Help required - Court Claim against me

[Ron139]

I was taken to High Court by a builder because I hadn't paid his bill. I agreed I owed the money but my counter claim was that we had agreed at the outset I would pay him when I sold or re-mortgaged the properties, therefore, I shouldn't have to pay him until then. The Judge gave a judgement against me but didn't hear my counter claim as He said there was no time. He referred it to our local court. When we got there I was told I could not speak of the case now judgement had been given and I had to pay interest on the judgement debt at 8%. I had paid for my counter claim to be heard and it wasn't. This was over a year ago. Does anyone think I have any recourse now.

[rebel11]

Hi Ron

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Title Added

 

The guys will be happy to advise as soon as they are available.

 

Please let us know how your problem has been resolved, it could help fellow Caggers.

[AndyOrch]

Hi Ron

 

What did the judgment say? Did it refer or give leave to your Counter claim?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Ron139]

Hi All

Sorry I am not very good with computers and I left it to my wife and she tried to do the whole senario in one paragraph.

I agreed I owed the money and his solicitor kept us outside and tried to get us to agree to costs and interest. In court the Judge said do you owe this money and I said yes and he said are you sure and I said yes. He promptly said judgement to the Claimant. His solicitor jumped up and said about costs and interest to which the Judge said that will be dealt with in a lower court and my counter claim wasn't mentioned. Have I any recourse to the High Court as my counter claim was paid for and not heard before the judgement was given.

[AndyOrch]

But have you had a copy of the judgment and if so what does it state?

 

Andy

[AndyOrch]

Dupe

[andydd]

I dont think a counterclaim was the way to go.

 

There was in essence a contract that said you will pay but only when you had sold the property, did you have this in writing ?. You should of mentioned this in your defence in your statement of case.

 

How come a year has passed ?

 

I'm in a similar sitaution, I (the defendant) had the claimants claim struck out, I also had a counterclaim but it appears this was struck out too, so I visited the court, explained the situation and was told to write a quick note explaining this to the judge, after all..I too have paid the counterclaim fee.

 

What court was it originally heard in ?. I dont really understand why just the counterclaim was refered to your local court.

 

It is important you post up what the judgement actually says,...it maybe like mine, in that no reference is actually made to the counterclaim.

 

However as I said above I dont actually believe it is actually a counterclaim, its actually a defence.

 

Andy

[Ron139]

Hi All

The original judgment said

It is ordered

1.that judgment be entered for the Claimant for £167331.86

2.that the Claimants application notice of 1st December 2009 be adjourned for further hearing as to whether the Defendant is liable for costs and interest on the Judgment and if so as to be assessment of costs and interest

3. that this claim be transferred to Watford County Court

4.that costs of today be reserved

This was a hearing held in the High Court in London in front of a Master.

I assumed that the rest of my case would be heard in my local court because the agreement for payment would reflect on interest and costs.

This agreement for payment was not in writing at the time but the builder admitted subsequently by e-mail, before the hearing at the High Court, that this was the method of payment.

 

Thanks

Ron139

[AndyOrch]

Thanks Ron

 

Well as you can see from the order and transfer matters are still to be concluded.Do you have access to the application made by the Claimant dated 1st Dec 2009?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Ron139]

Hi Andy

It was referred to my local court and the Judge said that there was a counter claim to be heard and despite the Claimants Solicitor arguing against it the Judge quoted from a reference book and said the counter claim had to be heard before matters could progress further. He placed the trial on fast track. The builders solicitor made the trial bundle and I had to pay for the court time and we went to Court.

The builder had a barrister and he said that the counter claim could not be heard because it would mean going back into events which were dealt with in the judgement. The Judge agreed and ruled that anything relating to the judgement could not be referred to. I tried to bring up the evidence of the contract between us which referred to the method of payment and the Judge refused to hear it. The Judge heard part of the counter claim which referred to events after the judgement then he dismissed the counter claim and awarded full costs and interest to the Claimant.

To me I have paid on two occasions for this counter claim to be heard and it has never fully been heard.

Is there anything I can do.

Thanks

Ron

[AndyOrch]

Strange that a judgment was made in view that a counter claim was pending or was it at that stage? If not then judgment precedes any counter claim or is referred to as Res judicata.

The only way forward would be to either set a side the judgment or issue a fresh claim.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Ron139]

Thanks Andy

 

At the time of the judgement at the High Court the counter claim was lodged and paid for but the Master made no reference to it.

Do you think this is sufficient reason to have that judgement set aside?

 

Regards

 

Ron

[AndyOrch]

Difficult to say Ron without knowing the whole process of events.Like I stated was your CC pending before or after judgment?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Ron139]

Hi Andy

Sorry to seem stupid but what does the term pending mean? I lodged the CC with the High Court before the hearing date and in the specified time period and paid the fee. I received no other correspondence from the Court.

 

Thanks

Ron

[robcag]

Google - pending

 

pend·ing/ˈpendiNG/

 

 

Adjective:Awaiting decision or settlement.

Preposition:Until (something) happens or takes place: "they were released on bail pending an appeal".

[Ron139]

Hi All

Sorry for the delay but I have been away. I have looked through all the papers and cannot find any reference to the CC being pending the Master didn't mention it at all. I lodged the CC 2 months before the Hearing and it was not referred to at all.

 

Thanks

 

Ron139

[AndyOrch]

Which Court did you submit it to? Ring the court and ask but I can only assume its been discarded.

 

Andy

[hmmh1978]

A number of things come to mind with reading your posts:

 

1.) As this was a year ago, permission to appeal being granted is practically impossible but as with most things, never say never.

2.) When the judge asked you if you owed the money, you wholeheartedly said yes. I am inferring that you did not qualify that with "but we agreed that I will pay later because...". He asked you twice and you stated yes you owed the money twice. In my mind that is a full admission and means you have decided to abandon the counter claim. That might not be your intention but that is how it comes across as.

3.) The order does not state that your counter claim will be heard in the lower court, it is for the costs and interest on the judgment to be heard as your counter claim was dispensed with when you admitted full liability with no qualifiers.

4.) Part of your counter claim did get heard in the lower court (FT) and that got dismissed in itself.

 

A set aside is not possible because this needs to be dealt with by an appeal. Which decision are you appealing, the first hearing or the final hearing in the lower court?

 

I see too many hurdles for you overcome to even get an appeal hearing.

[Ron139]

Hi hmmh1978

Thanks for your comments. However, I had no representation in any of the Courts and was acting for myself, this being the case shouldn't the Master have explained prior to announcing judgment that this would mean I had abandoned the CC or at least raised the question of my CC, instead it was just ignored as if it wasn't there.Also the Judge in the second Court quoted from a reference book that stated quite clearly that the CC must be heard 1st.

Hope you can throw some more light on this.

 

Many thanks

 

Ron139