Work not done and now got a ccj

[streetlegal]

12 months ago we bought a vehicle for the company.

we knew it needed work to bring it up to mot standard and make it serviceable so we took it to our usual hgv garage.

 

we have used this garage regularly for the last 5 years and have never had problems but this truck took a month before we got it back as they were busy.

 

we got the truck back and took it for mot.....it failed. this mot cost us £138 for the truck.

we returned it for further repairs and took it for a re-test at another £78 retest fee.

 

other work not completed....

 

no fuel gauge

no hydraulic fluid in external tank

steering wheel not straight (obscuring view of speedo)

auxilary lights not working

headlamp aim (mot fail)

siezed pins and bushes in equipment

front fog lamps not working

no 12 volts for radio etc

no greaseable parts were greased (when other mechanic greased everything it was full of OLD black grease)

tacho graph not calibrated

fuel and oil filters not replaced (photo evidence)

 

initialy we made an upfront payment OF £500 expecting the bill to be approximatly £1000 maximum as it seemed there wasnt much wrong with it.

 

a further £400 was paid around the time we collected it. a month later we recieved a bill for £1800 !!!!!!! charging us for wiper blades we supplied and fuel filters that were never fitted at this i refused to pay any more.

 

the total labour charge was for 28 hours !!!!!! about 20 hours more than required accourding to 2 other mechanics.

 

we responded to court papers within the correct time frame but due to other reasons we didnt get the defense and counter claim in on time (i did ring northampton and they said if we got the docs emailed over before 4pm it would be processed) the next day i got a notice of judgement from the garages solicitor.....before i even got the notice from northampton.

 

what (if any) are the chances of this getting set aside? how do i appeal this decision ? can i make a counter claim still ?

Edited October 21, 2014 by streetlegal
spelling

[caro]

Did you email the documents and how long ago was the judgment?

[streetlegal]

emailed it all back within 10 mins

judgement was 15/10

[caro]

Recent then. That's good. I'm going to move your thread to legal issues so the guru's there can help you.

[streetlegal]

cool,

 

got a copy of the warrant friday, got the response to thursdays enquiry and n244 yesterday (monday) and finaly our copy of the judgement today (tuesday)

 

all the wrong way round

[caro]

Comments from andyorch:-

 

 

Chances are very good ..they have proof they met the 4.00pm deadline..they have proof they have suffered loss...they dont state the time lag between when the defence was due and when they rang CCBC ...assuming it was the same day then they should make application on the

N244

ASAP.

[Conniff]

What were your actual orders to the garage when you took it in ?

 

 

I take it the repairing garage does not do MoTs ?

[streetlegal]

the garage was instructed to make it SERVICEABLE for our job and to make it mot worthy.

[BankFodder]

Your chances of success are excellent. Begin the set aside process immediately. Follow the set-aside link here to see how it's done.

 

Bettors know if you need any help with drafting any documents.

 

If they will not agree to the set-aside then your grounds for the set-aside are that you have an good chance of success if you are permitted to defend.

 

It will help your application enormously if you can prepare a draft defence.

 

However, you better make sure that you prioritise the deadlines in this. There is no place here for "for other reasons". You have seen what happens if you don't do the job properly.

[streetlegal]

your inbox is full

Your chances of success are excellent. Begin the set aside process immediately. Follow the set-aside link here to see how it's done.

 

Bettors know if you need any help with drafting any documents.

 

If they will not agree to the set-aside then your grounds for the set-aside are that you have an good chance of success if you are permitted to defend.

 

It will help your application enormously if you can prepare a draft defence.

 

However, you better make sure that you prioritise the deadlines in this. There is no place here for "for other reasons". You have seen what happens if you don't do the job properly.

[streetlegal]

@bankfodder

could you pm me a contact email address as i have a draft defence i need advice on

thanks in advance

[caro]

Post it up here streetlegal.

[streetlegal]

its on my work pc so will edit it in the morning

Edited October 22, 2014 by streetlegal
spelling

[streetlegal]

Dear Sir/Madam,

We wish to respectfully apply for the current judgment against XXXXXXX to be "set aside" and full leave to file a defence.be granted on the basis that we were understanding that the legal time frame would be the same as dealing with many other government organisations in that it would be "WORKING DAYS" and as such we have fallen upon a time-out situation.

We are making this application with this in mind and the fact that we feel after seeking legal advice we have a very strong defence to the claim and consider that it would be in the interests of Fair and proper justice that the judgement be set-aside and that we be allowed to present our arguments.

 

Further to the above information we must inform yourself that another issue causing the delay in filing our defence was the difficulty in contacting Mr XXXXX the HGV mechanic that resolved our issues with the vehicle at the heart of this matter.

Since he has closed his buisness he has also moved home twice and this has caused great difficulty contacting MrXXXX for his supporting Statement.

May I also add the fact that i have tried over many months to contact XXXXXXXXX, to ask him to explain the excessive labour charges (28 hours) on our invoice.

My other estimates recieved were in the region of 8 to 10 hours maximum for the same work, some of the work i must point out was not done.

 

Defence and Counterclaim

We have used the services of XXXXXXXX for the last 5 years without issue and during this time we have had a "friendly" account with the same, and we have always paid for his services.

During october 2013 we purchased a replacement recovery vehicle and delivered it to XXXXX, prior to purchase it was inspected by myself and my buisness partner and we agreed that although it was running and driving it should have an inspection/ and a few remedial repairs.

With the price paid being representative of its condition we bought it and asked XXXXXXXX carry out these repairs and to bring it upto a serviceable and M.O.T. standard with an estimate of £800 including the tachograph calibration and mot test.

We would expect the final bill to be no more than 15-20% extra or for the claimant to contact us if he thought the estimate was going to be double. he did not.

Having considered the final bill and gained opinions we feel we are being overcharged to say the least, given his reluctance or inability to explain or justify the 28 hours labour he is trying to charge us for.

Some items on his invoice were supplied by us and we can supply supporting invoices.

we have photographic evidence and a statement that the fuel filters on the invoice were never fitted and caused a fault with the vehicle which caused further expense to us.

When presented for the M.O.T. test it failed due to work that XXXXXXXX had not done.

Edited October 23, 2014 by streetlegal

[streetlegal]

any comments on my reply ?

[caro]

Without seeing the particulars of claim it's difficult to comment in the defence. Also you've put "defence and counterclaim", but there only appears to be a defence.

[streetlegal]

We wish to respectfully apply for the current judgment against xxxxx to be "set aside" and full leave to file a defence be granted on the basis that we were understanding that the legal time frame would be the same as dealing with many other government organisations in that it would be "WORKING DAYS" and as such we have fallen upon a time-out situation.

We are making this application with this in mind and the fact that we feel after seeking legal advice we have a very strong defence to the claim and consider that it would be in the interests of Fair and proper justice that the judgement be set-aside and that we be allowed to present our arguments.

We first contacted Northampton county courts on 15/10/2014 @14:00 and were advised that if we emailed the defence/counter claim over before 16:00 it would be processed, we have since found out that this did not happen.

 

Further to the above information we must inform yourself that another issue causing the delay in filing our defence was the difficulty in contacting Mr xxxxx the HGV mechanic that resolved our issues with the vehicle at the heart of this matter.

Since he has closed his buisness he has also moved home twice and this has caused great difficulty contacting mr xxxxx for his supporting Statement.

May I also add the fact that i have tried over many months to contact xxxxx, to ask him to explain the excessive labour charges (28 hours) on our invoice.

My other estimates recieved were in the region of 8 to 10 hours maximum for the same work, some of the work i must point out was not done.

 

Defence and Counterclaim

We have used the services of xxxxx for the last 5 years without issue and during this time we have had a "friendly" account with the same, and we have always paid for his services.

During october 2013 we purchased a replacement recovery vehicle and delivered it to xxxxx, prior to purchase it was inspected by myself and my buisness partner and we agreed that although it was running and driving it should have an inspection/ and a few remedial repairs.

With the price paid being representative of its condition we bought it and asked xxxxx carry out these repairs and to bring it upto a serviceable and M.O.T. standard with an estimate of £800 including the tachograph calibration and mot test.

we got the truck back and took it for mot.....it failed. this mot cost us £138 for the truck.

we returned it for further repairs and took it for a re-test at another £78 retest fee.

We would expect the final bill to be no more than 15-20% extra or for the claimant to contact us if he thought the estimate was going to be double. he did not.

Having considered the final bill and gained opinions we feel we are being overcharged to say the least, given his reluctance or inability to explain or justify the 28 hours labour he is trying to charge us for. we would like to counter claim on the excess 20 hours @ £900.

We also consider payments made so far to cover all costs and so would agree to "let things stand" as they are to avoid any further costs to xxxxx

Some items on his invoice were supplied by us and we can supply supporting invoices.

we have photographic evidence and a statement that the fuel filters on the invoice were never fitted and caused a fault with the vehicle which caused further expense to us.

 

Many thanks for your co-operation in this matter

 

 

THATS WHAT I SENT IN THE END

 

SO HERE I AM SAT BACK HAPPILY IN THE KNOWLEDGE I HAVE SENT MY DOCUMENTS IN...........

 

I rang Northampton today to make sure it was received........NO IT HAD NOT

advice to anyone else sending emails........look for the AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED "bounce back" reply and if you dont get one then send each page individualy as you WONT get a bounce back telling you the message was too big like lots of other organisations do

[streetlegal]

got a letter today transfering the case to a court near the company claiming on there behalf.

does this mean my n244 is working or is there more to this yet ?

does the claimant get copies of my defence ?

 

basicly what happens next and in what time frames

Edited November 1, 2014 by streetlegal
spelling

[AndyOrch]

Yes it is but the hearing should be at your local County Court not theirs assuming you are defending as a Litigant.If you have provided a defence with the application then yes they will have had a copy.

 

Andy

[Conniff]

If you are litigant in person you can have it heard in your local court.

[streetlegal]

update....

 

spoke with northampton and was advised it was a clerical error and papers recieved a few days ago have it listed this wednesday at our local court.

 

i dont know weather to get excited yet but today got a letter from his solicitor advising that they are no longer representing him !!!!

[f16]

update....

 

i dont know weather to get excited yet but today got a letter from his solicitor advising that they are no longer representing him !!!!

 

Looks like that "Speaks Volumes" !!!

[caro]

You can't be complacent but I agree with f16.

[streetlegal]

cool

what should i expect when i get there....procedure ? is it like magistrates etc ?

[f16]

There will be may be 3 or 4 court rooms.

As you enter you will have to empty your pockets and go through security.

You the check in with the Court ushers to let them know you are there.

There will be a "listing" note on the wall with the cases to be heard that day and the order they will be heard.

 

In the Court there will be one Judge (Magistrate).

He will have read the file and ask both parties to explain their position.

 

The questions will be addressed to the "Claiment" first

Then you will get the chance to respond.

 

Take a note pad and pen to write down any relivent points.

Take your documentation so you can prove what you are sayng is the truth.

 

Stay COOL

You will be fine :-D