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  1. The process of Litigation on Receipt or Issuing of a Summons In addition to this explanation - please also see the Small Claims FAQ The purpose of this sticky is to explain in general terms how the Court system works, what will happen once a claim is issued, and what duties the Court imposes upon both you as Claimant or Defendant and upon your solicitors. It is a very complex area, and if you have any questions at any time please feel free to post for further advice. This is part one of further postings were we will break down each section into detail on how to conduct and respond in more depth to different stages of the litigation process. The different kinds of Court and the rules that apply There are two separate but related types of Civil Court-the High Court and the County Court. There is now little difference between the two, although some types of claim are specifically allocated to a particular Court-for example mortgage repossessions are always dealt with in the County Court. More complex or high-value claims and some special types of claim are dealt with in the High Court. The rules of the civil Court system are contained in the Civil Procedure Rules ("CPR"), which are available on line at the Court Service Website at www.hmcourtsservice.gov.uk. These rules regulate the Court's procedure; they do not contain the law that must be applied to each particular case. The CPR also deals with issues such as costs, and the way in which appeals are dealt with. The intention of the CPR is to ensure that cases are dealt with fairly, expeditiously, and as cost-effectively as possible. This is called the "overriding objective". It is the duty of the parties to assist the Court in meeting this objective. Parties that do not assist the Court in doing so-by delaying, for instance-may be punished by costs being awarded against them, or their claims or defences being struck out. It is very important therefore to keep to the rules and to any timetable laid down by the Court. How claims are started - the Pre-Action Protocol In some types of case the CPR requires the Claimant (as the party bringing the claim is known) to follow a procedure before a claim is issued from the Court. This is known as a "pre-action protocol". Essentially this requires the Claimant to write to the proposed Defendant setting out the claim in detail, and allows a period of time for the proposed Defendant to respond. In highly complex claims such as building disputes the pre-action protocol provides for a meeting to take place after the exchange of these letters to try to identify the issues that the parties agree and disagree upon. Sometimes experts are also involved at this stage. A party that refuses to comply with a protocol and insists on issuing proceedings may not get their costs back, even if they are successful at trial. A new pre-action protocol for debt claims came into force on 1 October 2017. This basically requires that the two parties attempt to resolve the matter by an exchange of correspondence. This exchange could go on for as long as 90 days – depending on whether each party responds to the other. Here is a link to the Ministry of Justice PDF https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/pdf/protocols/pre-action-protocol-for-debt-claims.pdf . At the end of the exchange of correspondence, if it appears that there is no basis for an agreement then the claimant is allowed to issue a letter of claim giving a final 14 days before the issue of the proceedings. Issuing proceedings A claim begins by the Claimant sending a claim form to the Court, this may be your local Court or from the CCBC (Northampton) (identifying the parties, their addresses, the type of the claim and the Court fee), and also the particulars of claim. The particulars of claim is a document which sets out precisely what the claim is about, and what the Claimant is asking the Court to do-usually to give judgment for a sum of money, but may be possession of a property for instance. The Court will need a copy for itself and one for each Defendant, and one for the Court to seal and return to the Claimant. The CPR also specifies the various forms that are required. The Court will also require a Court fee when a claim is issued, and the amount depends on the amount of the claim. Information about the fees payable is available on the Court Service Website at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk as well as many of the forms that the CPR requires. COURT FEES can be paid in cash or by cheque made payable to "HMCS" (Her Majesty's Court Service).http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/fees Once issued, either the Court or the Claimant serves the claim form and the particulars of claim on the defendant, together with a "response pack", either by post or by personal service. The response pack contains a number of standard forms, which gives the Defendant a choice as to how he or she deals with the claim; they can admit it all, admit part of the claim and defend the rest, or defend the whole of it. Forms N1 the Summons N9A and N9B Response and Defence/Counter Claim. It is important to note that in cases were full admittance is admitted (N9A) the Court requests you send this to the Solicitor for all documents as per the claim form address. It is advocated that you only copy the Solicitor and send the admittance back to the Court. Once a claim is served on the Defendant time begins to run. Either a defence or an acknowledgement of service must be filed with the Court within 14 days of receiving the claim form. If an acknowledgement of service is filed, the Defendant then has 28 days from service of the claim to file a defence. If no acknowledgement of service or defence is filed within the time permitted an application for judgment in default can be made by the claimant. If judgment is obtained this way the Defendant can apply to the Court to set it aside, but in most cases it is necessary for the Defendant to explain why no defence was filed in time, but also show that there is an arguable defence to the claim. There may also be the Claimant’s legal costs to pay even if the judgment is set aside. However if the Defendant pays the amount claimed together with the costs (i.e. the issue fee and any legal costs claimed, which are fixed at this point) within 14 days of receiving the claim the case proceeds no further. Allocation When the Court receives a defence it will send a copy to the Claimant, the claimant will have 28 days to respond and you will be informed of this on notice form the court. If the Claimant fails to respond within 28 days the claim is stayed if they do respond the court will transfer the claim to your local County Court ( CCBC Claims) and it will also send to both parties an "directions questionnaire". Formally N149 & N150. This document requests information from the parties that will help the Court determine how the claim should be managed. The District Judge considers the issues raised by the claim form, the defence, and what is said in the allocation questionnaires, and then either makes a directions order or sets a hearing date for the parties, when the order will be made. The hearing is often now dealt with over the telephone rather than at the Court itself, unless one or both of the parties are representing themselves. In cases of Fast Track and Multi Track the Claimant/Defendant will submit their own proposed Directions The CPR divides claims into 3 "tracks", depending on a number of factors that are considered by the District Judge when the Court receives a defence from the Defendant. Principally the Court considers the value of the claim; if it is less than** £10,000, the Court will normally allocate the claim to the small claims track; if between £10,000 and £50,000 the fast track, and over £50,000 the multi-track. However the Court also considers the complexity of the case-for instance whether experts are going to be needed. It is possible that a claim under £10,000 is put into the fast track for instance. The Claimant must pay an allocation fee to the Court at this stage, unless the Court assigns the claim to the small claims track and the dispute is for less than £1,000. ** subject to review 2012 The directions questionnaire also asks the parties to tell the Court about any dates that they and any witnesses or experts cannot attend. A trial date may be set very early on in the case, and may be difficult or impossible to move. The Court will also decide which Court should deal with the proceedings; if a claim is brought against an individual it will normally transfer the proceedings to their nearest County Court. If the Defendant is a company then the Court will decide where the most convenient place for the trial will be-depending on the location of witnesses for instance. Amendment Two Directions Questionnaires are introduced N180 & N181 one for cases that are provisionally allocated to the small claims track and one for cases which may be allocated to the Fast or Multi-Track. Following the receipt of a defence the court will make a provisional decision as to which track is appropriate based on the value of the claim. The court will then send a notice to all parties requiring completion of the Directions Questionnaire; the notice may also contain other directions. Only where a party is a litigant in person will the court send out the appropriate Direction Questionnaire. Where a case is likely to be allocated to the Fast or Multi-Track parties will be required to file proposed or agreed directions. The time by which the completed Direction Questionnaire and accompanying documents must be filed is increased and parties will have at least 28 days from the deemed date of service of the notice in which to file the documents. All parties will be required to serve a copy of the completed Directions Questionnaire and any other documents required by the notice on all other parties. The agreed or proposed directions for Fast Track cases should follow those set out in Part 28, for Multi-Track cases standard and model directions can be found online. Consequential amendments are made to PD5A, PD5C, PD15, PD28 and PD29. These amendments apply where a defence is filed on or after 1 April 2013. The directions order The District Judge may make a directions order either without a hearing, or after he has heard from both parties at a hearing at the Court or by telephone. The order is then sent to both parties (and their solicitors if they are represented). The Court will first allocate the claim to what is known as a “track”, which determines how the case will be dealt with by the Court. These tracks are as follows:- The small claims track Claims in this track are dealt with quickly and as cheaply as possible, and without the parties having legal representation. The Court does not award legal costs to the winner, apart from the issue fee and expert fees (unless the Defendant has behaved unreasonably). If the Court decides that the claim is suitable for this track it will send the parties a short list of directions, including a hearing date. It will also require the parties to exchange a bundle of relevant documents, and also to exchange witness statements. It is best to number each page of these bundles, so that they can be referred to easily at the hearing. The hearing itself will take place in the District Judge's chambers, and normally the District Judge will give judgment (in legal proceedings it is spelled with one "e") at the end of the hearing. The fast track Cases in this track are allocated a "trial window" of a week or so when the case will be tried and normally the parties have to use a single jointly-appointed expert who reports to the Court. The trial window is normally 6 months or so away from the directions hearing, and as the trial can only last 1 day cases which will require more time but are still less than £50,000 in value will be allocated to the multi-track. In fast track cases the Court will send out a listing questionnaire shortly before the trial window, which requests information about any further directions that the parties need to get the case ready for trial. The Claimant has to pay a further fee at this stage. Once the Court receives the listing questionnaires, it will set a date for the trial within the trial window, and also inform the parties where it will take place; this may not be the Court dealing with the case, as it depends on where a Judge and Courtroom are available. In fast track matters the parties may only get a few days notice of the trial, so it is very important to keep the Court informed of dates that are inconvenient for the parties or their witnesses. The multi-track Multi-track trials are now relatively unusual. They are restricted to complex high-value cases such as building disputes and severe personal injury claims. The directions that the Court will give are similar to the fast-track directions, but tend to be much more extensive to ensure that the case is presented at the eventual trial as efficiently as possible. The Court will usually permit the parties to use their own experts, and for them to give oral evidence at the trial. Unlike fast-track trials, no trial window is set at the beginning of the case. Instead, the Court will set a date for a listing questionnaire to be sent out to the parties, which requests information about the progress of the case Trials themselves may last many days, and judgment is usually reserved. The Court order will also set a timetable that both parties must adhere to. This will give the dates on which witness statements, disclosure, and expert reports (if appropriate) must be dealt with, and the trial window or length of trial (depending on whether it is a fast track or multi-track case). It may also give directions for specific issues such as specific disclosure. The directions order will set a timetable requiring the parties to deal with the following to prepare for the trial (directions are also given in small claims but the directions are much simpler): Disclosure of documents (usually 14 days after the directions order). The parties exchange lists of these documents, and each party is obliged to disclose all documents which are relevant, whether or not they favour the party disclosing them. Failure to do so may result in heavy costs penalties, or even the case being struck out. The obligation is continuing, so if documents later come to light they must be disclosed immediately. Exchange of documents (normally 14 days from disclosure). Each party is entitled to copies of documents from the other side's disclosure list, on payment of reasonable copying charges. Witness statements from all relevant parties (normally 14 days from service of the disclosure lists). These must be in a particular form and must also contain a "statement of truth". Expert reports (normally 56 days from service of witness statements, to allow the parties’ time to agree the expert, to instruct him, and for the report to be prepared). The Court will only allow expert reports to be used if it thinks it necessary, and will not usually allow their evidence to be given orally at the trial. Instead the Court will require the parties to use a single expert jointly appointed by both, and each side will be bound by the expert's opinion. The expert's fees are met jointly at the time the bill is sent-the party that wins the claim can recover its share when costs are dealt with. Disclosure You will prepare a list of documents in a standard form from the documents you wish to rely or have referred to. The list (N265) will identify all of these documents, and also indicate any documents over which you claim a right to withhold inspection ("privileged documents"), and documents that are no longer your control (and what has happened to them). The list will include a disclosure statement, signed by you. A disclosure statement is a statement setting out the extent of the search that has been made to locate documents, certifying that you understand the duty to disclose documents and that you have carried out that duty. This list is then sent to the other party in exchange for their list, and each party then has a right to have copies of any document in the other’s list. What documents are to be disclosed Standard disclosure requires you to disclose all documents in your possession (or have once been in your possession) the list must give details of both the documents on which you rely and also any documents that adversely affect your own case or support the other party’s case. The Court may also make an order for specific disclosure in some cases, in other words for documents of a particular sort or category This means that if they are aware of documents that should be disclosed you owe as a duty to the Court to do so. What is a "document" "Document" means anything in which information of any description is recorded. This therefore includes photographs, video recordings, and computer information on hard drive or removable media such as floppy disks. It also includes emails. The duty of disclosure Your duty to disclose documents is limited to documents that are or have been in your control. This means having physical possession of it, or a right to possession of it, or a right to inspect or take copies of it. A copy of a document that contains a modification, obliteration or other marking or feature on which you intend to rely or which adversely affects your case or another party’s case is treated as a separate document. Your duty of disclosure continues until the proceedings are concluded. If documents come to your notice at any time during the proceedings, you must immediately notify the other party of it. It you fail to comply with your duty, any order or judgment that is made in the claim could be appealed or set aside. There may also be very serious costs consequences if you fail to comply with these obligations. Privileged documents You are not obliged to disclose documents that are generated by or in reasonable expectation of the claim itself (known as litigation privilege). There is also a category called legal privilege, which applies to all documents generated as a consequence of you seeking legal advice. This means that letters between you and your solicitors do not need to be disclosed, provided they relate to the claim that is being brought. It also applies to advices from Counsel and in some cases to experts; however it is very important to ensure that documents that are privileged are not carelessly distributed for instance by email-this can lead to privilege being lost, and your opponent can then seek an order forcing you to disclose them. If, however, the documents are relevant to the dispute and were giving legal advice but were not generated by it, then they must be disclosed. For instance, if you bring a claim about your purchase of some land, then the other party’s solicitor’s file relating to the purchase is disclosable, but letters relating to the claim that is then brought by you are not. Duty of search ( Claimant) You are required to make a "reasonable" search for documents. What is meant by "reasonable" depends on a number of factors, including the number of documents that would be involved, the nature and complexity of the proceedings, and the significance of any document that is likely to be located during the search. Where you have not searched for a category or class of document on the grounds that to do so would be unreasonable the disclosure statement must state this and identify the category or class of document. Witness statements Each party is required to give its evidence in the form of written witness statements, which contain all of the evidence that they will give at trial. These statements form part of the evidence in front of the Court, and will be read by the Judge. It is therefore extremely important that the statements contain all of the evidence that a party is going to rely on, as the Court will not allow further evidence to be given that is not in the witness statements. In most cases Witness Statements must be submitted and served 7 days prior to any hearing and served on the other party. Applications to the Court It may be necessary to ask the Court for specific orders from time to time-for instance, if the opponent has failed to comply with a direction. The request is made by application, which summarises the reason for the request and the order sought; the cost varies dependant on with a hearing or not normally. It is possible to ask the Court to strike out a defence on the ground that it cannot succeed at trial-known as an application for summary judgment CPR 24. If successful this type of application can result in a judgment against the Defendant in a very short time after the defence has been filed, although often the Court does not have time to list the application for several weeks. In some cases the District Judge may decide that a defence cannot succeed when he allocates the case-and will strike out the claim at that stage. It is vital that constant checks are made to see if the other party have made application as sometimes the Court may be behind in serving you a copy. Experts Experts have a duty to the Court to report truthfully the entirety of their opinion, and this duty overrides their duty to the party instructing them. The expert's report must contain a declaration to that effect, in order to comply with the requirements of the CPR. Experts may be expensive, particularly if they are to give live evidence at the trial; it is for this reason that fast-track restricts expert evidence to a single expert and written evidence. Barristers/ Counsel Barristers (or "Counsel" as they are often called) are used in a number of ways, depending on the type of case. In fast track cases their involvement may only come in to deal with the trial however Claimants have been known to call them for applications in certain cases. Barristers specialise in certain areas, and for more complex cases their involvement may come at the outset of a case for advice either in writing or in a meeting called a conference. They may also be used to draft legal documents such as the particulars of claim and defences if they are particularly complex. The trial The trial itself may be heard in the Court in which the claim began, or at some other Court depending on the availability of the Judge. The Claimant’s representative will open the case by explaining in fairly brief terms what the case is about, and will then call their witnesses to present their evidence. Once the Claimant’s evidence is concluded it is then the Defendant's turn to bring its evidence by calling their witnesses. When a person is called to give evidence they are firstly given the oath, and they are then requested by their own representative to confirm that it is their statement, and that it is true, and they are also entitled to ask certain clarificatory questions. Their opponent is then entitled to ask questions about that statement in cross-examination. Once complete, the party’s own representative is allowed to ask questions arising from cross-examination (in re-examination). Once the evidence has been heard, the parties then make closing submissions to the Judge; this may be given in speech form, but in complex cases this can be done in writing. In fast track cases the Judge will normally give their decision at the end of the case and then deal with costs; in complex cases judgment may be given in writing and delivered by post, and costs and so on will be dealt with at a later date at another hearing. Offers to settle-part 36 offers The CPR encourages the parties to settle the claim by negotiation before and during the proceedings. Both the Claimant and the Defendant may make offers to settle (these are not disclosed to the Judge hearing the trial). This is known as a "part 36 offer". These offers are made by formal letter and are automatically withdrawn after a certain period (which cannot be less than 21 days after they are made). After that date they can only be accepted if the parties agree or the Court orders it. However there is a sting in the tail for a Defendant; in order for an offer from a Defendant to be effective, the Defendant must also offer to pay the Claimant’s “reasonable costs” up to the date the offer is accepted. It is therefore essential that any offer to settle is made as early as possible for two reasons. If the offer is accepted, the Claimant’s costs that the Defendant must then pay will be minimised; if rejected and the Claimant fails to beat it, the amount of costs that the Defendant will be able to recover from the Claimant will be maximised. Both Claimants and Defendants can make offers, and they have different consequences when the case comes to Court. For a Claimant, if the Court awards the Claimant more in damages than his or her offer, then the Court may in addition award the Claimant indemnity costs, interest on those costs, and also interest on the damages. If the Claimant doesn’t beat their own offer then they will just get the amount ordered and interest plus their reasonable costs. In contrast, if the Claimant fails to beat a Defendant's offer then they will get the amount ordered plus their costs up to the date they could have accepted the Defendant's offer, but they will have to pay the Defendant's costs after that date plus interest on those costs and their own, and they will include the costs of the trial. To take an example, suppose a claim is worth £10,000. The Defendant could offer to settle the claim for that amount together with the Claimant’s reasonable costs even before proceedings are issued but the Claimant rejects it. If the amount finally awarded at the trial is £10,000, the Defendant will have to pay the Claimant the £10,000 but the Defendant can then ask the Court to order the Claimant to pay all of the Defendant’s costs from the last date on which the Claimant could have accepted the Defendant's part 36 offer. The Claimant will only get his or her reasonable costs up to that date. If the parties have each spent £10,000 in legal costs getting the case to trial, then in the example the Claimant will get£10,000, but will have to pay £20,000 in costs. The Defendant will only have to pay £10,000 plus the Claimant’s costs up to the part 36 offer which are likely to be minimal. For a Claimant the effect is even more dramatic; suppose the Claimant makes an offer to settle of £10,000 before the proceedings start and the case takes 3 years to get to trial, at which point costs are £10,000 on each side. If the award is £10,000 the Court can be asked to order the Defendant to pay interest on the £10,000 at up to 10% above base rate from the date of the Claimant’s part 36 offer. If the base rate is 5%, then the total interest could be as much as £4,500. In addition the Claimant will be able to claim costs on an indemnity basis plus interest on those costs at a rate not exceeding 10% above base rate. The Defendant would have to pay £14,500 plus £20,000 costs plus interest on the Defendant's costs. As a result of these potentially draconian consequences, a part 36 offer early in the proceedings or even before them can be very effective. Alternatives to litigation The Civil Procedure Rules positively encourages (but does not require) parties to resolve their differences without the Court process. In particular a process known as Alternative Dispute Resolution may be appropriate. There is recent case law in which a party-though successful-did not get its costs because the Court concluded that it had unreasonably refused to attempt ADR. ADR may be a very informal meeting between the parties, a rather more formal discussion between them assisted by a professional mediator, or even what amounts to a mini-trial at which a professionally qualified expert makes judgments on the issues between the parties who are represented by Counsel and by solicitors. Specialist Courts Some types of case are assigned to specialist Courts, which have particular jurisdictions. Examples of these include the Chancery and Mercantile Courts, the Company Court, the commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court. Many of these specialist Courts are in London, but the commercial and chancery Courts also have hearings in Birmingham and Manchester. Judges Day-to-day procedural issues are dealt with by District Judges in their private rooms at Court, known as Chambers. These hearings take place in private, and are normally attended by solicitors rather than barristers. They may even be dealt with on the telephone. District Judges have wide case management powers under the CPR, with the intention of meeting the overriding objective. Circuit Judges or Recorders usually conduct trials, although some District Judges also have the authority to hear fast track trials. Appealing a decision It is possible to appeal from judicial decisions, but to do so is usually expensive. It is necessary to show that a Judge's or District Judge's judgment was either wrong about the law that applied, or that the Judge made a mistake about the facts of the case which is relevant to the decision that was made. It is much more difficult to appeal on the ground of a factual error, as the appeal Court will normally regard the Judge that heard the evidence as being best placed to decide. It is not possible to appeal a case from the small claims track unless there is evidence that the Judge or District Judge was wrong about the law. Time limits apply when appealing, and these tend to be short (usually 14 days). Depending on what kind of decision is appealed the Court that hears the appeal may be a Judge of the County Court, the High Court, or the Court of Appeal. Enforcement The Court does not enforce judgments itself; the winner or judgment creditor must do so. There is a large number of procedures available depending on what is likely to be most cost-effective, as all involve further legal costs to a greater or lesser extent. The debtor can also ask the Court for time to pay a judgment, although a company cannot do so. Common methods of enforcement are; bailiffs. Under £5,000 the County Court bailiffs are used. Over £5,000 the case will be transferred to the High Court, and the High Court sheriff used. bailiffs have the power to seize goods under a judgment, and sell them if a judgment is not paid. Attachment of earnings orders. If the debtor is working, the Court can order that a certain amount of the debtor's wages is paid to the creditor each month. Charging orders. Restrictions. If the judgment debtor owns property, the Court can be asked to grant a charging order (which is rather like a mortgage) which can then be registered at the Land Registry. If the debtor wishes to sell the property the judgment debt must be paid first, so securing the debt. It is also possible to request the Court to sell the charged property. Freezing orders or Third Party Debt Order. Not strictly a method of enforcement, but if the debtor is trying to move money out of an account-for instance following the sale of a property-the Court can order that the debtor's bank accounts be frozen up to the amount of the claim. A freezing order can also be applied to someone else's account containing the debtor's money, such as a solicitor's client account following the sale of a property. The remedy is expensive but is effective. Statutory demands. This is the precursor to a bankruptcy petition (if the debtor is an individual) or a winding-up order (if a company). It is served giving the debtor 21 days to pay. The advantage of these two procedures is that the service of the statutory demand is quick and cheap, and is often effective if the debtor has the money to pay it. However, if the demand does not produce payment it will be necessary to consider a bankruptcy or winding up petition. Bankruptcy/winding up. If a statutory demand is not satisfied then the next step is to present a petition for bankruptcy or winding up, as appropriate. The Court fee and deposit is quite expensive, but the hearing of the petition is usually relatively quick (about 8 weeks). If an order is made, then statute prescribes a list of the creditors who are paid out first; a judgment debt would rank last, with any other unsecured creditors. Costs If a claim is successful, the Court will usually order the losing party to pay the winner their "costs". What is meant by "costs" is a complex area, and has important implications for anyone contemplating or involved in litigation. The introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules has also radically changed how costs are ordered and assessed. Under the terms of the retainer between the solicitor and the client, the responsibility for paying the solicitor’s costs and disbursements such as barristers’ and experts’ fees rests with the client, whether or not the claim is successful. If an order for costs is made, unless the parties agree how much the costs will be, the Court will decide how much the loser should pay. Litigation can be extremely expensive, especially if the case is complex and involves barristers and experts. It is for this reason that, if you have legal expenses insurance, it is very important to ensure that you notify your insurer of any dispute you become involved with as soon as possible-most policies are very restricted on when claims will be considered. Normally the "winner" of a case is awarded the legal costs, but this does not necessarily follow. The Court has very wide powers to deal with the costs of a case in any way it feels is appropriate and this can often mean that the party that has behaved most reasonably has the best chance of getting their costs paid. Costs may also be ordered during the progress of the case if any applications have been made. The usual order is for the loser to pay the winners reasonable costs, to be assessed by the Court if no agreement can be reached. Costs orders The Court has the power to make any award of costs it thinks appropriate, and at any time a Court order is made. Consequently the Court may make costs orders during the proceedings, not just at the final hearing. Usually no order for costs is made in small claims apart from the issue fee and the fee of any expert instructed, unless one of the parties has behaved unreasonably. The rules also provide for "fixed costs" in some cases; for the issue of proceedings for instance, and also for some types of claim such as possession proceedings. The normal rule is that "costs follow the event"; in other words, the loser pays the winner’s costs. However, the Court is required to take the conduct of the parties into account as well as who is successful, and make an order that does justice to the parties in the circumstances. The Civil Procedure Rules impose a duty on the parties to proceedings to assist the Court in achieving the "overriding objective", which is to deal with cases justly. One aspect of the overriding objective includes saving expense, and cost. As a result, the Court may penalise a party that has not complied with the spirit of the Rules, by for example failing to serve a pre-action protocol letter if required. In addition the Court will take into account offers to settle and payments into Court. If a Costs order is made, it will state whom the "paying party" (usually the loser) and the "receiving party" (usually the winner) is, and also what basis of assessment is to be used if no agreement can be reached. In fast track cases the Court performs the assessment at the end of the trial. In multi-track cases, or if a claim is settled during proceedings with an agreement that costs be paid by one of the parties (for instance if a part 36 offer is accepted), a schedule of the costs is sent to the paying party to try to reach agreement. If this is not possible then a costs draftsman prepares a bill of costs for assessment by the Court. Both the costs draftsman and the Court charge fees. The CPR encourages the parties to negotiate, but ultimately the Court may be requested to assess the bill. The Court has to decide:- Whether it is reasonable for the loser to pay for the work charged for; and Whether the hourly rate charged by the solicitor is reasonable. The Court will not require the loser to pay the winner if he or she has behaved unreasonably, by for instance telephoning or writing to his or her solicitor more often than is necessary to progress the case. Nor will the assessing Court regard a senior solicitor dealing with a simple case as being reasonable. Each Court area sets standard rates for solicitors of different levels of experience, and it may award a lower rate than is claimed in such a case. Similar principles apply when the Court assesses the amount claimed for barristers' and experts' costs. The Court may decide that the amount the loser must pay in costs is less than the winner has paid to his legal team. As the Court tends to be conservative when it assesses costs, the loser is often ordered to pay only 75% or so of the winner's costs. Even if a costs order is made, this does not guarantee that payment will be made; if it is not, the successful party may have to use enforcement methods to recover the money and may be unsuccessful if the loser does not have the means to pay. In addition, if the losing party has a Public Funding Certificate (which used to be called "Legal Aid"), the Court may still make a costs order, but may also order that payment of the costs will not be enforced without the Court’s permission. Disbursements These include barristers’ fees, Court fees and experts’ fees. Often a party's solicitor will require payment in advance of the disbursement being incurred, as it is usually the solicitor that is responsible for payment of these fees. these fee may be recoverable at the end of the case. Agreement The Court will expect the parties to attempt to agree the costs between them, as far as possible. The receiving party will prepare a schedule of its costs and submit this to the paying party, and invite comments on it. Often the parties will not be far apart, and agreement may be reached. If no agreement can be reached, the receiving party must draw up a formal bill of costs which summarises precisely what was done and when. A costs draftsman normally does this, who will charge a percentage of the bill for doing so (normally 2%). This is then sent to the paying party, who must serve a formal response within 21 days, stating what elements of the bill are disputed. If no response is served, the receiving party may apply to the Court for a "default costs certificate". This is an order requiring payment within 21 days of the certificate, and can be enforced as a judgment against the paying party. If a response is served, the receiving party may either negotiate, or ask the Court to set a date for assessment. The receiving party must make the application for assessment within 3 months of the costs order, unless the parties agree an extension. The basis of assessment The Court must be satisfied that the costs that are being sought are not unreasonably incurred or unreasonable in amount. However there are two different bases of assessment that the court may order. The usual order is that costs are assessed on the "standard basis". This means that the paying party must pay only an amount of costs that is "proportionate to the matters in issue"; in other words, it will not sanction a large bill for a small dispute. It will resolve any doubts it may have as to whether the costs are reasonably incurred, or reasonable in amount and proportionate, in favour of the paying party. In unusual cases the Court will order that costs are to be assessed on the "indemnity basis", which means that it is the receiving party who receives the benefit of any doubt. Summary Assessment The Court has the power to make a summary assessment of costs during the proceedings, without needing to go through the lengthy detailed assessment procedure. It is also required to do so at the conclusion of a "fast track" trial. The parties will both prepare costs summaries for the hearing, and serve these on each other prior to it. The Judge will consider the summary at the conclusion of the hearing and decide the amount of costs to be awarded. Detailed Assessment If the parties cannot agree the costs, the receiving party will ask the Court to set a date for the detailed assessment of the bill. District Judges undertake the assessment, but in London the Supreme Court Costs Office deals with cases in the High Court. Representatives of both parties attend the hearing. The District Judge will consider the submissions of both parties and decide whether the work done was reasonably necessary, and if so, whether the time taken and the solicitor’s hourly rate claimed was reasonable (different rates apply in different parts of the country, and are set by the Court). Normally the Court will reduce a bill by about 15%, as a rule of thumb guide, on assessment. The District Judge will also decide which party should pay for the costs of the hearing itself, and summarily assess them as well. Any order made to pay a sum of money as costs is enforceable just like any other order.
  2. All documents are here: simple procedure 2023 WWW.SCOTCOURTS.GOV.UK Below are those relevant to DCA/Debt Buyer Claims with specifics highlighted within them. Some interesting musings... It is heavily directed toward the claimant/respondent dealing with this via ADR outside of court There are no immediate court hearings/if any at all...the sheriff is directed to read the responses by the claimant and the respondent and decide what should happen. it is very much geared toward Mr Joe Public, with NO legal knowledge needed, to represent themselves and be helped and NOT be disadvantaged by the sheriff nor the Claimant in legal matters. they must explain and help the respondent in legal matters use the response form 4a PDF attached to post 2 or 3 although we prefer you use the form as prep and respond via the online website though we do not know at this stage as this new if the numbers on the form correspond to the website ones please let us know!!
  3. Hello, I have recently been unfortunate enough to experience the bad end of when Hermes loses a parcel. A quick summary: I was returning a phone which was faulty back to Amazon DE for a refund. I had to pay return postage. Amazon said they will refund me up to around EUR 8 for postage. I then got a quote from P2G and the only service which would allow me to not be out of pocket was Hermes International. I put in the parcel details and the value. I did not choose to pay for their additional insurance as it was £30, in fact if I could go back in time I still wouldn't pay extra for their insurance. Some time went by and I still hadn’t received a refund from Amazon so I checked the tracking. It was as follows: 16/01/2019,20:17 Entered the Hermes network 16/01/2019 10:29 Dropped off at the ParcelShop 15/01/2019 18:04 Order placed Nothing after that. I then contacted Hermes who referred me to P2G. After chatting they opened an investigation as the parcel should’ve arrived no later than 24/01/19. I waited about 2 weeks and chased them for an update. Of course the parcel was not found. The next step is for me to submit a claim and supporting documents. They will however only offer me £20 as I didn’t take out the extra insurance. I will not accept that as I will need to recover the full amount of the phone. What is the best course of action for this? Do I need to go through their claim process (even though I know the resolution is not satisfactory) or can I just proceed with a letter of action? I have an idea of the small claims process but any links regarding a letter of action and what needs to be included etc. would be very helpful. Any general advice would also be great. Thanks.
  4. Hi, Ive read a few of the posts on the forum before registering and after seeing the sound advice given out I was hoping I could just pinch some knowledge off whoever maybe helpful enough to assist my situation. So I’m submitting my small claims court document online tomorrow, it’s all filled out ready to go but I wanted some advice on what I can claim for and to what amounts. I’ll try to keep this brief. I purchased a car in October for £2000. The car had high mileage at 130k but seemed a good vehicle for me to get to work and back. It had a full service history, lots of receipts and drove fine so was happy to transfer the cash. The very following day on way to work it went into limp mode but on restart it would come out of it, I contacted the dealer who said I could bring it in and he would sort it. I took the car to him and the faults were cleared from the diagnostics and he said hopefully that will be the end of that and sent me on my way (I know, he fobbed me off). A full month later, whilst driving, the car made an almighty sound and grounded to a halt. Again the garage said to send it down and he would sort it. I got it sent to him and had very poor contact from him for the next week. When he eventually told me the issue that the cambelt had snapped, his previous helpful self went as well. Cue a month of going back and forth, him wanting me to pay money towards the fix and me taking advice from citizens advice giving him all the options I was entitled to. He refused all options and when I told him I was seeking legal advice, he totally shut down and asked for it all in writing to which I duly obliged. So tomorrow is 28 days since I sent my letter to him advising him that I was taking him to small claims and I haven’t received anything at all from him. He has my car, my money and I’ve offered him every option but he’s completely refused. My question is, I have put in the price of the car at £2000 and the towing price at £70 but in the meantime he created hell for me without my vehicle, should I be claiming for more? The main thing is I’ve had to go and finance another vehicle, I’ve had to keep paying the tax and insurance as the car is parked outside his garage. Also the amount of personal things like hospital appointments, school runs etc I had to re arrange in that time was a right pain in the backside. I don’t want to put too much in, in all honesty if I got my money back I’d be over the moon but I feel like I should be entitled to more after how he’s handled this and what I’ve had to deal with. Sorry for such a long message and thanks in advance to anyone who chooses to help.
  5. Hi all, Bit of back story to my questions: I'm a director of a webhosting company, and one of our payment processors we use is called Payza, which is similar to Paypal and very useful for people who live in countries not serviced by Paypal. Around about the 21st of March, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a lawsuit against digital payment processor Payza for allegedly operating an unlicensed money service business that processed more than $250 million in transactions. Now looking at Payza's structure, they operate under several shady layers it seems. The company uses terms such as "servicing" companies, but all are ultimately falling under a UK Ltd company called MH Pillars Ltd. MH Pillars Ltd has had a few address changes recently, but now the latest registered address for them is an accountant's office. I tried to withdraw funds from our "ewallet" on the 21st of March, and a few small transactions went through, now I have nearly £5000 still stuck in my "ewallet" and the site is not allowing withdrawals. Each day the withdrawal requests remain "Pending" with a due date that just keeps on extending. Their support team no longer respond to emails, and they are not active on their Social Media accounts on Twitter and Facebook anymore. Anyone have suggestions please? What are the merits of sending a LBA to their accountants, and then a county court claim to their accountants as well? Would I just be wasting my money as accountants could just turn around and say nothing to do with us!
  6. Hi to all. I am going to try and keep this very simple and brief. I was sent a package/gift by my relative. So it was not a online purchase or any of that sort The item was delivered to my apartment complex via Royal Mail signed for service and was received by the concierge who signed for the item and made a log of my parcel and put in a delivery note via my letter box. However when I went to collect my parcel it had disappeared from a secure parcel room. I am not here blaming the concierge stealing the package all I am saying it just disappeared. I spoke to the building management and put in a formal complaint. I contacted the police also who could not do much at this point as no proof of who took the parcel. I wrote endless letters of complaint to the building management company of my apartment complex. Who ignored my complaint s and never responded. I then did a subject access request for the office log sheets containing the acceptance and delivery of my parcel even then they ignored and after my letter to management stating I will make a complaint to the ICO they sent me the documents. I then wrote to the CEO of the company and yet received no response. I had no choice other than to seek financial claim of my missing item via the small claims court. £ under 5000 claim. So The Small Claims court acknowledges my claim and gave until 1st of October for the defender the building management company to acknowledge and put in a defence to my claim. I rang the small courts/money claim centre on the 2nd of October who said they have received no information from the defendant however they are 5 days behind. i had to wait until 7th to find out if they had received any correspondence. I ring up on the 7th and yes they have not received any information. I sent in via email a request for judgment by default on 7th October, received the confirmation email, but again it takes 5 days for it to go through. The judgment by default was sent as the courts had not received any information from the defendant at this point of time. On the 8th of October I received an email from the defendants solicitor stating that there is no contractual relationship between me and the building management, and my particulars of claim are not clear, (I have been extremely clearly in my claim form) and that the claim is misconstrued and vicarious and that the concierge company is separated and are hired separately and in so many words saying it’s not them and trying to shift blame, followed by giving me 2 options, A)discontinue the claim B) agree to an an extension for the defence to allow them a extra 1 month to put in a defence C) And if I do not agree to a or B the building management company would file for a summary judgment strike out as the claim is vicarious. And giving me a 23 hour notice to respond via email only and to seek legal advice. Note I received the email on the 8th at 9pm and was given less than 24 hours to respond via email only by 3pm on the 9th of October. And the defendant will claim between £2500-£3000 In court costs and legal charges etc In a panic and surprise that having not any response up to date and all of a sudden a letter from a solicitor o sort legal advice and was told by my legal team to continue with the judgment by default. On the 14th of October I rang the court and was told the defendant on the 6th of October put in an acknowledgment of service but have until the 15th to put in the defence. So the judgment by default is not valid. But can put in another judgment by default if they don’t receive a defence. That’s the basic of what is going on. Now my question is can the defence claim legal costs via small claims? What advice and help would you suggest. What steps could you suggest I take as I am getting stressed out. Thank you and all response will be appreciated.
  7. Hi everyone, I joined the site yesterday and I've been having a good look at PPI threads along with the interest calculator spreadsheets. I am in the process of claiming PPI from 4 NatWest loans that my deceased parents took out in the 80s. NatWest have made offers on all 4 claims but I'm not sure they've worked the interest out correctly - I have queried this with them but they've just sent me a letter repeating the same information as their offers. I've used the PPI spreadsheet on here but NatWest are saying that interest is paid at 15% up to 31st March 1993 then 8% from 1st April 1993 and the spreadsheet I tried only showed 8%. Is there a way I can change it to work out interest at 15%? The loans were taken out in 1983, 1986, 1987 and 1988 so will all have at least 5 years interest at 15% on them. If anyone can offer me any help with this I will be really grateful. Thank you
  8. In December my carry on bag was lost/stolen whilst queuing to board a flight overseas. It contained just about everything important, laptop, camera, clothes, sunglasses,makeup the lot. As terrible and distressful this was I knew i had travel insurance to cover me for up to £2k of personal possessions. So i thought! I submitted my claim at the beginning of January. When you submit the claim they take 10 days to respond and tell you if they need further info,this has happened twice, meaning that today 20/2/19 still battling with this. "Please note that your insurance policy has a limit of £150.00 in total for unreceipted items. Therefore, as you have only been able to provide a receipt for the trainers of £73.97, our maximum liability for your claim will be £223.97. This will be paid into your nominated bank account within the next 5 days working days. This has been paid as a gesture of goodwill based on the report you provided as it still does not give all of the necessary information. We suggest you contact the airline for further compensation as they are responsible for the loss, we trust this clarifies our position". I called them and said I was very disappointed with this, as there was nothing for the laptop (It says they will cover upto £500 - the laptop was a gift from my late partner and i sent them receipt which was address to me). I also clarfied that the airline were not responsible and provided documentation accordingly. I.e lost and found reports comcluding item not found. I have missed my mortgage payment as have had to replace my laptop (as i cannot work without it) - they are taking so long to come back to me. Also I purchase essential items on arrival and they have not covered them either. They are not covering the majority of items in my bag basically. They have suggested i contact them via the complaints procedure. I am so annoyed, I took out this cover for peace of mind and it was hardly worth it. For the amount of time its taken to get the claim together, I should have just worked more hours doing my job and i would have basically been better off. Does anyone that is familiar with insurance policies know if it is acceptable to time they take to respond to these things, if i complain today (for them not covering the laptop and essential purchases which were receipted) they will probably take another 10 days to respond!
  9. Hi,I'm new here. Without mentioning names, I bought car for 5.5k. described as"drives like new", immaculate condition" etc. Within 28days, red EML light come on, had it locally diagnosed as issue with electronic throttle and exhaust pipe seized shut. I immediately notified the trader, who largely ignored me. I consulted mechanics and was told the serious fault and I better be off rejecting it, under CRA 2015. I had written the dealer (independent garage) quoting my reasons to reject the car, gave them two weeks to issue refund, meanwhile I am without a car. They fobbed me off again, did not collect car,did not diagnose nothing. So after two weeks, I sent letter before action via email and recorded delivery. They called back asking me to take the car to nearest garage and if reasonable they'd pay. I did not agree reasonable part however I had to tow the car to another reputable garage for further diagnosis and quote. It came to 900+. After 5 days of issuing the quote, they came back saying too expensive and I should bear all costing to take car to them and they will fix it(towing would cost around 500). I obviously rejected and went ahead with repairs, now asking them to pay the bill or there is a Small claims on their way. Before you comment, please note following reasons I also rejected,apart from the cost of towing, which they asked me to pay. 1) they sold car with the main warranty provider, I did not get the document but all of their cars had their branding all over (approved dealer, 6m warranty) but I found out they lied. I had various dealings with the warranty company, who sent their staff to REMOVE all their branding trafer fraudulently was using. I have confirmation of this . 2) Autotrader reviews - I naively trusted the reviews, more than 50 ,nearly all 5*. Upon my issues, I went through one by one, and realised they are suspicious. After lengthy dealings with AT, they were found that 46 of those(including dealers responses to those great reviews) were fraudulent. Based upon the fact that they left me with no car for a month, lied to me about everything as stated above I could not be expected to trust them to repair anything to the required standard. (They must have cleared all fault codes prior to selling the car!) There are other matters that I cannot comment on due to legal reasons too. My question is : has anyone been in rotelt similar situation and any tips before small claims? TIA
  10. Hi My wife has received a Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims from Drydensfairfax, for an old debt from 1998 at an old address. Arrow recently started sending letters to our new address and continued despite being returned as not known at address. They now appear to be instigating court proceedings. Unfortunately I expect this is not outside the statute of limitations as I have been paying £1 per month by standing order since she defaulted in around 2000/2001 (from my account not hers). Whilst she is working, she is not in a position to pay it off as she is currently just managing to maintain her current credit. Naturally we do not want a CCJ, ideally she is hoping to consolidate her current debt soon to help manage and prevent her credit status worsening. I would really appreciate any advise you could offer, in particular could I ask: - should I send the suggested CPR 31.14 request (as this seems to mention a specific court that has not yet been advised)? - should I send the CCA request to Dydyenfairfax or Arrow? - I have seen a Debt Prove it letter, would this be appropriate? Also, I have listed below the details as suggested: Name of the Claimant ? Drydensfairfax Solicitors/Arrow Global Guernsey Ltd Date of issue – 04/02/2019 Date to acknowledge) - 09/03/2019 - We are instructed by our client, Arrow Global Guernsey Limited, in relation to the above debt. If you do not provide proposals to repay this debt, or respond as otherwise detailed in this letter and it's attachments, legal proceedings may be issued against you in the county court. If such proceedings do become necessary, further costs will be incurred for which you may be liable. The proceedings may then result in a county court judgement being entered against you which will be registered a the credit reference agencies and is therefore likely to affect your ability to obtain credit in the future. Full details of the debt are set out below: The amount owed is £702 and no charges/interest are being added at this stage A statement of account is attached ---(an account summary showing only start balance (£823), total debits (£17), total credits (£138) current balance (£702)--- The agreement this debt relates to was entered into between you and Shop Direct (Carval) on xx/xx/1998 and assigned to Arrow Global Guernsey Limited on xx/xx/2011. A copy of the agreement can be requested using the reply form. ---(should I do this also?---- Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Don't know Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? Yes Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? No What is the total value of the claim? 702 Is the claim for - catalogue When did you enter into the original agreement before or after April 2007 ? before, it was 1998. Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/Equifax /Etc...) ? Not on my copy, I don't know if deeper searches with linked addresses are any different, credit score is low but I thought this was due to current level of debts Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Debt purchaser, Arrow Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? probably but to a previous debt purchaser, it was back in 2011 when Arrow took over but we moved house in 2008 Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Yes, around 2000/2001 Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? Don't know, possibly, but moved house in 2008 and only recently started receiving letters to new address Why did you cease payments? Husband has maintained £1 per month standing order throughout, still paying unless their bank payment details have changed What was the date of your last payment? Feb 2019 unless their bank payment details have changed Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No, due to credit difficulties Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Yes and Yes Many thanks again in anticipation of any advice you can offer.
  11. Hi I'm new to all this so I apologise in advance if i've made any mistakes. I had a contract with BT back in 2015 which I wanted to finish early due to the constant slow speeds I was getting after 2 months of being with them. At one point I cancelled my direct debits in protest until they sent an engineer out to have a look at why my internet was so slow. When an engineer was promised to be sent out I called to re-instate my direct debits and was asked which date I wanted them to come out. I asked for the start of the month which was agreed but a few weeks later I had a direct debit come out in the middle of the month. I questioned this and was told they couldn't do a specific date unless I agreed to estimated billing. This was not what I had earlier agreed and they were not willing to do anything about it so for me it was the final straw. I asked if I could end the contract early due to the poor service but was told I would have to pay the remainder off which was over £300. I refused to pay this obviously and was sent various debt collect letters which I ignored stupidly thinking they would eventually give up. Now after all this time I get a letter from the small claims court as Lowell acting of behalf of BT saying they want their £300. I've sent off the acknowledgement but i'm not sure what to do from here, do I defend or do I need to counterclaim? I feel BT were in breach of contract and according to their own terms they would look at ending a contract early due to poor service but I don't feel they ever really considered it. I would really appreciate any help please. Thank you
  12. Hello I hope I can get advice. I took out a secured loan in January 2002 for 8000. I obtained the loan through dial4aloan. The loan was arranged and the lender was endeavour. It appears I also was sold ppi of 1200 added to the loan. Well I am trying to reclaim the ppi. However all organisations are blaming each other for selling it. Dial 4 a loan state they only recommended ppi. Yet the ppi policy is on endeavour paper. Aviva say they have no responsibility either. So what happens when no one will accept responsibility? Thank you
  13. I’m looking someone who can help relating to Reeds Rains, a property management company based in Halifax, yorkshire that I used up until October last year and who now appear to have sent me a claims letter demanding £633.90 I realise this is a relatively small sum but i'd like to see if i have any options and not panic and just pay. I left because when i signed with them the contract stated 4 inspections a year, i asked them not to do 4 inspections per year, 1 a year was enough as they're my existing tenants, i've had them a while they'd been great and i trusted them to look after my house. Roll forward 2 years i find out from my tenant that she'd been having to take time off work for 4 inspections every year and was being harassed by reed rains if she didn't reply when they were wanting to arrange them. She doesn't earn a huge amount so taking time off work was difficult and she worked at a hospital so having to sort out cover on shifts. Understandably she was frustrated and got in touch with me They also issued my tenant with a new AST and charged them a fee (which i hadn't realised) so on the 2nd year of being with them, i told reed rains i'd pay the fee for my tenant, count many many emails later from me to them to several people telling them over and over again that i was paying it, they were still harassing my tenants to pay the fee so again, my tenants is left frustrated and upset Responding to their emails and trying clear up their confusion was taking up so much time (and becoming stressful and frustrating for me too), I gave reeds rains 3 months notice (by email and i got a response back from them) and i thought that was that A week ago i found a brown envelope through my letterbox, i was a county claims letter All it says is i owe them £633.90 for a 'withdrawal fee' which i know nothing about, i can't find the contract i signed as remember scanning it and emailing it back to them but i can't find the hard copy Prior to this i don't think i've had any communication (I did have block their emails as kept sending me marketing information (gdpr?) Has anyone been through anything like this or offer any advise at all?
  14. Looking for help with claim against Royal Mail in small claims. They admitted to losing my 'signed for' package, but then failed to reply further or compensate me. Four months afterwards, I issued Small Claims writ and they sent me standard letter and standard cheque for compensation two weeks later. They have put through their defence which from reading other threads is the same they always use, ie: 1. No contract was entered into between parties for the delivery of the parcel (they mention Harold Stephen & Co V's RM 1978 as reference). 2. The defendant has immunity to a claim in tort in respect of the transmission or delivery of post. Saying they cannot be sued in contract or tort. I know of one case on here that they lost in the County Court. However County Court proceedings are not recorded as far as I know. What I am looking for is any evidence of similar proceedings, a letter explaining the court's reasoning or similar. If anyone had anything they could redact and post I would be very grateful.
  15. On his site people are frequently advised to follow CRA and take errant traders to the small claims court. Success rates appear to be most encouraging. Yesterday, I took a rouge motor trader to a SCC at the local sheriff court, and because of a major error by the sheriff, my claim was reduced by over 66%. What can i do ? Scottish Law
  16. Hi I am just looking for some advice. We purchased a car In October 2018 2009 tiguan with 114K miles on, we purchased from a dealer (sold from a garage) but i think hes a sole trader. Before we purchased, the dealer said the engine management light came on and went into limp mode, they plugged in and was the glo plugs and the light was now off and all fixed. Satisfied we purchased the car via bacs. On they way home the car went into limp mode - i called the dealer and he suggested carry on driving until it did it again. November 18 we had an issue with the clutch, the dealer asked us to book into a garage over 20 miles away - but it was done free of charge and i was giving a car. The car then went into limp mode just before Christmas, we called up the dealer who told us to use to the same garage (not the one the car was sold from as he didnt trust the mechanics) and it was his responsibility to fix. Booked in January (due to them not being open over Christmas) and the same i was given a car whilst mine was in. The issue was the inlet manifold has blown and cracked. something that would of happened with there being an issue with it and being driven over time has made worse. The dealer offered half the bill - the bill was £700. We refused, saying if within with first six months of purchase the dealer should repair or replace. Again he refused and offered half the money, the car was in an independent garage, so one of us had to pay. But he also said in writing he wouldn't be responsible if it went into limp mode again or wouldn't give us a refund. Im under the impression the legally needs to. So we have paid the bill and ive written to ask him to pay in full, hes refused, saying if we take him to small claims to be putting a counter claim in for a solicitor etc. Where do you think we stand with a small claims? CAB have told me he should pay the bill as if there is a fault within the first 6 months its deemed it was there when the car was purchase. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks Emma
  17. From what Ive read on here, im going around in circles.. can someone comment? Way I see it :- 1) you send an inivoice, 14 days to pay, " i reserve to take legal action without further notice to you" written on it 2) Send a notice before action FORM (it used to just be a letter but now is this form? https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/pdf/protocols/debt-pap.pdf 3) proceed with coourt claim after 90 days? Citzen advice here, says something else https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-system/taking-legal-action/small-claims/Problems-with-goods---letter-before-court-action/ Can somsone clarify? This is for an unpaid invoice.
  18. Hi All, I am taking a company to court for damage to a vehicle I own. The defendant has defended and made a counterclaim. I am at the stage were we have recently exchanged witness statements and a court hearing has been set. Looking through the witness statements they are made up of lies throughout by two witnesses. I received these statements on the final day they had to be submitted and I am unsure if I can make the courts aware of their lies. By lies I will explain, I am being counter sued for a certain amount, an invoice has been sent to show the cost of damage that they say I done to their property, within the invoice it has parts used which in the witness statement states they were put on after the incident that I am claiming for. I am unsure if I can send a letter to the courts to highlight this or is it to late and I will have to see what happens on the day. In the court directions for the witness statement request it states that we should send any relevant documents or evidence to the courts to come to a decision, however this is new evidence at the last minute. I hope someone can shed some light for me. Thanks
  19. A shampoo ruined my wife's hair through no fault of her own. We've been through the letter route. They only responded once and that was to an email we had also sent, but they acknowledged receipt of the first letter in that email. Exasperated with their denial of liability, we're pursuing them through the small claims court. When I submitted the claim online, the company address I gave was taken from their website contact us page. I'm now having doubts if this was the correct address to use as 1) their registered company address is different 2) The Royal Mail signed for letters never got marked as delivered - it was only by chance the email they had sent mentioned they received the first letter (with the photos). I travelled to their address and saw it was a business unit address possibly used for storage (i.e. a little smaller than a 2 bed terrace). What should I do now the 14 days + 5 days for issuing the court notice is nearly up? They haven't as yet (and are unlikely to) responded to the claim - it is tempting to just ask for judgement, but then I don't want it thrown out of court or find it impossible to collect from them. Any advice apart from see an expensive lawyer which would then make it not worth the costs of it all?
  20. Hi I resppnded to a claims guys advert about finding out about PPI. I know now that I could have done this myself etc, and in hindsight I would have researched more. Any to cut a long story short, the following has happened: I filled in a questionaire about the providers i have used etc I have had a response from Halifax, but I did not send a signed letter of authority. Halfix have now paid me circa 6k and the claims guys want 30% of this. I had no idea they were going to charge this much and was never told in advance how much their charges were. I did however send a letter of authority for a black horse finance cliam that is still in progress so i have no idea how much is coming from that if any as yet. I am trying to find out what my position is and what i can do about it as 30% is a massive amount to pay for something that I could hve done myself had I only researched it more beforehand, which i am obviously regretting now. I am think of sending a letter in regards to the Halifax claim to the effect of: --------------------------------------------------------- With regards to your recent letters I had no idea your ask on this was 30% which is excessive in the extreme. Therefore can you please provide evidence of the following: What I have signed that states i agree to this 30% fee That you explained to me that a 30% fee was applicable That you informed me that this is something I could have done myself Until you can supply the above evidence I am not in a position to consider any kind of payment. --------------------------------------------------------- Any advice would be greatly appreciated Regards DJC
  21. Good Morning Caggers I have been contacted by Mortgage.Claims for them to review my mortgage and see if I have any claims on my mortgage. They have contacted the lender and it appears they have no history of my mortgage. I am simply paying them but they have no history of my mortgage or anything. 2 things; is there anything I need to be aware of with the above company? Do I need to be aware against claiming against a bank that has no history of my mortgage? Many thanks as always
  22. Hi all As I prepare to challenge failed FOS claims I thought I would ask if anyone has done this successfully and can share their experiences and statement of truth. FOS determined that they could not handle an Amex complaint because PPI started before the regulations started, because I ticked the PPI box with Cap1 then I needed PPI, and finally currently that a PPI form Egg (Canada Square) sent them contining neither yes or no I want PPI meant that I wanted it... Finally I would like to claim for the time I have spent putting together my claim... would this be acceptable to the court??? ANY help advice would be gratefully received, thanks
  23. Hi everyone I use a courier company, i will call "TPC", who in turn use DPD. I have to say on the whole the past few years has been event free but a few months ago we sent a 3D printer to someone to use and it was smashed up really badly. The recipient took photos and has emailed us stating the damage was beyond dropping in his view and we have loads of photos of the box damaged etc. I reported the issue immediately and TPC were originally very sympathetic etc. I have to say I was shocked at the damage, you would have had to try really hard to do what they did. As the client needed to get printing urgently, I resent a new identical printer out, only this time this one had a glass build plate, so about 30x20, super tough, heat resistant glass plate that the plastic is printed onto. This was in fact a bespoke upgrade I did to this one but the plastic plate was also sent. This printer was also sent insured fully. This 2nd delivery went horribly wrong yet again, with a tonne of damage done. We sent both printers in the original boxes, designed for transporting them. They are thick boxes, with the original polystyrene inserts. Loads of space etc. we also used an outer box with more packaging to be safe. The packaging has never been challenged, in fact DPD stated that it was fine. long story short. I know DPD have accepted both claims (although irrelevant as the contract was with the 3rd party we use, TPC). I am still waiting for any decision, I have emailed multiple times and so we logged a small claims track. Unfortunately the printers are no longer made, so I have asked for the replacement cost of the latest available model for both printers. The defence is that they will not pay as there was glass in the box (even though only the 2nd item had glass in it) There is no consideration about the first delivery that had no glass in it at all. I have sent the court questionnaire off, have stated I am willing to mediate and I am waiting. No solicitors seem to be involved at this point, certainly no legal sounding stuff has come back from the defendant at this point. Just want some help and advice really. I have basically lost a part of my little business due to these printers being damaged beyond repair. Questions: 1. I have no doubt that I will get the compensation for the 1st Printer as there was no glass and it was clearly in breach of the Sale of goods and services act 1982, (reasonable care and skill clause). however What about where there is a piece of glass in an item? I have never actually claimed for this extra add on, I feel that if they had delivered properly in the first place I would not have had to send the 2nd printer out and also the glass did not cause the damage, it was just "also" damaged, but again I am not claiming for this. 2. I would normally claim for the cost of the item if damaged. However in the case of the model being superseded and no longer being available. Is it OK to claim a little more for the latest available model? I have averaged the price from 5 retailers and would genuinely be buying these to simply replace my lost printers. In my defence it is a real pain in terms of retraining and new software to learn a new machine. Any help would be appreciated on the best course of action and of course I will post everything up here so others can learn from my mistakes and hopefully successes!! I am about to go through mediation, but can't find much on the process here. Has anyone gone through this process as a claimant and is there any advice anyone can give. I have been told by the CAB that it's a chance to "negotiate" but Ii'm not sure if negotiation is what I want to do, i'd really like the defendant to try and see the light. Also can the defendant deny wanting to use mediation? Any help appreciated.
  24. Hiya I took out a couple of log book loans via Cash Converters between 2010 and 2013. The first was paid in full, the second I have no idea what the status is. I was in financial difficulty at the times of taking out the loan, due to several reason, one being a gambling addiction and an endless cycle of payday loans. When I took out the second loan against my car, the man who agreed it even commented on how much money i was gambling and said that he really shouldn't approve the loan but that he would for me. The car was repossessed by them and my sister lent me the money to get it back which was around £800, they then said I still owed them another £800 or so. I'm not sure whether I paid anything towards that, but I moved house, and they were aware of my address change. A few months after I moved up here my car was clamped as I let my tax run out and the car was taken by the DSA and I never got it back. Log book loans had the V5 and I have no idea what happened with the car after that, whether they took it or it got crushed. I haven't heard anything from them since 2013. I have since had help for my gambling addiction and have been getting my finances back on track and have seen online that it is possible to make clams back against some of these lenders for unaffordable borrowing. I know it's not their fault I had an addiction but there were no real checks in place when they were lending me money and I think that had they checked properly I wouldn't have been allowed a good 3/4 of the loans I got. I just wondered whether I could arguably make a claim against log books loans given that they may consider I still owe them money? Realistically they should not have given me the second loan at all, at the time I just needed the money so the fact that he said he give it to me even though he shouldn't was a bonus. I know that him saying that would come to he said she said but he had copies of my bank statements and they must have been file with his office so they could verify it as unaffordable from that surely? Any advice appreciated. Thank you in advance.
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