Wrong/Short Name Used On Claim Form

[mrtibbs1999]

Hi Guys. Long time reader, first time poster. Please be gentle.

 

I found out my now former landlord had connected the communal radiators to my boiler and the electrical services (CCTV communal lighting) to my meter. All of this was without my consent. I estimated the costs to be around £600 and sent a letter and 2 LBA's to him in the name I knew him; let's say, Joe Bloggs. It turns out that his name is; say, Andrew Joseph Bloggs. Do I have a problem or will the court know who i am suing?

 

Thanks in advance.

[BankFodder]

Let it go and see if he raises any objection.

If he does then you will have to apply to amend the claim on an N244. If it is at an early stage - might be cheaper and quicker simply to discontinue the action and re-issue

[mrtibbs1999]

Thanks for the reply.

I can apply for default Judgment today.

Would he have grounds to get it overturned?

He signs his letters Joe Bloggs.

Is there any definitive case law?

 

Thanks for replying.

[BankFodder]

I don't know if there is any definitive case law - but it sounds as if it merely a technicality. If there is no doubt that it is the correct defendant. Using that abbreviated name is very helpful to you.

Just get the judgment and play it by ear

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Thanks for the reply. I can apply for default Judgment today. Would he have grounds to get it overturned? He signs his letters Joe Bloggs. Is there any definitive case law?

 

Thanks for replying.

 

 

As long as you have the name the defendant "is usually known as " then it is not a problem.

[steampowered]

Yes, you should be fine as long as it is clear who this person is and there is no mistake of identity

[mrtibbs1999]

Thank you all. I have decided that in order to destroy any chances of losing the judgment I will Special Deliver a letter informing him I intend to get default judgment and stating that If he feels his name is an issue he should contact me within 48 hours. That way we can have no funny business with overturned judgments and the costs that can occur. I'm sure from the comments above that it wouldn't be a problem, but I have had to defend a summary judgment before and I didn't enjoy it.

 

Thank you all. I will report back if there are any incidents that are of general interest.

[Ganymede]

You must state the Defendant's full name. See CPR 7 and the associated PD.

 

You could just let it go but I wouldn't mention it in a letter to him.

[mrtibbs1999]

The defendant has filed (21 days after issue of the claim) an acknowledgment of service stating:

 

1) An intention to defend in full

2) An intention to dispute jurisdiction

 

We can ignore the defence, the claim is 100% solid and I am confident a defence will fail.

 

However.......

 

Why can he dispute jurisdiction? I am English, He is English, we both live in England. Also the property is in England. Am is misinterpreting jurisdiction?

 

Secondly. Can I have the acknowledgment struck out and file for summary judgment, or would that be unwise now.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Ganymede]

No you cannot "strike out" an acknowledgement of service.

 

As for disputing jurisdiction, it will be a mistake. LiP often tick that box not really understanding what it means.

 

You must wait for the actual Defence to be received now.

[mrtibbs1999]

What about the name error. will that be admitted as a defence or should he apply for a striking out for example?

[Ganymede]

I would wait and see what the Defence says.

 

It is for you to sort out the name error.

[mrtibbs1999]

Thanks I've read the CPR and PD's and it is very clear the FULL name should be used. I am prepaed to deal with it if it comes up.

 

I spoke to a lawyer friend before and she said that as i knew him as Joe Bloggs and my contract says Joe Bloggs and he calls himself Joe Bloggs, he has little chance of getting anywhere as it is his misleading statements that got us here. I'll keep you informed. I've made a donation via your link, thanks for all the help so far

 

P.S I meant won't get very far only in relations to the small claims track. My friend said if it was in the high court, I'd have problems, but they could be fixed with the form you suggested and the spending of money.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Thank you very much for the donation, it's appreciated. It will help us to carry on helping people like yourself. Good luck with the case.

 

HB

[steampowered]

Thanks for the donation and let us know how you get on!

 

I agree with your approach on the name. He would have little to gain by raising it as an issue and probably did not even notice it, so you might as well save yourself the application fee. If he does raise it as an issue we can help you deal with it at that time if necessary.

[mrtibbs1999]

The respondent filed an AOS and so did his mother in law. The 2 forms both disputed jurisdiction and they also denied the claim. his mother in law's AOS made a big deal of the name, his was signed in the name as sued, so that killed that issue. They failed to state a jurisdiction issue so that element is now dead and we move to the defence.......

 

Just before the deadline for filing a defence he filed a full page of A4 as a defence himself and it was in the name as sued. The issue now is that the defence is shockingly bad. It is effectively a Vicky Pollard style yeah, but no, but......

 

The problem for him, is that his defence is also effectively a confession. He accepts that all the shared services were wired to my electricity meter and also that the 2 radiators in the hallway used my boiler. This saves me a load of trouble and costs.

 

He then goes on to say that I agreed with his dad to pay for it and to sort the money out between the other tenants. This isn't true and his father is a known liar who is likely to get cited for contempt or even worse commit perjury. The judge will see through him after his first minute giving evidence.

 

That is pretty much his defence: yes I did what you claimed, but you agreed with my dad to pay for it and sort it out with a bunch of people you don't know.

 

He also claims various things that are demonstrably false. I.e the building is a mid terrace and is well insulated; it's actually a massive former hotel on a cliff overlooking the Irish sea. The building next door is in the process of being knocked down. He then claims only the lights were on the circuit. not true, the fire system, the floodlights, the intercom system are all on it.

 

He has a 0% chance of winning this now, as he has admitted the act took place and is going to have a liar as his only witness that I agreed.

 

Also, the defence is so badly written that it took me 3 reads to work out what he meant.

 

MY QUESTION IS.... Should i make an application for summary judgment or to strike out the defence as unclear/containing no actual defence.

 

If the answer to that is yes, will there be any possible cost implications as it is not yet allocated to the small claims track.

 

Sorry for the rambling.

 

Thanks in advance

[steampowered]

That's good news. Its interesting that he has admistted to hooking up communal radiators to your meter. That is the kind of thing which could be tricky to actually prove if not admitted.

 

Others legitimately have a different opinion, but personally I am not convinced about the merits of applying for SJ or strike-out in a case which will be a small claim. I think there is something to be said for keeping the process simple, saving yourself the application fee and just waiting for the main hearing.

 

The difficulty with strike-out for serving a non CPR compliant defence is that he may well be granted another chance to do so.

 

I'd think you have a good case for SJ on liability, but there is a possible questionmark regarding what is the correct amount. I can see this being a little difficult to calculate.

[mrtibbs1999]

I'm very, very, glad that he admitted to all of the main points of my claim.

It saves me a massive amount of effort and as you say, we are now left with arguing over quantum.

 

I'm a little annoyed at myself that I didn't file with a claim for unjust enrichment, my calculation is that he is up to the tune of over £3k in terms of savings due to not having his own supply, meter, boiler, etc, etc.

 

I have claimed for an apportionment of the bill including standing charges. I have asked for 45% for gas ( his area is on the promenade on a cliff and has a leaky letterbox, 2 radiators and a door opening onto the elements) and I have asked for 25% of the electricity. In the circumstances I feel this is fair.

 

What do you think? should I do anything regarding the amount claimed, or do you have any tips for how to position myself?

 

Thanks in advance.

[steampowered]

It sounds like what you have done is fair. Given that he put you in this position I imagine the judge is likely to resolve reasonable doubt as to the exact amount in your favour, and will award an amount that seems reasonable in the circumstances. I don't think there is much you should do on this other than making sure you have your evidence together in order to explain how you calculated the amounts you have calculated, and can justify why you made the calculations in that way.

 

I wouldn't beat yourself up about the unjust enrichment point. This claim would only really cover additional money he received and not expenses he didn't incur. I don't think unjust enrichment would help you get to a better place than a breach of contract claim or tortious trespass claim.

[mrtibbs1999]

Hello again.

I am now stuck once more and need some help.

 

Following my last post I applied for SJ which was denied on the papers as the judge believe consent and quantum were at issue.

As such he listed the case for hearing.

 

A week before the hearing the respondent applied to move the date due to a holiday - this was denied by a judge in an order.

He then failed to file his statements and evidence and on the court date he failed to attend court.

 

The judge decided to proceed and put me to really strict examination On the amount claimed.

I did well and he accepted my figure for electricity but reduced my claim for gas by 12%.

 

He then came to consent and seeing that the contract didn't require me to pay and hearing from me that I did not consent, he ruled that it would be very unusual for me to hav e consented. As such he ruled in my favour and awarded me about 90% of my claim and costs of about £400.

 

About a week later the respondent appointed solicitors who are applying to set aside on the grounds that he was never served with the claim. They are using the name issue to attempt to sink the whole claim.

 

What should I do? He issued 2 AoS a defence and made applications in the case. He also failed to attend court.

[steampowered]

There will presumably be a hearing to decide the set aside application. You will need to go to that and object on the basis that the Defendant knew about the hearing but decided not to attend. You may wish to serve a witness statement explaining this no less than 7 days before the hearing.

 

 

You may wish to prepare a costs schedule and have a go at claiming for time spent on the application at 18quid per hour - claiming not to have received the claim form when he attended the hearing would be unreasonable conduct in my book.

[mrtibbs1999]

Thanks for replying, I think I must have written my last post really badly - it was meant to be read in the context of the whole thread, sorry.

 

I sued j blogs. His actual name is Harold j blogs. He sent an AoS signed j blogs and sent me a letter signed j blogs on j blogs paper, but in fact his legal name is Harold j blogs ( only In this example)

 

He didn't attend the hearing and the judge ruled in my favour and issued a judgment against him.

 

The solicitors are applying to set aside on the basis of improper service because I sued the wrong person.technically I did, he is Harold j blogs, I sued j blogs. My question is, given that he acknowledged the claim as j blogs and that he habitually uses that name in his life, is it actually an issue.

 

He emailed the court as j blogs and signed his defence j blogs. I'm So confused.

[steampowered]

I am slightly struggling to see how he can claim that the claim was not validly issued when he acknowledged service.

[mrtibbs1999]

just to conclude this thread

 

, the respondent won the set aside hearing in February 2015 on the basis that he had applied within 14 days and he had a reasonable prospect of defending the claim.

 

He had instructed solicitors who represented him at the hearing and they filed a 156 page statement to support the case.

 

Remembering this was a simple small claim, the judge called it overkill and not only did he refuse their request for costs, he allowed mine, on the basis that the hearing wouldn't have been needed had the respondent attended the trial as ordered.

Yes

With regards to the name issue, the judge didn't care. He said it was a small claim and that as he used the name I sued and that he filed a defence, it was a non issue and said even if it was an issue, the boat had long sailed and the correct option would be for the respondent to deny he was the defendant or to apply to strike out the claim within 14 days of issue of the claim.

 

I went back for trial 3 weeks ago and the judge was very skeptical of the landlord's defence. He allowed me to cross examine him to the point of rudeness and even asked him a few barbed questions himself. The case however was sealed up when the respondent said "whatever" to the judge twice when the judge criticized his conduct. I was awarded my claim plus some pretty generous costs, including my time for the 3 hearings. I was denied full costs for all my work at £18 an hour barbecue the judge stated I didn't quite make the case that his conduct throughout was unreasonable. Either way, I won my claim and I got over £400 in expenses so I made on the whole event.

 

Thanks to all who've given advice.

[dx100uk]

Hey great result

 

DX