The claim is out and the next move is unclear
A claim or response is already being exchanged, with disputed items, concessions or new evidence changing the decision.
Updated: 13 September 2026. By Jack Butler-Kettle, Quantity Surveyor & Claims Consultant.
What's happening?
Once a claim or response has been sent or received, informal or provisional material can move the position faster than an internal model. A concession may remain in the total, new records may repair one head while weakening another, and a counterclaim or offer can change the commercial decision without changing the headline value.
The useful question is what each material head currently supports, what remains conditional, what evidence or response is needed next and which decision is required before the next date. The service route does not decide the legal effect of the exchange.
The solution
Bring the latest claim and response, changes or concessions, supporting records and next decision date into one reconciled schedule before choosing the next quantum task.
Each disputed, conceded, missing or conditional item receives an owner and reason for the next move. This advisory schedule supports the instructing client's decision without being a recovery forecast, legal opinion, neutral determination or assurance that the opposing position will fail.
Example
The situation
A subcontractor's claim went across at £560,000 and the main contractor's response values it at £290,000, adds a £75,000 counterclaim for defects and proposes a meeting in twelve days. In the last meeting the commercial manager verbally conceded £40,000 on a variation, but the claim total still shows £560,000.
What happens
- New delivery records repair the materials head, moving £35,000 from conditional to supported, but the same records show the excavator claimed under prolongation was off hire for three weeks, weakening that head by £18,000.
- All of it is brought into one reconciled schedule: the latest claim, the response, the concession, the new records and the meeting date.
- Each disputed, conceded, missing or conditional item is given an owner and a reason for the next move.
- The current supported position is £502,000, and the concession is put in writing so it stops being a number nobody wants to mention.
- The counterclaim is logged as a separate item awaiting the main contractor's evidence.
- Nothing in the schedule forecasts recovery or the legal effect of the exchange, which is the solicitor's question.
The exchange in figures
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Claim as submitted | £560,000 |
| Main contractor's response | £290,000 |
| Counterclaim for defects, logged separately | £75,000 |
| Concession on a variation, now in writing | £40,000 |
| Prolongation head weakened by the off-hire period | £18,000 |
| Current supported position | £502,000 |
The outcome
At the meeting the position tabled is £502,000 rather than £560,000, the measured work and the variations are agreed on the documents, and the prolongation head and the counterclaim are carried with a date for the main contractor's evidence on each.