IT contracting - Breach of contract

[volatilebear]

Old Greg. Unfortunately I have already handed in my notice. There is a substation clause but i've already done the deed.

Will my Professional Indemnity insurance cover me?
Do they have a valid claim?

Thanks

[NotAllThere]

I am going to contact an employment law specialist to see what my options are

No point. You're not in an employment relationship with the agency.

Will my Professional Indemnity insurance cover me?
Do they have a valid claim?

Well, you could ask them. But I doubt you're covered.

[CheeseSlice]

Will my Professional Indemnity insurance cover me?
Do they have a valid claim?

Give the PI insurance company a call and ask how they would treat it?
The clause looks shoddy to me but I'm no expert. I'd be interested to see if there is a real 'damage' here for the agent. If the client had made a claim of damages against LA first then that would be a different matter IMO, though not for this clause.

When I read this post it reminds me of just how important it is to review your own contract before you sign (not just get an IR35 review). If there's anything you don't like, get it removed or walk away. Don't take anything that is said verbally by the agent as true as the formal written contract matters more than anything in situations like this.

[Old Greg]

Old Greg. Unfortunately I have already handed in my notice. There is a substation clause but i've already done the deed.

Will my Professional Indemnity insurance cover me?
Do they have a valid claim?

Thanks

Make an offer to send in a sub anyway. They'll hate that.

[WTFH]

If you’re wanting to go legal, you need to contact a Contract Law specialist, not an employment one. Don’t expect to get a good one cheap - they are around £400 per hour.

[northernladuk]

Old Greg. Unfortunately I have already handed in my notice. There is a substation clause but i've already done the deed.

Will my Professional Indemnity insurance cover me?
Do they have a valid claim?

Thanks

No it won't but you haven't handed in your notice. You can't.

Maybe if you read your PI contract you'd know that

[Networker2017]

I know someone who left through mutual agreement with this agency.

Worse case is they bring someone else in and charge you the difference it takes to replace you.

So not the full amount, Im not aware of them ever enforcing this but it is in the contract...

[Anonimouse]

I have seen the exact same threat from this agency, to an ex colleague, the client stepped in. I am currently on site with two colleagues via this agency, both of whom looked blankly at me when I mentioned lack of notice period in their contract.

[Lance]

Unfortunately I have already handed in my notice.

How?

If there is no notice allowed. No termination of the contract by you. You cannot serve any notice.

Read carefully your first post.
The liability on you is if you say something that makes the client terminate.

You’ve basically screwed up your exit from this one. Your best bet would have been to simply not turn up (only telling the agency so you don’t invoke the clause). The client will terminate but not because of any thing you said so that clause is immaterial.

I very much doubt that the clause would stand up on court, but it’s not necessarily as clear cut as others suggest.
For now you just need to look for other work and refuse to pay the agency. Make them take you to court if they want to.

[CheeseSlice]

How?

If there is no notice allowed. No termination of the contract by you.

Giving notice according to a notice period isn't necessarily the only way a contract can be terminated by the contractor. There should be a section in the contract to list various methods of Termination. Depends what else is in the OPs contract.