small claims advice please

[fighting bull]

Hi, i require some advice on a small claims process please, i have issued a letter following legal advice giving 14 days to the defendant to respond or face legal action, they failed to respond to me at all, hence submitting small claim, i received a letter from northampton county court bulk centre advising that i have till the 9th may to issue particulars of claim, which i did on the 5/6th, i then read up on the small claims process its states they, the defendant then has 28 days to respond to me or the court. given they are not regulated and have ignored every correspondance i sent to them. what should i do if they ignore the court claim paperwork. should i speak with mcol who i raised the claim through. 9th may has passed and i have heard nothing from the bulk centre or the defendants.

[the_shadow]

If you issued through MCOL do you have a claim number / username / password, can you not go-online and check the claim and where it is at?

 

Once issued it gets sent to the defendant and they have 14+5 days to respond, 14 extra days if they acknowledge service so 33 days from the court claim date on the claim.

 

S.

[fighting bull]

Hi, thanks for help, i spoke with mcol yesterday it wouldnt let me in on there website, i called three times etc, spoke with a woman who stated they are out of time to respond to the claim and i could file for judgement, , the defendants really are unbeleivable, they havnt responded to me they havnt responded to my mp they havent responded to the courts now??? what happens next

[the_shadow]

Well she's given you the next stage, you need to file for judgment. If you can get online its a case of clicking a button, if you cant then you'll need to submit the correct form asking for judgement, if you phone them again they'll be able to give you the correct form and location of it on the web to proceed.

 

Once you file judgement the defendant will get a CCJ and be told to pay the amount you claimed forthwith.. if they dont pay up you'll need to look into the next level which is enforcement options.

 

S.

[fighting bull]

is it really that straight forward, can they not do something after judgement ?

[the_shadow]

is it really that straight forward, can they not do something after judgement ?

 

Yes of course, they'll be sent the judgment after you file for it and will have time to get it set aside by applying to the court if they feel there is a valid reason... if the court agrees then it puts you back at the start of the court process where you've filed a claim and they will have to then comply with filing a defence.

 

Just because you have a CCJ doesnt also mean you'll get your money, they might not pay up even with the CCJ and their last chance of paying it off within 30 days and thereby not having it on their credit files for 6 years. If this is the case, its why there are other enforcement actions like a garnishee order if you know details of their bank account etc.

 

 

S.

[fighting bull]

Hi, ok so if they do this, can i argue that i have tried all reasonable avenues to resolve the matter and they should not be allowed to request it be stayed, given they have ignored correspondence from me , from my mp, and from the courts, wont a judge give a dim view on this, as for them to let it get to this stage, garnishee order what is that please not heard of that term before

[the_shadow]

Google it, you'll be pleased you did

 

As to getting stayed... the claim would go back to this stage but they would HAVE to put a defence in, then the court would send you a copy of their defence, if you wish to proceed after seeing their defence you would file the Allocation Questionaire that comes with the defence and pay a fee, then the case would proceed and a trial date would be set.

 

S.

[fighting bull]

Hi thought would give you an update, have filed for judgement heard nothing from defendants, will wait and see, if they do request it set aside i will contest it as they have had ample time to respond