Can I ask, did you reply and reject the offer of a course or did you just ignore it? Presumably you've not received a SJPN yet? I'd be interested to know how it unfolds. Thanks

So who is that from? Is that from your structural engineer/surveyor and did they draw up the original plans/drawings for your builder to work from? That report seems quite helpful. Are they aware that the work in question is the subject of litigation? It might be worth your while to speak to them to see if they can provide further help for you. Can they compare what work was agreed against what work was done, and done badly? Similarly the council building control inspector. Explain the work is the subject of litigation between you and the builder and you would like a report highlighting the flaws and faults in the work the builder did and needed putting right. (I don't know if they can do that or not but you may as well try). Haven't you already got access to all this sort of stuff though? Didn't your previous solicitor pull all this stuff together in your defence evidence bundle before the original hearing? If you have paid your previous solicitor off in full, aren't you entitled to all the papers he has relating to your case? (Again, I don't know, but I thought that's how it worked... ) As regards your £16000 counterclaim, what have you got in the way of physical quotes and estimates from builders and traders (or your structural engineers/surveyors) to back up that value? In other words, what evidence do you have that getting the work completed and/or put right is going to cost you £16K? At the moment all I can recall seeing are "blind" (ie just on un-headed paper with no indication where they come from) lists of snagging and remedial work you claim needs to be done to put right the claimant's bad workmanship. How does the court know you have not made all that up? (I'm not suggesting you have, but how does anybody know you haven't?). So how have you arrived at £16K? You will have to persuade the judge that you are legally entitled to that £16k, so you need to provide evidence that that is what it will cost to put right. Remember that what you are basically doing with your defence and counterclaim is telling a history that explains why you are right and the claimant is wrong. Every history has a beginning, a middle and an end. Everything has to be told in a logical order, and everything needs to be explained in a way that anyone can understand, and which is supported by evidence. You are not writing a mystery novel where you are trying to confuse and mislead people. You want everything to be crystal clear for the reader so they don't need to ask any questions. As I mentioned in the previous thread, have you tried asking Citizen's Advice Bureau for help? I don't see why you can't. Are you in a position to get legal advice from another solicitor? Or if you live in Manchester, have you checked to see if the University Law School offers any kind of free legal advice? Lots of university law schools do so and Manchester has a good law school. If you really are pursuing a genuine counterclaim for £16000, it seems a lot of money to risk as a litigant in person without proper legal advice. In particular, I don't know if a counterclaim of £16000 might have cost implications for you. But it's entirely your choice what you end up doing. You don't need to respond to me immediately, but you do need to start gathering documents and evidence to support your defence and counterclaim, and think about how to draft your defence and counterclaim. (Again, as I said in my previous post, I presume the court has told you to re-do your defence and counterclaim and you aren't stuck with the original one?). I know there is a lot above for you to take in, but I hope it's some help to you. See what other people suggest too. [NB - Please note I am not a lawyer and I'm not giving you legal advice, I'm just giving you an opinion that at the end of the day is worth nothing. I also don't know anything about drafting claims and defence pleadings. I'm just stating what seems like common sense to me, so you need to bear that in mind. If you want legal advice you can rely on, you really need to pay a solicitor for that advice.]

Thank you lookinforinfo. Having a spare 30 minutes I decided to read the judgment referred to in the link you give above. Wow! What an entertaining read. It could form the basis of a courtroom thriller with exotically named parties (with the exception of "Mr Smith" whose identity seems to remain unknown... ) and links to the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands. Hollywood'll love it. Seriously - it's worth a read... Smith v Marston Holdings Ltd & Anor [2020] EW Misc 23 (CC) (06 October 2020) WWW.BAILII.ORG

Hi simeon. Wow. I can see you have spent a lot of time considering the questions I suggested from the other thread - well done. That makes much more sense and I begin to see what has happened - and I can see why you are counterclaiming. It's that detail - the chronological order and the explanation of what happened that's required. I've only scanned through it at the moment. I'll look at it more closely over the next day or two See what help others can offer. In particular, BankFodder may suggest that you turn the PDF file in #2 into a timeline or chronological list of bullet points of what happened. (And I don't just mean copy and paste my questions and your answers, I mean you creating a history of what happened from those questions and answers. Yes?) Then you can use that document to re-draft* your defence and counterclaim in your own words for others here to comment on. Do you have any evidence (eg written reports etc) from the building inspector or structural engineer highlighting that your builder's work was sub-standard? * I'm assuming that the judge who accepted the claimant's set-aside application told you to go away and re-draft your defence and counterclaim? So you don't have to rely only on what you originally submitted?

"Your's is not to reason why... " but to answer @today's questions with neither query nor hesitation... Chop chop!

I've just been re-reading this thread. Is there any particular reason for your radical change of mind between 12 December and 13 December? On 12 December you had made up your mind that FS had made a final (and negative) response to your letter before claim, and that you would therefore issue the claim without further delay: Then the very next day you say that you have contacted FS and you have done a 180 trying to agree to pay them by bank transfer - as they had requested and you had refused: I'm wondering why at the last minute you changed your mind so drastically and decided to follow the advice BankFodder had given on 26 November in #19 and #21 and which you had specifically rejected?

It's perhaps ironic that Jorge Salgado-Reyes appears to be connected with this: London Process Server | Call London Investigatory Services now! WWW.LONDONINVESTIGATES.CO.UK London Process Server is a kind of dirty word. People hide from them. They try to run them over or attack them. Email us now!

I suspect his permanent address might be in Santiago, Chile - although it is quite possible that he might also have temporary addresses in places like London and San Francisco during the year. Nothing you have posted so far demonstrates that either he or the business you refer to has a substantive presence in the UK... (Don't you think it odd that in this day of the internet it is so difficult to find any evidence of their presence in the UK? The only UK connection to the business I can find says that its business is "Latin american restaurants". And it would appear that elsewhere, Senor Salgado-Reyes is involved in recruiting "Private Investigators" in Santiago. Seems a rum fish to me... )

And just to add - simeon is saying that as a result of the property damage caused by the builder the house is infested with rats and virtually uninhabitable! So there's no doubt that simeon needs good advice from someone on seeking recompense.

@FTMDave - yeah it needed a new thread and I see you've linked to the old one concerning the set-aside hearing in #5 above. I think you did a valiant job organising a sensible and reasoned argument for @simeon1964 to use in opposing the set-aside, but I suspect it was always doomed to fail... I'm more or less out of my depth as well really, and I know absolutely FA about civil procedure rules. The problem I've got is I've never managed to get my head around the basis of either simeon's defence or his counterclaim. I find it much easier to understand the claimant's case than simeon's. But I suspect that's mostly because I can't follow everything that has happened and simeon has been struggling to explain it effectively. I think if you can ask other experienced members of the site team to have a look at the thread it would be a great help to simeon as I'm not sure what further constructive advice I can give. (I can see holes in his defence and counterclaim but don't know how to fill them!) If he's being realistic and serious about counterclaiming for £16000(!) then I think simeon might need more hands-on help and to be able to discuss the issue with someone face to face. I'm wondering citizen's advice or seeking another solicitor? I know some CABx hold lists of solicitor firms who'll provide 30 minutes free advice and I'm wondering if that is worthwhile. £16k is a lot of money to have at stake if he's got a valid counterclaim. And yes - on the basis of what we've read in the previous thread, his original solicitor seems to have been utterly useless. But we don't know everything that happened there.

Don't get bogged down over the 4x the contract value. It's not that important whether it's 4x, or 3x or 2.5x The point is that your builder issued a claim against you for £2866 outstanding on a contract he says was worth between £4000 and £5000. (Don't worry for the moment that you also engaged him on a second job for a couple of grand - that's not so important for the moment). In response to his claim for £2866, you put in a counterclaim for £16000 in respect of (a) work you say he had not completed, (b) unsatisfactory work that needed re-doing, and (c) damage you claim he caused to your property, but you haven't provided any evidence to back up the value of that claim (apart from a list) and you haven't provided any evidence that he was negligent or even that he caused the damage. Or if you do have that evidence, you do not appear to have shared that with us or with the court. (If I'm mistaken about that please forgive me, but that is what I see when I look at this thread.) Can you also see that it looks a bit odd that you believe somebody has caused £16000 worth of damage to your house, but instead of suing him for causing that damage (a) you engage him to do more work for you, and (b) you wait for him to sue you for £2866 before counterclaiming your £16000? I think most people would have sued him straight away, so the way you have done it makes it look a bit like just retaliation to his claim, with no substance. Do you see? Please understand I'm not suggesting that is the case - it just looks odd... If you take time to consider some of my points in post #199, it might help you get your head around some of the issues you face and how to approach them.

I think the OP may have form for having difficulty identifying the correct claimant and their address...

I think @today is chasing shadows and this is a waste of time. Yes - Indie Authors Press appears to have some connection with at least one address in Pimlico, but the website that says that also says its business is Latin american restaurants. That website also has links to another site and associated email address (selgado-reyes.com) which has links to San Francisco and Santiago in Chile. The one in San Francisco looks like it might be connected with some sort of niche or vanity publishing, and the Santiago site talks about vacancies for "private investigators" or something. They all seem to be connected via a gentleman called Jorge Selgado-Reyes. I suspect they (or he) don't any "real" presence or business in the UK. Unless @today can demonstrate otherwise - apart from claiming they publish books in the UK...

[Edit: Apologies for odd formatting. It's a copy and paste from Word] Just looking back over this thread, can I ask you a few questions about the details of the claim and counterclaim you posted in #91 on 22 December last month? · In a letter – I presume to you - the claimant says you engaged him to carry out work on your property according to plans provided by a structural engineer whom you had engaged. He claims in the letter that the work he carried out was approved both by the structural engineer and by the local Building control inspector. · The letter further goes on to claim that your structural engineer subsequently determined that further piling work was required but, as the claimant does not undertake this sort of piling work, you had to employ a specialist piling company to do this extra piling. The claimant says in his letter that you – not he – are responsible for paying this other company’s invoice. · He then says you owe him £2866 for work he has done but you have not yet paid. · In his Particulars of Claim the claimant says that you are trying to get him to pay the invoice you have received from the specialist piling company. He says that that work was not his responsibility and is for you to pay. · He further claims that you asked him to do additional work over and above that which had originally been agreed between you, and that he carried out this work in the same area that the specialist piling company was working in. He claims you never paid for this additional work he did, and he is therefore claiming £2866. · In your defence/counterclaim the details appear to be quite similar, except you seem to say that you had engaged the builder before your structural engineer had provided plans etc., but that work would be carried out according to the engineer’s plans. It was agreed that you would pay in three instalments of £1433 each. You made two of these payments. You did not pay the final payment because work was not completed. · You employed a building control inspector to inspect the claimant’s work, and he said it also needed to be inspected by a structural engineer who told you that further underpinning and piling was required. The claimant told you he was not able to undertake this work, so you engaged a specialist piling company and they undertook the work for £2500 which you paid. · You then go on to say (and this appears to be the first mention of this) that the cost of re-working, putting right and completing the claimant’s work which has been left undone, will cost you £16000 and you are counterclaiming for this amount. (You apparently then engaged the builder to do further work, which he did, and which you paid him for. I don’t see the relevance of this – except why use him again if his earlier work was unsatisfactory?) Assuming that the above summary more or less accurately reflects what you posted in #91, I would have thought that you need to consider the answers to the following questions before re-working your defence and counterclaim. I’m sure others can think of further questions, but mine would be: 1. What work exactly did you originally engage the builder to carry out? He seems to think it was completed but you don’t. Can you explain this? 2. Did that originally agreed work include the further underpinning and piling that was identified as required by your structural engineer, or was that entirely new and unforeseen additional work? 3. Did you expect the claimant to pay for the work carried out by the specialist piling company, and if so, why? 4. Have you paid the claimant for all the work he has actually carried out? 5. As regards your counterclaim for £16000, how is that figure arrived at? (So far as I can tell the claimant was meant to carry out work costing £5k - £7k and the specialist piling company only cost £2500. Where does £16k come from?) 6. What evidence do you have that the work the claimant did was unsatisfactory and/or not completed? 7. What evidence do you have that the claimant negligently or otherwise is responsible for causing damage to your property that will require almost £16000 to put right? 8. Is it at all possible that the damage to your property was caused by the specialist piling company and not by the claimant? 9. If you were so dissatisfied with the claimant’s work, why did you engage him to carry out further work? (Paras 13 & 14 of your defence). The reason I’m asking these questions is to put your defence and counterclaim into the proper context so that people can give you helpful advice as to how to redraft them. I don’t suggest that you attempt to answer those questions straight away, but I think you might find it helpful to start giving them some consideration over the next day or two as I really think they will help you structure your defence and counterclaim. Just start to make notes about how you would answer them. They also might be the sort of questions you might get asked at the hearing, so best be prepared for them. But before you do anything, wait and see what other people suggest. They may have additional ideas or they may simply think that what I’m suggesting is a pointless waste of your time.

That's unfortunate - bad luck. I have a couple of questions about your counterclaim that I want to think about but might help you going forward. I'll get back with them later today or tomorrow. I'm sure others will have ideas too. Am I right that you need to re-submit both your defence and your re-drafted counterclaim by 24 January?

I only came across this thread while I was searching for something else. Obviously a very annoying and vexing matter for @lemon_martini2 Can I just ask as a suggestion though, is the confusion with the court about correspondence not being traced at least partly owing to references at various stages to what appears to be Monday, 5th October 2021? It's just that 5th October 2021 was a Tuesday, not a Monday. Of course I may have misunderstood and the detail is not important - I've only had a chance to scan this last page so am unaware of the context of the issue. #326 and #339 Apologies for butting in, but I once had a protracted problem at work because nobody had noticed that a particular day and date combination did not exist...

I don't know either, but I think that at this stage I would strongly advise you to avoid entering into any discussions where you have no idea what the subject of the discussion is about. Just follow the advice FTMDave gives in #190 & 191. The only other thing I would add is this: if the judge speaks to you or asks you a question, and you do not understand what he means, don't pretend that you do understand it. All you need to do is simply say something like: "I'm sorry your honour, but I'm afraid English is not my first language and I didn't fully understand what you have just said/just asked me. Can I ask you to explain it a bit clearer for me, please, so I can understand?" So long as you ask politely and respectfully, the judge will try to help you to understand. And don't let anything the claimant's solicitor says or does annoy you or make you angry. But if he does wind you up and annoy you, don't let him or the judge see that you are annoyed. Be polite and respectful to everybody in court at all times. I wish you the very best of luck!!! nb - when you get to court check how to address the judge. It might be "your honour" or it might simply be "Sir" or "Madam" - I don't know. But even if you make a mistake and get it wrong, they won't hold it against you.

I think you may find that most people who offer help on these boards (in their own unpaid time) find it easier to provide useful help if they have some understanding of both the context and the nature of the problem. It's not because they are nosey or because they want to examine or criticise your private life, it's because it is almost impossible to help someone with a problem without knowing something about the problem. You appear to be having problems communicating with someone - or indeed anyone - at a website you don't want to tell us about. I don't think anybody can help with just that information. [Edit: We cross-posted. Isn't that the same site I linked to in #17? What are you trying to achieve? I'm not sure that business does anything at all!]

Wall... head... banging? That is a very good point and a very sensible question to ask.

Well that is what I've posted above, isn't it? They also seem to be these people Indie Authors Press Home - Indie Authors Press WWW.SALGADO-REYES.COM Spread the loveOUR CURRENT BOOKS MacGuffin $12.99eBook: $3.99 Hollywood, California, August 2005.The double murder of a Beverly Hills... Do they owe you money? Have you paid them to do something and they haven't delivered? Do you want help or not?

Is it these people? Latin american restaurants? Please Wait... | Cloudflare WWW.BIZSEEK.CO.UK Do you think they are a "vanity" publishing firm, or something similar? (Whoops! Is there something "funny" about that link?)

What makes you think they are a British publisher? Is it because they have a .co.uk email address? You can have one of those anywhere in the world. Try answering some questions. (DX - I'll get the novocaine ready while you find the pliers... On second thoughts, give the painkiller a miss I think...)

Why have you posted this? Did you not understand what I posted at the end of #178? You need to stop posting apparently random posts unless you can explain why you are posting them! Like Honeybee13 has just said you are forcing us to play guessing games as to what on earth you mean and you are just making things even more confusing. What does "first contact with solicitor was recorded delivery dated 19 December" even mean? Why are you telling us? Is it in response to somebody else's question? If it is, who asked the question you are answering? Just stop posting for now until FTMDave comes up with some suggested answers to any questions the judge may ask you. As about 15 million people on this thread have already told you, you need to sit back and prepare for the hearing. All you need to think about is: you didn't start this action, the claimant did; it's the claimant's fault (not yours) that he had a default judgment awarded against him because he ignored clear instructions in a court order; any costs he has incurred are a direct result of his failure to act on that court order. Now just sit back and see what else FTMDave and Andyorch or Honeybee13 or DX100 can suggest by way of preparation for the hearing. Worry about what happens afterwards only if the set-aside is granted... [Edit: cross-posted with FTMDave while I've been typing this post] WHAT?!?!?!?! I fear that might be the case. It's not clear to me either whether that figure of £16k has any foundation or the OP has just plucked it out of the air... I agree with the points you think the OP needs to try to get across - if the judge asks him any quaestions. Apologies for that intemperate post! Because of cross-posting I didn't realise the OP was responding (I think) to Honeybee. Still doesn't explain why #179 was posted at all...

Personally I would never buy anything online from a seller who does not provide a physical address on their website. In any event, I always find it prudent to check a seller's online returns policy to see what address they give. If they don't give a returns address or it's in Shanghaia - avoid! I would not necessarily assume that that means they are a UK company subject to the laws of England and Wales...

I think you may have hit the nail firmly and squarely on the head there! I strongly suspect that there was a cross-over period where @simeon1964 considered he was representing himself, but had not adequately communicated that to his solicitor and/or the court and/or the claimant. Thus applications and court documents continued to go to the OP's solicitor, and the request to suspend enforcement action also went there rather than to the OP, and because the OP ignored those requests (which his solicitor may have agreed to but didn't pass onto the OP) the claimant and his solicitor got a bit hacked off with him. Of course, I'm only guessing, but looking back over this thread it wouldn't surprise me at all if something like that happened... @simeon1964 - wait for FTMDave to come back this afternoon with suggestions as to what to say if the judge asks you any questions. In the meantime, try not to post any more extracts from emails or correspondence to or from anybody without explaining exactly what they are, and why you are posting them. Otherwise everything gets too complicated and confusing, and you risk getting poor advice.