Please help! Judgment by default 6 months later despite defending claim - Arrow Global

[Annie128]

Hello, I'm a newbie here so please bear with me... A brief chronology of events:21/12/2011 - Bryan Carter letter received "you have failed to to pay... you will receive claim form"24/12/2011 - Received claim for ~£6,000 from Northampton CCBC - Issue date: 21/12/2011 - Claimant Arrow Global LLC/Bryan Carter Sols26/12/2011 - Sent off CPR 31.14 request to Bryan Carter for the agreement08/01/2012 - Acknowledgment of Service of claim form submitted online22/01/2012 -

 

Embarrassed defence submitted online with copy CPR 31.14 request to Bryan Carter - to which no response received25/01/2012 - Received acknowledgment of receipt of my defence from court "copy of defence being served on claimant... if dispute cannot be resolved claimant will inform court he wishes to proceed, court will then inform you of what will happen... where he wishes to proceed, the claimant must contact the court within 28 days after receiving your defence. After the period has elapsed the claim will be stayed.26/01/2012 -

 

Received letter from Bryan Carter Sols "without prejudice - attempt to resolve matter before hearing prepared to accept 10% discounted amount of figure claimed in full and final settlement" - no reference at all to my CPR31.14 request - goes on to say, "we enclose 2 consent orders, please sign & return in 7 days - we hope we can agree to settle out of court" 2 'Consent order' drafts enclosed for my signature - I ignored and sent another copy of my CPR 31.14 request.27/02/2012 - Letter from Arrow Global - Change of solicitor "This matter is now being dealt with by our specialist litigation team" Notice of Change of solicitor form enclosed.13/03/2012 - Received letter from Bryan Carter Sols "we are no longer instructed in this matter and have returned the account to our client" Balance: £0.00

 

Had heard absolutely nothing more from Carter, Arrow Global - including no response at all to my CPR31.14 request no the court since the last letter on 13/03/2012 then:Today - Received Judgment for Claimant notice from Manchester County Court dated 7 August 2012 I know this has happened due to my lack of understanding of how the process works.How did it end up at Manchester County Court? :S Why didn't the courts tell me? Received nothing further from them apart from acknowledged receipt of defence from Northampton CCBC on 25/01/2012. Where did I mess up? And, how do I rectify the situation now?Please, please help me - I know I need to act quickly - this is stressing me out. Please let me know if any of the above does not make sense or if clarification is needed.Thank you in advance

Edited August 10, 2012 by Andyorch
Spaced and Paragraphed Andyorch

[Annie128]

Extremely sorry that my post is an eyesore - I tried to separate the dates and events by line, but for some reason it didn't allow me to do this? :S

[phaitun]

Hey Annie sorry to hear your misfortune, did you get an Allocation Questionairre?

 

If not call the Court and ask if they sent one, ask if the claimant sent one, then get all your papers together look at what you have got and check everything again.

 

You may be able to get the judgement set aside depends on how the judge saw the emabarressed defence.

 

In my case the judge did say he saw no real cause for defence, howver the court had lost my AQ with my draft order for directions and the fact i had not received disclosure. Once received he reviewed it and then matters changed in my favour.

 

also on one claim, i never even recieved the claim form from northampton it was a chance look at a letter that prompted me to call the court.

 

on another claim the court mixed my papers with another claim with a similar number- i was ordered to attend a hearing, i went, was handed papers that had nothing whatsoever to do with me lol.

 

I hand deliver my docs to the court and get a receipt, proof of posting is essential.

 

More people will be along to help soon i am sure

 

phaitun

 

Just worth checking then double checking as they do make a lot of mistakes.

[Annie128]

Hi Phaitun - Thanks for your reply, no i didn't receive an allocation questionnaire, it doesn't appear one was sent to me.

[AndyOrch]

Hi Annie.

 

Ring the Court that issued the Judgment and state the claim is stayed , no AQs have ever been released and the Claimant has never responded to your defence.

You shouldnt need to set a side as this is a Court procedural error.

 

PS I have spaced and paragraphed your initial post.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Annie128]

Andy - Thank you for taking the time to review and respond to my problem. Upon your advice I telephoned the Court; the person I spoke with advised me to write to them explaining the circumstances - so I will do this.Many thanks for spacing my original post.RegardsAnnie

I don't understand why it won't allow me to space my posts?

[AndyOrch]

" I don't understand why it won't allow me to space my posts? "

 

Check your browser and reset the defaults.

[Bandit127]

" I don't understand why it won't allow me to space my posts? "

 

Check your browser and reset the defaults.

I have NoScript installed (Firefox but I think you can get it for Chrome now too). If I forget to allow scripts from a forum site then hitting carriage return works in the box I type in to but the post does not appear with the carriage returns.

 

So - it is probably a problem with JavaScript if you don't have NoScript installed.

[Annie128]

Received a reply from the Court today - had to chase twice: After the filing of your defence the case was stayed. Following this there was an application made by the claimant on 14/05/12 to have the stay lifted and the case transferred. On 23/05/12 there was an order made lifting the stay, allocation questionnaires were sent out and the case transferred from Northampton CCBC to Manchester. On 13/06/12 the claimants allocation questionnaire was received by the court. The court did not receive one from the defendant (I never received the AQ or any communication from the Court or the claimant!!!) and on 05/07/12 an order was made directing the defendants AQ be filed by 16/07/12 (Again I received no communication – otherwise this would have prompted me to act). Following this the court still did not receive the defendants AQ, on 31/07/12 the defence was struck out and on 07/08/12 the claimant had judgment entered. If you wish for the judgment to be set aside you will need to make an application and pay the relevant court fee.This is ridiculous - I NEVER received ANY correspondence from the Court or the claimant - how can this be???What do I do now? Please help!Thanking you in advance

[AndyOrch]

Oh no Annie Im not sure what is going on here.

 

You only have a certain time to set a side but as this is a court procedural error you make be ok.You will need to download the N244 and make application to set a side on the grounds of none receipt of the AQ.The fee is £45 without an hearing (which is the option I would use) but they may insist on an hearing and therefore the fee would be £80.You can claim this back in your costs (should your defence be successful).

 

Regards

Andy

[Ganymede]

It's £45.00 now Andy.

[AndyOrch]

Thank you Gany:wink:

[Annie128]

Thank you Andy and Gany for reviewing my post and commenting.I've downloaded the N244 form - would be grateful if you could point me to a thread with some guidance on how to complete it.Not quite sure about the part (Q.4) about draft order and question 10 about what information I am relying on in support of my application: i) 'the attached witness statement' ii) The statement of case or iii) 'the evidence set out in the box below'Ever so confused :(Thank you again for your time.

[AndyOrch]

Hi Annie

 

A simple Draft Order stating the reason you request the set a side pursuant to CPR 13 ( ie the Court failed to serve the AQs and further warnings so none receipt) You respectfully request that the judgment be set a side on these grounds and permission to submit the AQ.

Just put it in your own words as per your post#9 .

 

Q10 leave blank as your Q4 and draft covers it.

 

Regards

Andy