To make clear, £££land was the claimant, CRS was the provider of threatograms, they gave up after 5 letters, then 2 threatograms from £££lands solicitors before they issued the court claim. ps the answer i gave was to this. Can I ask, did any of the recovery companies (RLPicon/DWF et al) get involved or was this a direct action from the claimant? For the life of me, I cannot see why this store would have followed this action after the case from 2012

Yes it was crs

It's clear they used the court system in the hope they trip you up with cpr and win by default, out of interest what would of happened if witness statements are not received within the prescribed time? i could be wrong but i get the feeling they had no intention sending their witness statements and made a decision to quit based on the defence that was submitted, was it that they were never going to be able to prove such a loss for the so called case costs.

Quick update, after all that it went out in a bit of a whimper. Witness statements sent within the prescribed time but nothing was received, then a notice of discontinuance arrived, thanks again @ericsbrother and for those interested the claimant was £££land

Just to clear up a couple of things, as i was helping out a third party i had to be mindful of what i posted on an open forum without their permission. Secondly looking back i made a mistake in not making clear what advise i was looking for, i wasn't looking for someone to give a cast iron defense to copy and paste, what i wanted was advise on cpr and court procedures, sorry i should of made that clear. However it matters no more because i have told them im unable to help any further, once i know i shall let you know the outcome, thanks for the help this far ericsbrother, cheers

From where im sitting it don't feel that way to me. Thank you anyway

That is just something we are going to have to disagree about. thanks for you help, i shall wait for ericsbrother as it is with their help that i managed to get this far and feel for continuity it's the best way forward that i can deal with it, all the best.

Hello, i think that is slightly unfair, let me explain, im doing this for someone who has even less knowledge of the court system and procedures than me and mine is next to nothing, im just trying to help out someone who is less fortunate. I do have a life of my own and things going on in my life, all i wanted to do was focus on one person trying to help ( thanks @ ericsbrother ) rather than get bogged down with many people chipping in, that for me was the best way in my mind i felt able deal with the minefield of information, if i didn't reply to anyone and they were offended, sorry, also you personally may not find good reason for me to not name the claimant on an open forum but surely you have to respect that i feel i have good reason not to, thank you, p.s no criminal proceedings

Hello, thanks for your reply, received this, court5.pdf

Yes it said legal costs £50, Ok thanks, so at the next stage they will have to provide evidence they suffered a loss and we will have to provide evidence as to why they didn't? ie oxford case, will it have to go to a hearing? i am going to have to speak for them if it does.

Small claims track, will this mean having to go to a hearing at the court? Thanks Yes thanks well hopefully i did just that, so should you end up losing the solicitors costs will be added on to the claim amount, that could be how much on top ??

What happens now in terms of procedure ? once the defense form has been submitted to the court what happens next so i can prepare, also on the particulars of the claim it states they claim the amount, interest and costs, im assuming costs refer to solicitor fees, what can they actually claim for under costs, thanks

Thanks for your help ericsbrother, it took a bit of time to get my head round it all but your advise was of great help, i took your comments on board, i did read the oxford case which helped understand much, i struggled a bit on how you respond in a defense but found a website on how you set out your defence, i kept it simple like you said, I did my best for them, wait and see now, will let you know the outcome, Thanks

No that could not be further from the truth, im just trying to make sure i get the defense correct, im not a legal person, i took time to read 16.5 to make sure i did just that, in the particulars of claim they state theft of goods, and 16.5 (5) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), a defendant who fails to deal with an allegation shall be taken to admit that allegation What you are saying is just ignore that, don't deal with it?, just put in a defense that covers the claim for what they state as case costs, which as you have already said they can not claim for, your saying this court claim is not about making a decision on whether she is guilty or not of theft, thanks for your replies

No the goods were not recovered, but as they stated theft of goods in the particulars of claim under cpr rule 16.5 you have to deal with allegation in one way or another.

I don't have in hand the paperwork it's with the defendant, but it is pretty much what is has on the claim form 1) claim is for £247 representing monies due to claimant for theft of goods totaling £50 2) claimant seeks to recover case costs of £197 making total claim £247 3) despite written demand defendant fail to pay 4) claim interest at 8% etc etc etc

Thank you for the replies, yes i have already taken on board what you have said in relation to that, what i want to make sure i do in put it in the right context on the defence form, im mindful of following the correct procedure for the Contents of defence, so for example on the particulars of claim they put theft of goods, so do they admit or deny it ? 16.5.—(1) In his defence, the defendant must state— (a) which of the allegations in the particulars of claim he denies; (b) which allegations he is unable to admit or deny, but which he requires the claimant to prove; and © which allegations he admits. (2) Where the defendant denies an allegation— (a) he must state his reasons for doing so; and (b) if he intends to put forward a different version of events from that given by the claimant, he must state his own version. (3) A defendant who— (a) fails to deal with an allegation; but (b) has set out in his defence the nature of his case in relation to the issue to which that allegation is relevant, shall be taken to require that allegation to be proved.

1) It's a local retailer so unless you happen to live in the area you won't know them. 2) It's none of the usual suspects 3 ) All cpr obligations were followed in an attempt to settle without court claim, I've seen the correspondence and im satisfied they followed the rules. Someone advised her to ignore (don't know who) she was 16 at the time, when the claim forms arrived she was advised to defend the claim ( don't know who ) on the fact she was under 18, Judge agreed and it was stayed, now she's over 18 claimants solicitor sends a letter to the court and a different judge makes a new order ( see post 14 ) Told her to expect to lose and cough up the money, have until Friday to submit a defense, has to be worth submitting something and lose than doing nothing and let them win by default, I've seen a few of these but never filed a defense for anyone, so i want to make sure that i follow court procedures to give her the best chance of winning

They are making a claim under torts to recover compensation for loss and consequential damages, they claim their actions at the time amounted to a wrongful interference with their goods, The value of the claim is an amount that covers the loss as well as an amount that compensates the investigation costs, security costs and administration costs they incurred as a consequence of their actions.

After plenty of bedtime reading i have the answer to question 1 in my 1st post, as i understand no application was was made (Practice Form N244) the court relied on a letter from the claimants solicitor, so no application notice was served PART 3 THE COURT'S CASE MANAGEMENT POWERS Court’s power to make order of its own initiative 3.3.—(1) Except where a rule or some other enactment provides otherwise, the court may exercise its powers on an application or of its own initiative. (Part 23 sets out the procedure for making an application) PART 23 GENERAL RULES ABOUT APPLICATIONS FOR COURT ORDERS Application notice to be filed 23.3.—(1) The general rule is that an applicant must file an application notice. (2) An applicant may make an application without filing an application notice if— (a) this is permitted by a rule or practice direction; or (b) the court dispenses with the requirement for an application notice. Notice of an application 23.4.—(1) The general rule is that a copy of the application notice must be served on each respondent. (2) An application may be made without serving a copy of the application notice if this is permitted by— (a) a rule; (b) a practice direction; or © a court order. PRACTICE DIRECTION 23A – APPLICATIONS Applications without service of application notice 3 An application may be made without serving an application notice only: (1) where there is exceptional urgency, (2) where the overriding objective is best furthered by doing so, (3) by consent of all parties, (4) with the permission of the court, (5) where paragraph 2.10 above applies, or (6) where a court order, rule or practice direction permits.

Solicitor named in post 4. No need to acknowledge claim, all the procedures were followed at the time of the original claim and the defence submitted was that she was under 18, and it was stayed, now a year later and she is over 18 the solicitor has written to the court and another judge has made a new order that she must 1) defend it 2) do nothing and it be entered against her by default or 3) apply to get it set aside

I agree it's a system that encourages them to make false claims in the hope that you either just pay up or win by default if you ignore. The judge has allowed them to essentially reactivate the claim by simply accepting a letter sent by the claimants solicitor to the court, i have no idea what was said in the letter, surely that can not be the correct procedure and it's not very transparent.

The goods stolen were not recovered, the bulk of the claim is for what they call case costs, in the particulars of claim, goods total £50, seek to recover £200 for case costs and they don't offer any more detail on that, then the usual they want interest on top, so it is essentially trying to claim money for what they call case costs

100 % genuine, i have seen both the original order and the new one, the solicitor is freeths

Just over a year ago friend of mine defended civil recovery claim for shoplifting using the defense that she was under 18, it was stayed by the judge at the time, now she is 18 an order from the court has arrived stating that they had received a letter from the claimants solicitor and it has been ordered to either submit a defense with civil procedure rule 16, don't submit and judgment will default or request to set aside. 1) Is that the correct procedure to just send a letter to the court and ask the judge to make the order 2) can i ask to see a copy of said letter? 3) what court form shall i use to mount the defense Thanks