Judgment issued now defendant's solicitor sent me a letter***Success***

[LC0210]

Hi,

 

As part of a house renovation I had to have a sprinkler installed in my house to comply with Building Regs.

I contracted a sprinkler company to do this in June 2015.

 

 

They told me it would be installed as I neared the end of my renovation so it was done on the 30th November 2015.

 

 

Unfortunately the following morning after the installation I came into the house (we are not living on site)

to find water on my kitchen floor (their pipe connection to the mains water was under my kitchen sink)

and in half of my living room (open plan room).

 

 

I immediately contacted the sprinkler company but since that event they have not been responding to my e-mails

or phone call bar one e-mail to say that they do not accepting liability for the cost of damages.

 

I issued a claim against them via he MCOL on the 5th February 2016 for £4.5k.

Their deadline to reply was the 24th February 2016. I did not hear from them.

 

I e-mailed the court after this date to see if they had received a response and they replied to say no response had been received.

 

On the 8th March 2016 I called the court about what to do

and they told me that I could enter a judgment against them.

After the call I completed the form to enter judgment and it was issued on the 9th March 2016.

 

Yesterday, 11th March 2016, I received an e-mail from their solicitor with the below:

 

"Please find attached a copy, by way of service, of the Acknowledgment of Service

that we have today filed at the County Court Business Centre.

 

So that we take full instructions from our insured and insurer clients

please confirm whether you are agreeable to our client having an extension to file

and serve their Defence to your claim.

 

 

In accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules, t

he parties are permitted to agree an additional 28 days for service of a Defence without the Court's permission.

 

Please confirm whether you can agree to our client serving their Defence by 4pm on 5th April

so that we may notify the Court accordingly."

 

Can anyone explain what this letter means?

If Judgment has already been issued then what is this letter for

and why would I want to give them an extension to file a Defence

when they should have submitted or acknowledged the claim when it was first issued to them?

 

Any views and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[AndyOrch]

Hi LCO and Welcome to CAG

 

 

The defendant has missed the boat and is now requesting time pursuant to CPR 15.5 to extend time to submit a defence.....pity they didn't acknowledge service first.

 

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part15#15.5

 

Regards

 

Andy

[LC0210]

Hi Andy,

 

Thank you so much for your quick reply.

 

What if I don't agree to this request? I am just thinking why should I helpful considering the lack of response I've received from them since the leak happened that they caused.

[AndyOrch]

You cant help they are too late...all they can do is make application to set a side..providing the 19 days had expired when you requested judgment.

[LC0210]

So shall I reply to say I don't agree. It then sounds like from your reply that they will put in an application for the judgment to be set a side, is that correct?

 

In my Judgment form I requested to be paid by the 22nd March 2016.

 

Am I correct in my thinking below?

If that is the case they will complete the set a side form and submit their evidence to the Judge for him/her to decide whether or not to grant this request.

If the Judge decides their evidence is not strong enough then the default judgment will still prevail and they need to pay immediately as it would be after the 22nd March 2016.

If the Judge decides their evidence is strong enough then I will be informed and receive an allocations questionnaire to move it to the next stage.

[AndyOrch]

No need to respond or do anything until such time an application is made to set a side (which you will be served notice of if they do ) just concentrate on executing your judgment for now.

[LC0210]

So the judgment was issued on the 9th March so they need to wait 19 calendar days from this date before they can request for the judgment to be set a side?

[LC0210]

Ah, I see Andy. I've given them to the 22nd March to pay. If I don't hear from them to ask for my bank details by this date I can technically on the 23rd March apply for a warrant to enforce the judgment?

[AndyOrch]

Ah, I see Andy. I've given them to the 22nd March to pay. If I don't hear from them to ask for my bank details by this date I can technically on the 23rd March apply for a warrant to enforce the judgment?

 

[LC0210]

Great, thank you so much Andy for your help!

 

Shall I come back to let you know how it pans out?

[AndyOrch]

It will assist others if threads contain a conclusion

[Conniff]

I'll tell you what that letter really says, We thought if we ignored you, you would just go away and not have the guts to issue a claim. As you are obviously serious and have gone ahead, I suppose we had better respond.

[Ganymede]

So the judgment was issued on the 9th March so they need to wait 19 calendar days from this date before they can request for the judgment to be set a side?

 

Have you actually obtained judgment or did you merely request it and are waiting for confirmation that judgment has been entered?

 

I would call the Court to clarify because if the Court hadn't entered judgment at the time the Acknowledgement of Service was received then the Defendant may get away with it and your request for judgment could be rejected.

 

Better safe than sorry!

[AndyOrch]

Have you actually obtained judgment or did you merely request it and are waiting for confirmation that judgment has been entered?

 

I would call the Court to clarify because if the Court hadn't entered judgment at the time the Acknowledgement of Service was received then the Defendant may get away with it and your request for judgment could be rejected.

 

Better safe than sorry!

 

" On the 8th March 2016 I called the court about what to do

and they told me that I could enter a judgment against them.

After the call I completed the form to enter judgment and it was issued on the 9th March 2016. "

[Ganymede]

" On the 8th March 2016 I called the court about what to do

and they told me that I could enter a judgment against them.

After the call I completed the form to enter judgment and it was issued on the 9th March 2016. "

 

I get the impression that the OP sent his request for judgment form on 9th March, not that this was the date the Court actually granted default judgment. I don't know of any Court that efficient!

[AndyOrch]

Northampton is...when you consider electronic submissions?

[Ganymede]

Northampton is...when you consider electronic submissions?

 

Possibly, yes.

[LC0210]

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know what happened.

 

I replied back to the Solicitor to let him know that judgment had already been issued and asked him to advise the sprinkler company to pay. He wrote back requesting for additional time for him to take instructions from the sprinkler company and warned that they wanted to appeal the court's decision. I replied back agreeing to give the Solicitor an additional week and also gave him the details of what happened, from my point of view, and the evidence I had and again asked him to advise the sprinkler company to pay. A few days later the Solicitor replied back to say the sprinkler company are paying up. I have the money in my bank account!

 

I will be happy to make a donation to this amazing site and would like to say a big thank you to Andy and the rest of the Consumer Action group for your help. Your quick reply, even though it was Saturday, give me the confidence and knowledge to know how to respond to the Solicitor's letter.

[mikeymack2002]

A very nice result and conclusion. It goes to show if you start something and follow it through you can get the result you wanted in the first place and that was to be paid.

 

 

Well done!

[AndyOrch]

Delighted that this has been resolved for you LC0210

 

Thread title amended to reflect the outcome.

 

Regards

 

Andy