Car mechanic problems!

[AndyOrch]

Not that its new ....its called Group Litigation in the UK and is covered by CPR Practice Direction 19b

 

Here is your list...

 

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/rcj-rolls-building/queens-bench/group-litigation-orders

 

[needadvice1]

QUESTION!Can the defendant decide to counter claim and not inform me until I am with them in court? Is this allowed at all?

[AndyOrch]

QUESTION!Can the defendant decide to counter claim and not inform me until I am with them in court? Is this allowed at all?

 

Full story for the appropriate advice...we cant advise on one line snippets.

[needadvice1]

I am going to court via MCOL small claims track.

 

Date is to be confirmed.

 

They refused the mediation service, I agreed to it.

 

I was wondering if the defendant could decide to counter sue on the day without prior notice.

 

I am not sure what other info you would want. Please tell me and I will provide any required information.

[AndyOrch]

" I was wondering if the defendant could decide to counter sue on the day without prior notice "

 

No they cant...they must submit their counter claim (PT 20 claim) with their defence....if they wish to submit a counter claim after the defence they must get the courts permission.

[needadvice1]

hi all....update!

 

ive been given a court date.

 

the letter I got is telling me that I need to supply all of the documentation I intend to rely on to the defendant 21 days before the trial. is this right?

 

i'm sure someone said earlier in the thread that I should hold back info until the court date so that the defendant doesn't have time to prepare?

 

please advise

[AndyOrch]

Yes that's correct...as the court has directed it...if you fail to comply your claim can be struck out.

[panther12]

Both claimant & defendant will have the same time frame to file & serve. You can delay sending yours until closer the time to see if you receive theirs first but will have to submit by the date given and raise it with the court if you haven't received theirs.

[Ganymede]

hi all....update!

 

ive been given a court date.

 

the letter I got is telling me that I need to supply all of the documentation I intend to rely on to the defendant 21 days before the trial. is this right?

 

i'm sure someone said earlier in the thread that I should hold back info until the court date so that the defendant doesn't have time to prepare?

 

please advise

 

In English Court's there should be a cards on the table approach to litigation and not ambushing your opponent on the day of the trial with all of your evidence.

 

If you fail to submit your evidence in time the Court could either disallow it at the trial or strike out your claim completely.

[needadvice1]

ok thanks for the response.

 

does this mean I have to provide every single bit of my response to his defence though?

I have provided all of the evidence already.

 

its just that he has provided some additional defence recently and I have not responded to him directly,

I sent the docs to the court though.

 

the actual evidence remains the same.

actually there is one bit of additional evidence which is the written testimony of someone else that has an issue with his work. that's it, nothing else.would I have to provide this?

 

help please?

[reallymadwoman]

actually there is one bit of additional evidence which is the written testimony of someone else that has an issue with his work. that's it, nothing else.would I have to provide this?

 

If this is in the form of a witness statement, the court are not obliged to accept it unless the person concerned is prepared to attend the hearing.

 

Regarding the evidence, if you have already submitted all the documents you need to prove your case (and disprove the defence) then you need do nothing more. You will however need to prepare your witness statement and submit copies to the court and the defendant before the date on the order. This should be numbered paragraphs setting out in a logical order all the events leading up to the incident giving rise to the claim and detailing exactly what you are claiming for and why, where necessary making reference to supporting evidence, which should also be clearly labelled and identified. For example, you might say 'On x date, the defendant gave an estimate (exhibit A) stating that ...'. Stick strictly to facts which you are able to prove and keep it as concise as you can whilst covering all the issues - i.e. don't go off on any tangents ranting about cowboy mechanics etc. I would recommend doing this well in advance - it will take much longer than you think and it's a good idea to leave a few days for 'tweaking' and plenty of time for postage. You must send a copy to the defendant as well as the court.

 

Apart from making it really easy for the judge to see exactly what your case is, this is also your opportunity to make sure you have provided and explained all the evidence - if you're left with a bit of paper at the end that isn't mentioned in your witness statement then either you need to mention it or it's not relevant. Even if you've already submitted all your evidence, I would prepare at least three copies of your statement and the evidence, all properly labelled, and ideally with an index so that you can easily find, for example, the invoice dated 5th August. Keep one for yourself and highlight the most important points - a judge will sometimes only give you 5 minutes to summarise your case. Send one to the court in plenty of time, but be prepared for it not to make it all the way to the judge and have a spare, just in case. If you have genuinely already submitted all the evidence to the defendant, it's up to you if you want to send him just the witness statement or the whole bundle, but again it's good practice to have a spare copy to present to him/her at the hearing if only so that they can easily follow your case/find relevant documents. There's nothing more irritating to judges than having to fumble through 100 bits of paper to find the right one or watch someone else doing it. It may seem like a lot of work but anything you do to make life easier for the judge is worth the effort.

 

Bottom line is that the 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail' adage goes double for a court hearing no matter how informal small claims is supposed to be. At worst, you'll have thoroughly familiarised yourself with your case, at best you will be so obviously well prepared that the defendant doesn't bother turning up - but don't hold your breath! Good luck.

[AndyOrch]

How did you submit your evidence needadvice1 ...considering we have only just got to Standard Disclosure stage ?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[needadvice1]

Thanks for the responses.

 

I have submitted my evidence via my response to his defence. I basically wrote a massive documents refuting all his points with evidence where possible. I sent this to the courts and the defendant has it too.

 

In terms of this additional witness statements. It's in the form or personal messages on an online forum that I've printed off. Do I need to send this to the defendant ?

[Ganymede]

I don't understand, can you explain what this is please?

[needadvice1]

the online forum I refer to is similar to the one we are on now.

so, if I were to send you a private message on this forum and you were to respond.

 

 

the record of that would be stored as private messages in your inbox

and you could print these off.does that make sense?

[Ganymede]

That's not a witness statement.

 

It must be correctly formatted and signed with a Statement of Truth.

[needadvice1]

So it is not evidence ?

[reallymadwoman]

Unless the person who sent the messages is prepared to sign a statement of truth and potentially attend the hearing, their evidence is hearsay and won't be accepted.

[needadvice1]

seriously? I don't get it. the guy wrote me personal messages himself. why would this not be considered evidence? really don't get it.

[AndyOrch]

The messages can be used as evidence provided you attach them to your properly formatted witness statement...which you will sign a statement of truth on...that will become your evidence.

The witness statement and all documents relied on will be your standard disclosure.

 

Anything that you have already attached to the defence response and sent wherever means nothing...

 

Andy

[needadvice1]

Ok Andy. Please can you clarify a couple of things. What is a "standard disclosure", how do I know the proper format for a witness statement is?

 

Why does my response to the defence mean nothing? I don't understand. I made many many valid points in there that disprove the defendants claims.

[AndyOrch]

Your response means something...the evidence you attached means nothing because its not the appropriate stage of proceedings to attach evidence...standard disclosure is.

 

Standard disclosure is when you provide all the evidence you wish to rely on and have referred to in either your particulars of claim or witness statement...the courts advise within your Notice of Allocation when this stage happens along with exchanging witness statements and disclosure.

 

You will find an example of a Witness Statement at post #106 in the following thread.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?370562-Drydensfairfax-taking-me-to-court-on-behalf-of-honours-student-loans/page6

[needadvice1]

I think I understand what your saying.

 

the latest is that ive been given a court date and been advised to submit all docs I am relying on in court.

is this not the point at which i'm supposed to supply my evidence etc?

 

to me,

the response I wrote to the defendant contains most of my evidence,

 

I would just resubmit this and call it my standard disclosure/particulars together?

 

I am not sure why it would be useful to anyone to separate the two?

 

I haven't seen anything from the court mentioning the words "standard disclosure" FYI.

[AndyOrch]

The process is......

 

You submit claim....

They submit defence.....

You inform the court you wish to proceed.

The court sends out Directions Questionnaire (N180) to both parties.

You file DQ and the court sends out Notice of Allocation.

Claim is transferred to local county court

 

The Notice of Allocation contains the Courts directions that both parties must comply with in preparing for trial..the directions are usually you pay an hearing fee and and both parties prepare their standard disclosure/ evidence and witness statements and the dates on which it must happen.

[needadvice1]

all of that has already happened.

The latest thing was a letter saying "x is your court date and make sure you send all of the docs you want to rely on in court to the defendant and the court beforehand plus pay the fee by a certain date"