Court Order Query....

[erinbrooke]

Hi all,

 

We now have all costs and correspondence together and are preparing for a small claims court action, on the advice of our solicitor.

 

I have just noticed that the independent inspector has written 'Inspected Without Prejudice' on his invoice. Not on the report but on his invoice, which obviously I have to copy into my costs. Does this mean it will not stand in court?

[erinbrooke]

Hi,

 

We are currently formalising our claim against a motor dealer.

 

The total costs are £5,500 but we have decided to reduce this by removing two invoices and keeping it under 5K to qualify for Small Claims Court - is that OK?

 

The new total is just over £4,900 which when added to the £100 court fee takes us back over 5K - the question we have is does the court fee contribute to the 5K limit for small claims?

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

No it is the value of the claim exclusive of costs which determines the track. If you can afford to wait a few months it is very likely that the small claims limit is going to go up to 10K at the beginning of April 2012, so you can then claim the lot and still be in the limit.

[erinbrooke]

No it is the value of the claim exclusive of costs which determines the track. If you can afford to wait a few months it is very likely that the small claims limit is going to go up to 10K at the beginning of April 2012, so you can then claim the lot and still be in the limit.

 

Thanks very much Gaston Grimsdyke.

 

Don't really want to wait as we have gathered quite a bit of momentum up to this point so need to keep ourselves psyched up.

 

We had been lead to believe that we could still show all costs and ask to cap the claim at 5K to keep it Small Claims, but not sure how to do this properly so have decided simply to remove two invoices. We may put them in our evidence and explain our reason for not claiming them at the hearing.

 

Also, the claim will be a company to company one (not private individual) - not sure if that makes a difference.

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

Fair enough. The status of the parties does not affect allocation to a track - it's really only the cash value of the claim that determines it. Though you might need to be a bit careful as the court has power to allocate upwards if it is a complex case, either on a question of law or requiring expert evidence etc.

[erinbrooke]

Fair enough. The status of the parties does not affect allocation to a track - it's really only the cash value of the claim that determines it. Though you might need to be a bit careful as the court has power to allocate upwards if it is a complex case, either on a question of law or requiring expert evidence etc.

 

Thanks again.

 

Its a SOGA coupled with Misrepresentation claim which we have expert report and Trading Standards backing, so to us it's pretty straight forward, but I'm NEVER over confident in these situations....

[Gaston Grimsdyke]

Second hand or new vehicle? If second hand you're more likely to have to compromise on a quality issue so limiting your claim to get it into small claims is definitely the right tactic.

[erinbrooke]

Second hand or new vehicle? If second hand you're more likely to have to compromise on a quality issue so limiting your claim to get it into small claims is definitely the right tactic.

 

Thanks the lord for that then, as we have just registered the claim on the Moneyclaim Online website. He should get the papers sometime this week....

 

It is a second hand vehicle which he sold to me as having had a problem but he had fitted a 'brand new' engine in it (I have an email from him stating that). The engine seized after 2 months and an independent inspection proved it was a mish mash of second hand parts. Also Trading Standards have confirmed the relevant laws he has broken.

[erinbrooke]

Hi all,

 

I have issued small claims legal proceedings against a motor dealer and their solicitor has acknowledged my claim to the court.

 

They have now come back and asked me to agree to and extended period of time to allow them to assess my extensive documentation. They have said that if I refuse them the additional time they will have to apply to the court for it and ask the court to order me to pay the costs based on my refusal being 'unreasonable' as it is the Christmas period.

 

Does anyone know if the can do this?

 

Cheers,

 

EB

[42man]

You do have to be seen to be reasonable.....and although they are threatening in their response to you I personally don't think it is an unreasonable request...

[erinbrooke]

You do have to be seen to be reasonable.....and although they are threatening in their response to you I personally don't think it is an unreasonable request...

 

I hear what you are saying but we have been more than reasonable throughout the whole case history and the dealer has been nothing short of ignorant which is well documented in emails. It is very frustrating that they should request us to be helpful at this stage when they are being forced to speak to us.

 

They have now also come back and offered a 5th of the claimed amount as an out of court settlement.

 

I also was always told that it was frowned upon to take a solicitor into a small claims court??

[Lisa G]

Any update?

[erinbrooke]

Any update?

 

Yes, we issued proceedings before Christmas and the defendant has given it to his solicitor to handle..

 

Basically, where we are is that the solicitor applied for an extension of time, for us to pay his costs for that application for an extension of time and also to have it transferred to his local court. He was awarded all requests by Northampton Court.

 

He had previously asked me, via email, if we would agree to give him extra time as it was over the Christmas period, but as we are not solicitors we thought it better to refuse this based on the thought that any time-scales laid out by the court system should be sufficient for anyone, let alone a trained solicitor.

 

Anyway he has got what he wanted from the courts...so far.

 

We are now in the process of trying to now get it transferred to our local court, but not sure of what reason to give other than highlighting the precedent that the case should get transferred to the claimants court in a commercial claim - is this correct?

 

Can't believe that courts set out timelines only to change them at the first request....

[erinbrooke]

Hi all,

 

I am in the process of taking a motor dealer to Small Claims Court.

 

He has issued me with his defence which is solely based on false information.

 

To prove his points are untrue, which I can do pretty conclusively, I need to provide the courts with additional information from witnesses.

 

Does anyone know how this should be set out, i.e. layout on paper. Do I just get letters from each of the witnesses and provide a cover Witness Statement by myself, or does each of their letters need to take the form of an official Witness Statement?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as time is now against us.

[erinbrooke]

Hi all,

 

Just a quick one....

 

We are awaiting a hearing date from the County Court and would like to provide the court with some additional witness statements that we want taken into account on the day. The court has told us we can provide extra info. at any time whilst waiting for the hearing date, so long as we serve it on the defendant also.

 

My question is does anyone know what official court form we need to complete to accompany our documents?

 

Hopefully someone can help as I want to post these tomorrow....

[gezwee]

They'd be treated as additional evidence, form/content and service requirements all fall within part 32. Where are you at with the claim, current order/s?

 

Gez

[erinbrooke]

They'd be treated as additional evidence, form/content and service requirements all fall within part 32. Where are you at with the claim, current order/s?

 

Gez

 

We sent our Allocation Questionnaire last week and we are awaiting our hearing date/venue to be confirmed.

[gezwee]

Ok, long way off from a hearing just yet then....... aq is essentially a tool that the court uses to decide track and directions. If there's anything unclear the court may determine that an allocation hearing would be more appropriate to decide directions pre-trial.

 

If they decide its a straightforward case they'll allocate and order directions for the parties....... could be disclosure, w/s exchange, mediation.... pretty much anything that's within their remit.

 

Did you indicate the number of witnesses in aq? You can add further evidence in the form of w/s now if you want to.........although in all likliehood they'll be ordered for disclosure/ exchange anyway. Are the additional witnesses prepared to have their statements tested/examined at hearing?

 

Gez

[asokn]

If it's not yet been allocate I would wait for the notice of hearing. Most courts will send the notice of hearing with directions to enable the parties to prepare for the final hearing, including as to evidence, and most will also include helpful forms and guidance for the content of witness statements which sounds like what you want to prepare.

[erinbrooke]

Ok, long way off from a hearing just yet then....... aq is essentially a tool that the court uses to decide track and directions. If there's anything unclear the court may determine that an allocation hearing would be more appropriate to decide directions pre-trial.

 

If they decide its a straightforward case they'll allocate and order directions for the parties....... could be disclosure, w/s exchange, mediation.... pretty much anything that's within their remit.

 

Did you indicate the number of witnesses in aq? You can add further evidence in the form of w/s now if you want to.........although in all likliehood they'll be ordered for disclosure/ exchange anyway. Are the additional witnesses prepared to have their statements tested/examined at hearing?

 

Gez

 

Hi Gez,

 

What do you mean by the witness statements being tested/examined?

[erinbrooke]

If it's not yet been allocate I would wait for the notice of hearing. Most courts will send the notice of hearing with directions to enable the parties to prepare for the final hearing, including as to evidence, and most will also include helpful forms and guidance for the content of witness statements which sounds like what you want to prepare.

 

Is there a reason why I should wait till the Notice of Hearing and not send them in now?

 

Is there a set deadline after which i cannot send any further evidence?

[asokn]

There's no reason why you have to wait except for, as I've said, normally the court will tell you when to do it and, more importunity, how. Also, if you disclose too early you take the tactical risk of your opponent knowing your case and then preparing theirs accordingly.

 

Usually the court will order both parties to file and serve all of their evidence not less than 14 days before the hearing. However it isn't unusual for parties to miss that deadline and the courts are usually very flexible with SCT cases.

 

What gezwee is referring to is cross-examination of your witnesses by the other side.

[erinbrooke]

There's no reason why you have to wait except for, as I've said, normally the court will tell you when to do it and, more importunity, how. Also, if you disclose too early you take the tactical risk of your opponent knowing your case and then preparing theirs accordingly.

 

Usually the court will order both parties to file and serve all of their evidence not less than 14 days before the hearing. However it isn't unusual for parties to miss that deadline and the courts are usually very flexible with SCT cases.

 

What gezwee is referring to is cross-examination of your witnesses by the other side.

 

Many thanks asokn, I understand completely what you are saying regards tactics...

 

The court has certainly been flexible with deadlines so far - the defendant has missed every single deadline and has been given automatic additional time without question.........really frustrating when we have made the effort to get things in on time as requested by the court...

[asokn]

Yep, that flexibility can look like an indulgence to the one party at the expense of the other. It's a difficult thing for the courts though as too strict an approach would defeat the point of the accessible SCT.

[asokn]

By the way, if you've not yet had the case allocated how do you know it is a small claim?