taken to court by HFC/restons... **case dismissed** now marking CRA file again

[AndyOrch]

Well done Whata delighted for you.

 

We will reconvene latter in the week.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[whatamess]

Hi Guys

 

Just an update, I received a letter from the court yesterday telling me the trial date is set for 4th Feb 2011 and agian they will need everything in by 7th. Also the Claiment need to pay £75 to the court, am hoping that restons will decide not to take it to trial

[AndyOrch]

4th Feb 2011? They need everything by the 7th??? of when.Need a tad more detail of what you have received Whata.

 

Andy

[whatamess]

Opps sorry Andy, I got a Notice of Allocation to the small claims track(hearing)

 

It says:

 

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

1. Application dismissed

2. Allocated the claim to the small claims track

3. Parties do file and serve any additional witness statements by 7th Jan2011

 

The hearing of the claim will take place at 10.30 am on 4th Feb 2011 at xxxxxx this should not take no longer then 1 hour 30mins.

 

A hearing fee of £75.00 is payable by the 17th Dec 2010 by the claimant unless you make an application for a fee concession (what does this mean?). Failer to pay the fee will result in the hearing being removed from the list.

 

The court must be informed immediately if the case is settled by agreement before the hearing date.

 

then hearing fee will be refunded in full if the court receives notice in writing at least 7 days before the hearing date that the case is settled or discontinued.

 

each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office copies of all documents (including any experts report) on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later then 7th Jan 2011.

 

The original documents shall be brought to the hearing.

 

Thanks

[whatamess]

Hi again i have just had a message from miss tipping from Restons asking me to call her???? Shall I?

[DonkeyB]

I wouldn’t... best to keep an audit trail, in writing – but if you must, record their fibs!

 

Great results so far, and great work andyorch & co.

[AndyOrch]

Opps sorry Andy, I got a Notice of Allocation to the small claims track(hearing)

 

It says:

 

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

1. Application dismissed:-)

2. Allocated the claim to the small claims track

3. Parties do file and serve any additional witness statements by 7th Jan2011

 

The hearing of the claim will take place at 10.30 am on 4th Feb 2011 at xxxxxx this should not take no longer then 1 hour 30mins.

 

A hearing fee of £75.00 is payable by the 17th Dec 2010 by the claimant unless you make an application for a fee concession (what does this mean?).Not your Concern Failer to pay the fee will result in the hearing being removed from the list.

 

The court must be informed immediately if the case is settled by agreement before the hearing date.Hence Miss Tippings Call

then hearing fee will be refunded in full if the court receives notice in writing at least 7 days before the hearing date that the case is settled or discontinued.

 

each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office copies of all documents (including any experts report) on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later then 7th Jan 2011.

 

The original documents shall be brought to the hearing.

 

Thanks

 

Excellent news Whata now follow all the dates when and what to submit

 

 

Regards

 

Andy

[manchestman]

Restons, and especially Miss Tipping, like to hear your voice and judge what type of person you are. I'd agree with Donkey, don't telephone.

You could write something along these lines:

"Without Prejudice

 

Ref:

 

Dear Miss Tipping

Thank you for your letter dated xxxx. I prefer all communications to be in writing and I will not be telephoning you. I look forward to any proposals you may have regarding this case.

I would suggest your claim is unsustainable in law and would urge you to discontinue. My own costs are not insubstantial and will inevitably rise considerably if forced to defend this vexatious claim at trial.

I look forward to your early reply.

Yours sincerely

xxxxxx"

 

Wait for posters to agree or not with the above and then send something similar and sit tight.

I won't be posting here till after my own hearing tomorrow.

[manchestman]

Good single post succinctly explaining the parts of 'Carey' that apply with highlighted emthasis to appropriate sentences. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?173201-why-you-shouldnt-use-section-77-78-CCA-1974-if-you-want-the-signed-agreement&p=3214796&viewfull=1#post3214796

Edited December 2, 2010 by manchestman
sp

[citizenB]

You could set up a hotmail email account and communicate with them via email. That way you will have a record of what is said and be able to communicate quicker than by letter.

 

Once the case is over, you can then just abandon the hotmail account

[whatamess]

Thanks guys thats not a bad idea, i have not heard back from her, just that one message on my answer phone.

[whatamess]

Hi, Yesterday i had another message from Miss Tipping so decided to set up a hotmail account and email Restons to say that i wanted all communication to be in writting and happy to do this via email or letter, Miss Tipping wrote back to me via email with the following:

 

Dear madame (not sure why they didnt use my name)

 

As you should be aware, the Claim issued against you has now been allocated to the Small Claims Track

whereby a final hearing will be held and the court will make a decision as to whether to grant Judgment in favour

of the Claimant or whether to dismiss the Claim.

In our view, our client has a good chance of success. However, as you will appreciate, continuing with this

matter will inevitably incur further costs for the parties and will delay matters.

Our suggestion is that the parties agree to settle the matter out of court. The Claim issued against you was for the

sum of £700.48, including the fees and costs of issuing proceedings.

Please confirm whether you are prepared to offer any terms of settlement in order to avoid wasting further court

time and costs. For example, please confirm whether you are prepared to offer a one off payment in settlement of

the account or whether you be agreeable to paying the outstanding debt by monthly payments.

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

What will be the next step? If i offer anything does this mean i am admitting to the debt? To be honest all i would want to offer is 10%. What shall I do? I really can do without the headache of going to court again but if i have to then i will, What do you guys think?

Thanks:???:

[manchestman]

My own opinion is not to rush in answering ... give it at least a few days and don't show too much eagerness. 10% is about £70.

You can negotiate under 'Without prejudice' and it is fair to offer a proposal or payment to save further court stress and is not admitting the debt at all. In fact, negotiating would show reasonableness on your behalf to a judge when it comes to working out costs etc.

In my opinion I'd be inclined to write something along the lines of, 'I cannot agree with your analysis of the situation and do not believe you will be successful at trial. however, in order to save court costs and time I am willing to try and settle this matter now and would offer the following proposal; if you withdraw from the case at this point, I will make no further payment but neither will I seek to recover my costs. If you are agreeable or have a very similar proposal I am willing to consider it before I contract legal representation for my written defence and for representation at the trial.'

 

See what anyone has to say. I'm sure they will suspect you are bluffing, but it would be the start of negotiations which I am very sure they will be keen to conclude. I know before you sign anything you should do a little research and make sure any final agreement is iron clad guaranteed not to come back and bite you.

 

BTW, I hope I'm not teaching you how to suck eggs, but if you set up a filter on your new email account, you can get all your new account email forwarded to your present email. Saves you keep logging in just to check for any new news.

[whatamess]

Hi Manc

 

Oh yes so it is only £70:| not alot of money really is it? but its a starting point i suppose.

 

Thanks for your advice with regards to the email filter I didnt know you could do that so thanks very much for the information I will do that.

 

I will send another letter via email tomorrow along the lines of what you have suggested, just one thing "what are the costs that I would recover if this went to trial and i won?" only need to know that as if i am going to use that in my letter i just want to know what im talking about

 

Thanks

[manchestman]

Hi Whata

As you know, I am no expert whatsoever, but I believe there is a limit on the amount of costs that can be claimed in the small claims track as opposed to the other tracks. One of the CPRs, (in the mid 40's I think?) will probably tell you. I know it won't be an awful lot, but nevertheless it might be a few hundred and I bet they would rather not pay when in my opinion this case looks hopeless to them anyway. You can claim upto £9.25 an hour for your own work so far, then all disbursements: travel to and from court, parking charges, paper, ink, printer use, electricity and anything else you can think of.

[whatamess]

Oh ok I had no idea that i could claim costs. I will send the letter tomorrow see what she says.

 

Thanks Manc hope all is good with you?

[manchestman]

I forgot postage costs too, SAR etc

Keep receipts where possible.

 

Things a bit of a nightmare at moment, back to hosp last night for several hours after complications, and readmitted daughter. Hospital is well over an hour away. Hopefully she will be back home tomorrow for good this time then I can soon begin to think about my own defence! Has to be in by Jan 14th

[whatamess]

:frown:Its not really what you need at the moment is it... too much to think and worry about, I hope all goes well for you.

[whatamess]

Hi I sent the letter via email on Monday and not heard back yet, maybe they are making me wait like i made them wait

[whatamess]

Hi there,

 

I have still not heard anything from Restons so not sure what the next step is? I have 3 weeks to get everything together (got to be in by 7th Jan) I dont want to be rushing like i did before so think maybe i have better start thinking about it now, Any help Manc and Andy is appriciated

 

thanks

[citizenB]

Yes, it would be best if you started to prepare as though you were going to court. You could send a follow up email .

 

"Dear Sir/Madam

 

My email dated WHENEVER has not received a response.

 

I look forward to your early reply.

 

Etc,"

[whatamess]

Oh my god you wont believe that after writing on here today to say i have not heard anything i got an email from Restons to say ....

 

The client has mad the decision , in view of the low value of this claim to discontinue the proceedings against me rather to proced and incure further costs. We would be greateful if i could sign and return the order by email as a matter of urgency.

 

I WON

With the great help for you all thank you so much

[Leakie]

Well Done Whatamess

A great early christmas present,

At least you can relax over the festive period

 

All the best

 

Leakie

[Chipmeister]

Fantastic news - well done!! 8-)

[manchestman]

I'm so so vey happy for you and really glad you stuck to your guns, however hard it all felt at times. I knew you were on a winner here and they didn't have a case. I did not believe they would continue with court action after what happened last time.

Have a very very happy xmas, Whata!