirting boards
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He was advised to take the matter to a small claims court by his local MP at the time, Chloe Smith, and the 63-year-old believed the dispute could be settled with a mediation.
“I never wanted to take legal action against the council. I mean, who would? At the end of the day, they've got the resources, they've got the money, and they proved it. They proved it by hiring barristers who are on £1,500 an hour.
“They completely destroyed me. It was like taking a hammer to a peanut - that's what they've done. They smashed the peanut with a hammer. They wanted to teach me a lesson, so to speak. How dare I take on the council?”
Hunton claims the council dragged on the legal case for three years in order to find their “star witness” - the highways inspector who served between 2012 to 2014 - that would win them the case.
He also states that Norfolk County Council brought in their best lawyer who came with an hourly rate of £1,500 to cinch the deal.
Hunton said that upon the case closing, Graham Plant, the Highways Manager said that he needs to now “get on with [his] life”.
“He might think this is the end of it but this isn't the end of it for me because I have to live with it,” Hunton said.
“How can I go on when the damage still hasn't been repaid? Because I'm not in a financial position to repair the damage.”
Hunton claims the case was won on a “time-barring technicality” due to subcontractors not being allowed to be included in the claim.
Damaged floor boards to front elevation
Watsons
Norfolk County Council said that 'Hunton has failed to substantiate either his initial claim of liability for £10,000 or his subsequent claim of £5,000'
Wikimedia Commons
He now wants an apology and also the £940 he spent on buying surveys for the property that he was told was needed for the trial. Hunton claims he was told by a judge in 2021 that the surveys would be paid for by Norfolk County Council.
“I'm driven by anger now, when before, I was compensation driven. I realise I’m probably not going to get the money but now I’m focused on getting across to the public that the council are wasting their money.
“They used the hammer to smash a peanut and teach me a lesson. Very expensive lesson for them.”
A spokesman for Norfolk County Council told GB News: “We have consistently asked Hunton to demonstrate what liability Norfolk County Council has for the damages to his property. We’ve even provided Hunton with legal expertise, at the council’s expense, to make this case.
“In that time, Hunton has failed to substantiate either his initial claim of liability for £10,000 or his subsequent claim of £5,000.
“The case went to trial in December last year and the judge has now found that the claimant had failed to prove his case and found fully in the Council’s favour.
“We will continue to investigate all liability claims brought against the county council: we cannot set the precedent that just because a claim is of low value, the claimant isn’t required to meet a basic standard of proof in order to receive taxpayers’ money.
“Any substantiated, evidenced claims will of course be fully considered and compensation paid where liability is proven.”
