They wanted him to answer the questions verbally, fill it in on behalf of him and have him sign it! Unfortunately they've been unreasonable with helping him get there (since its near 300 miles away, and a 4 hour drive) and tried to force the witness statement the way they have. They will have to apply for a summons now. Many thanks for your help. EDIT to add: I've noticed from the correspondence that these solicitors are the solicitors of the insurance company and not DPD. The court claim is between the claimant and DPD, so where do the insurers come into this? They claim liability is in dispute? Between DPD and the insurance company/my friend?

Yes it was questions on the witness statement, that were framed in their words - no blank space to write freely but already pre-filled questions. To clarify, this is just a solicitors witness statement - not a witness summons from the court. He has asked several times now, if he goes to court on the day if he will be represented by these solicitors - they have failed to provide any response/dodged the question. He was also told that he will not be reimbursed as a witness for any travel costs or loss of work for the day (he works elsewhere now so would need time off from another employer). Given this, I think I will advise he doesn't fill it in and instead they can file through the courts for a summons - at least this way, he will be able to claim some travel costs if he goes to court?

Many thanks for all the replies, apologies for the lateness as christmas has been hectic. He has been sent a witness statement, so the solicitors can prepare a defense, but has yet to fill it in. Is he advised to NOT fill it in? If he fills it in, is this going down the route of him being an employee? or is this going down the route of him being solely responsible for any costs/damages? @stu007 - yes that is the same scheme.

Yes, on paper although the "tools" utilised during the accident i.e the van are the property of DPD, and are under the insurance of the DPD company. Also under negligence and the integration test - the work is not an accessory to the business but a vital part of their business model. Under the control test, my friend has no control over the hours worked. So on paper yes but in theory they fulfill the conditions of employee. I agree they are going after DPD as its likely easier to enforce and of course, deeper pockets - and also easier as its then listed at the claimants local court instead. I will request he gets copy of the claim forms and what the defence is. Unfortunately he does not have a computer so I am helping him as best I can.

Hi everyone, I need some advice on behalf of a friend. He started working as a self-employed DPD franchise driver last year. It means you get the title as self-employed but essentially you drive their van, you wear their uniform, they tell you what hours to work & theres little say on your part in this. During the course of his working day, he got into an accident. The insurance companies stated that they could find nobody to be at fault for the collision and any damages were paid for. I believe the other guy who was involved in the crash had quite a high excess and as such is looking to claim this back - by taking DPD to court. This is where things get complicated. The claimant wants to sue DPD to recover costs. As such, the case is being heard in the claimants local county court because DPD are a business. DPD have told my friend he is to travel some 300 miles to this court and represent himself. My friend has had nothing from any court come through summoning him to court. We believe DPD have all the paperwork. We think DPD is trying to make him go to court on behalf of them to deal with this claim. DPD do have solicitors working on this case - we have yet to establish if they will be present on the court date. My question is, if the case is against DPD the company, does my friend need to go? when essentially he was a self employed franchise worker and not an "actual worker". Has anyone got any advice for a situation like this?

I applied for a small claims against the defendant in september 2011. There were three parts to the debt - items of mine which the defendant refused to return, a holiday i had booked which the defendant logged in as me and cancelled (i was unable to get a refund from the hotel/airline company) and cash which i sent registered post and had proof of signature. First court date was November 2011. The defendant didn't show, I didn't either due to being 500 miles away and currently on sick leave. The case was struck out and they lost my paperwork. Ideally it should have been dealt with on the grounds of the paperwork alone.The defendant admitted the first part of the claim and sent a cheque to me for the amount. The cheque bounced. A second court date was set for January 2012. The defendant wrote into the courts and said full settlement had been made. The court struck out the case. No settlement had been made, what happened is the defendant paid the money into someone elses account and used my name in the header field to look like it was my account. I sent in all my bank details to the courts to prove no settlement had been made. It took me 6 months of trying to prove this when i think the court shouldn't have taken the sole word of the defendant in the first place. At the start of June, I had a for mention and the judge made a court order that the defendant was to pay. 7 days passed and no payment. However court orders are not enforceable, only decrees and ccjs are enforceable. So I then have to write in again and am wondering why a judgement wasn't just given in the first place since the defendant has been given opportunity after opportunity to pay. Another two weeks pass and i finally get a judgement but its only for the first part of the claim! (which was the lowest amount out of all three parts to the claim and the one the defendant admitted to anyway). I spoke to the clerk and she told me that means the judge disagreed with me. I asked on what grounds but she said she didn't know. Unreal really. I asked if i could appeal and i can but the amount to appeal is slightly more than what i've been awarded. Overall a very bad experience. Is it worth appealing? and on what grounds? is it worth enforcing? The amount awarded was £100 out of a £500 claim.

Due to complications in this case, I (the claimant) had a for mention and the judge ordered the defendant to pay within 7 days. I asked if it was an actual decree issued and was told no it was a court order. I was advised to ask the judge for an open decree. Do i need to do this or are court orders enforceable??

isn't it 14 days to set aside? whats the difference between setting aside and appealing? or should both be done? PART 27 - THE SMALL CLAIMS TRACK - Ministry of Justice www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/.../part27.htmCached You +1'd this publicly. Undo (2) A party who applies for an order setting aside a judgment under this rule must make the application not more than 14 days after the day on which notice of the

I wrote to the courts in advanced and to the defendant explaining that i wanted the case dealt with in my absence, this is because its an overseas case (england and northern ireland) so i had no chance to get it set aside when the judgment was made.

I had a case heard recently. Unfortunately it was struck out as the defendant (who didn't show up) had written to the court (and failed to notify me) telling them that full payment had been made. I have provided the courts with evidence of my bank details showing no payment received. I was told payment had been made via bank transfer. I believe it is highly likely the defendant has falsified evidence, paid the money into someone elses account and then told the court it was my account. I am currently waiting on a copy of what the defendant submitted from the courts. In addition the defendant had a solicitor, I have been messed around by them alot (waiting over 30 days for them to reply to my letters). The first payment they sent me, the cheque bounced - again this was used as evidence that no payment was made. They told me they would show up on the day of the trial to defend their client but never showed up and weren't even on court record. I have notified the courts of this and as soon as i did i received an email from these solicitors saying that their client had indeed paid by bank transfer. Is it advised I no longer have any dealings with these solicitors? they have caused excessive undue delay and now i am awaiting to see if the strike out can be overturned. Im hoping it doesn't come to an appeal as im not sure what grounds i would appeal on? falsified evidence?

A hearing date was sent for 29th november (yesterday). I was unable to attend due to ill health (a drs note was sent in to the court along with a signed statement/declaration and further evidence), a copy was also sent to the defendant. I have the tracking information and it says it reached them on the 21st so was definitely sent before the 7 days deadline. Today i rang the court to ask for the verdict and was told it had been struck out. They were unable to tell me why due to the strikes. I am completely baffled. I have read the non attendance of partys at final hearings and have complied with a)telling the court, b)telling the other party and c)asking for it to be decided in my absence. I was then reading about having the judgement set aside until i can ring back tomorrow and find out why but i don't quality for that as i notified them. so should i appeal instead?? http://www.aboutsmallclaims.co.uk/set-aside-judgment-court-hearing.html

I have filed for £250 against the defendant. I reside in england, the claimant in northern ireland. I went through a DCA initially to recover the debt, the defendant wrote back denying they had any debts with me and claimed there was no loan agreement in writing, i argued it was a verbal loan agreement. My next step was i filed through the NI courts and tribunals service. The forms were sent out and the claimant put foward a notice of dispute. however in the notice of dispute the defendant says they owe liability to the sum of £70 and will enclose a cheque. i have yet to recieve any cheque! I have now been sent a letter saying that a hearing date will take part in the defendants nearest county court which is overseas in NI, i cannot attend as im working abroad from next week for a few months. If i tell the court this and send in an affidavit, would this be acceptable? in addition i am also worried about the disputed amount the defendant claims for. I am claiming for lost flight money (which the defendant cancelled) money which i was unable to recover back from the airline, money lent to the defendant which i dont have any evidence of since it was all cash?, and items of mine (which the defendant has agreed were left and not been returned to me) including clothing and electrical items which i presume i will have to send in receipts of? not even sure i have the receipts of these items! also im not even sure i can claim for "items" in a county court?? what chance do i stand if im not there? the only thing working for me is the defendant has accepted some responsibility for oweing me money which im sure the judge will find slightly worrying since they are a retired police officer who has ample pension to have paid me back!! and the fact that i have one letter from them to the dca denying all claims and then once the court papers were sent they are accepting some responsibility which suggests they are lying in the first place.

DCA's are not illegal so i'm not doing anything illegal here at all. And the "proper channels" don't always work as i've tried to persue before and ended up losing more money. This is even messier since its taking place overseas - if she doesn't respond to a FREE DCA, shes hardly likely to respond to a court leaflet. This gives them an opportunity to way up what kind of person she is - if she won't pay through a DCA, theres a good chance she also won't pay through the court system so this way is decent for people wo weigh up situations and also for people on low salaries like I am at the moment. I know people on benefits can get reduced fees through moneyclaim but not NImoneyclaim so again it does me no favours.

The same way DCA collect for businesses, I have proof in writing from her that the total sum owed is £250. They recover it and take a % of what they recover. If they recover the £250 by sending a letter they get to keep x amount.

yes i have receipts for my electrical items and my clothing. By domestic i mean her spouse who is filing for divorce came to me and i was truthful to them about her behaviour and she found out about it and now won't pay me back but still kept in contact with me (so she does know where i live ect) and just makes up excuse after excuse regarding paying me back.

No its not an ex, just a friend and i have had little communication with her since i realised she wasn't going to pay me back so doubt she could get an injuction against me for any sort of pestering behaviour?

yes it was domestic. All i have in writing is her admitting to what she owes me and that she promises to pay me the next time she gets paid. In terms of what its for......money that was lent so that can't be proven and things of mine that are around her house that she won't give back to me....clothes, electronics ect could this be classified as theft?

We had a falling out and hence she won't pay me back whats owed despite promising to.

yeah it seems some are dodgy as hell and ask for fees upfront! I was asked by one today for fees upfront and thought no way, aside from i can't afford that - just seems they want more money from the person who is in need than the actual one that has commited these acts. OK does anyone know where i can buy some karma then?

incase the debt isn't recovered, i will then need to find another company to recover on my behalf. Hence my post.

yes i remember because i added on interest the last time i took someone to court. collection agencies can definitely add on interest for businesses though under the late payments of commercial interest act.

yes i have it in writing from her. she put that when she gets her next payment she will pay me the full £250 owed. I would possibly try the court system if she didn't reside in NI which makes things terribly complicated as i cant go through moneyclaim because she doesn't have a british address. Her brother on the other hand does, don't suppose i could use his address?

How come interest can be added on when going through the court system between individuals?

Well with the interest added on over the months and the "late payment" that some of them add on it all adds up, and isn't entirely true as I have already found one company working on it as from today and was wondering if there are any more companies out there who do deal with debts between individuals in this manner.

Well my original question is with regards to collection agencies between individuals who collect a % fee to recover the debt and if anyone knew of any decent ones. Not with advice on court action as my post points out - been there, done that and lost even more money!!