Representation in County Court

[ronwicks]

A friend has had a Money Claim but cited with a co-defendant with whom she has not had any business association whatsoever.

 

 

There were two amounts - one hers and another owed by the co-defendant.

 

 

Unfortunately she did not enter any defence and has received Default Judgment for both debts,

Court Fee and a Solicitor Fee of £100 (no invoice submitted as proof).

 

She now is prepared to admit her debt and offer instalments but needs to disclaim the debt of the other Defendant.

 

What Form needs to be submitted N244 or N245 or both?

 

As she has a very low income she can request a remission of Fees with Form EX180

[Guest]

what are the circumstances of claim, reason for no defence, what did the co def do, any joint liability issues

[ronwicks]

The claim arose from monies owed to Claimant for visiting foeign student accommodation.

 

 

A defence was not entered as Defendant let things slide as she was in severe depression and exhaustion after having been sole carer and then the death of 92 year old mother who had been in aggressive final stages of Alzheimer's, blind and spoke only Portuguese

 

 

There is no indication whatsoever of any response from co-defendant or mention and judgment of total has been made on friend, and not jointly.

[Guest]

hi

maybe best get yr thread moved to legal subforum for further input

[dx100uk]

already moved.

 

 

dx

[BazzaS]

There are mandatory grounds for set aside (such as if they applied too early).

If the claimant filed correctly then she needs to apply on discretionary grounds where she'd need to show

a) a real prospect of success, or

b) another good reason why she should be allowed to defend.

 

While these are either / or, to increase her chance of receiving a set aside she should aim for both : establishing that is fair for her to be granted the set aside (that she is a litigant In person who has had stressors and illness, preventing her filing her defence in time) and that she has a defence (if she does!)

[AndyOrch]

" Unfortunately she did not enter any defence and has received Default Judgment for both debts, "

[ronwicks]

I am able to report that Set Aside was granted on 29th February, not on the first of the grounds we submitted but on the contents of the defence we had entered. The Judge advised that we should extract that part of the Defence and resubmit it to the Court within 14 days, but I was not able to hear her closing remarks clearly. We now have to wait for the judgment to be posted to us.

 

 

Moneyclaim can be followed online but once it is transferred to County Courts is there any way to continue following the case online. When I call the local Court they are most unhelpful ?,

[AndyOrch]

You should receive notice of the General Order with further directions (Notice of Allocation)..but as stated submit your defence within 14 days...copy to he claimant.

 

MCOL finishes once a defence is submitted and the claim is allocated.The court will keep you informed of each stage.

 

Andy

[ronwicks]

An odd situation has arisen in the case of a friend that I am assisting. My friend is being sued for a debt of £315 but jointly with another Defendant who owes £215 and the case in now awaiting a hearing of Set Aside.

 

 

The Claimant has now submitted a Claimants Skeleton Argument that is over a name other than the Claimant, with no indication of relationship either, but but not signed, nor any declaration of truthfulness.

 

 

Amongst other slight manipulations of facts, in that document is a odd paragraph:

 

 

Given the facts of this case it is the Claimant's contention that both Defendants were operating together a "[problem]", and colluded to withhold monies to which they were not entitled in the probable belief that the Claimant, whose first language is not English, would not have the financial resources orb ability as a pensioner tom pursue that matter further:

 

 

In our rebuttal to the Court we will not be referring to this document as it gives all the appearance of a legal trap. However, can such an accusation be made in Court? I have always understood that if one is aware of, or has strong grounds even to suspect, a crime that this should be reported to the Police.

 

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

[BankFodder]

You don't give very much detail here and frankly your story is not very clear.

 

What I can tell you is that where people start making allegations of collusion and so forth in the County Court, you tend to find that the judge's eyes begin to glaze over.

[unclebulgaria67]

So there is already a CCJ by default, as there was no court hearing ?

 

This is now a set aside application ?

 

When a court claim is made, what is stated by the claimant and defendant must be truthful, as far as they are aware. Even if anything appears criminal, a civil claim can still be made for any financial loss suffered.

 

In any set aside, the defendant needs to state why they don't owe the claimant money and why they failed to deal with the original court claim.

[ronwicks]

A friend is being pursued in Court for a debt that she does not owe.

 

 

The Claimant is being represented in Court by some person who has written a “Claimants Skeleton Argument”.

 

 

When I checked his name with both the Law Society and the Bar Council Registry it would appear that he is neither a registered practicing Solicitor nor Barrister.

 

The Claimant is pursuing a debt of £220.00 which is clearly not the liability of my friend,

and she has sufficient evidence to support this,

but the Claimant is pursuing this matter relentlessly.

 

 

They now claim that it has cost them £1851 in legal fees and other costs to chase this £220.00 claim.

 

Some of the accusations levelled by this “legal” person are bizarre, ridiculous.

 

My questions are:

 

I understood that only registered practicing Solicitors and Barristers can appear in Court for Clients?

 

Can the Defendant request the Court for details of the representative for the Claimant?

 

Is it possible to challenge his right to represent the Claimant?

 

It has cost my friend and me many hours of studying the papers, research, and preparation of Court papers. Is there any way of recompense?

 

With no Regulatory bode for this representative there no w avenue for making a complaint.

[AndyOrch]

What type of debt does this refer to Ron?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[martin2006]

We would need much more info regarding the alleged debt.

Hiw far into the claim are you? At what stage are proceedings at?

How can you prove the debt is not owed?

 

If you can let us have the details and who the claimant is we would be in a better position to advise

[renegadeimp]

Is the claimant ( please name the company or give background details) represented by a mackenzie friend?

 

Please give as much detail as you possibly can. Something doesnt sit right here.

[ronwicks]

She was sued jointly with another Defendant for £595.00

of which £315 was hers and £220 the other Defendant, plus £60 Court Fees.

 

 

She has paid £375.00 to settle her debt and the Court Fees.

The £220.00 is solely the liability of the 2nd Defendant.

 

There was no business connection between the two Defendants,

which the Claimant is attempting to prove,

and they have even sent us a copy of an email to Claimant where 2nd states that she owes £220

and will pay “next week” and that £315 is payable by my friend.

[martin2006]

So your friend already has a ccj in their name?

 

Was it paid within a month and was the ccj for their portion of the debt or was the ccj registerd for the full amount in both defendants names?

[AndyOrch]

Well the claimant obviously thinks there is a connection between both parties otherwise they would not issue the claim jointly...I think you need to provide a little more history.

[honeybee13]

Is this thread connected?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?464142-[problem]-Accusation

 

HB

[honeybee13]

And this one?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?459189-Default-Judgments

 

HB

[AndyOrch]

Is this thread connected?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?464142-[problem]-Accusation

 

HB

 

And this one?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?459189-Default-Judgments

 

HB

 

It would appear so ..threads merged.

 

Andy

[ronwicks]

This has been a lengthy and complex case taking up over a half inch of court papers etc.

 

 

the Claimant, an individual,

is trying to establish a business connection between the two Defendants.

 

 

We have ample proof that there is not, and never has been, any business connection,

and that the two debts are for quite different, unconnected, matters.

 

 

The Claimant is unable to trace the second Defendant and has cited her with a wrong first name.

 

We are at a loss to understand why the Claimant and adviser are pursuing this so relentlessly with a heavy legal hand when they, perhaps inadvertently, have provided us with evidence that there is no connection. (see post at 12.36 today)

That is why I need to know who is the legal advisor behind this onslaught.

 

Further I have always understood that the burden is on the Claimant to produce proof and evidence that a debt exists which the Defendant may contest or admit.

 

All I need now are the answers to my questions,

repeated below,

but I hope that I can get these without the tedious, time consuming necessity of giving all the details of this complex case.

 

I understood that only registered practicing Solicitors and Barristers can appear in Court for Clients?

 

Can the Defendant request the Court for details of the representative for the Claimant? If so, how?

 

Is it possible to challenge his right to represent the Claimant?

 

It has cost my friend and me many hours of studying the papers, research, and preparation of Court papers. Is there any way of recompense?

 

With no apparent Regulatory body for this representative there no avenue for making a complaint.

Edited July 4, 2016 by ronwicks
Spelling and omission of word

[Ganymede]

How do you know that the Claimant is represented and that this representative wrote the Skelton Argument?

[ronwicks]

Because he was speaking on her behalf in Court and his name was at the bottom of the Skeleton Argument.