Setting aside salford a ccj - defence sent to wrong court

[AndyOrch]

Even better then.....very patient Judge dealing with this claim. Don't forget to refer to her  " expert electrician " as a family friend at the hearing who is not qualified to give testimony on a subject he's not qualified to give. 

 

Andy

[keek]

Yes very patient. She is a nightmare! 

I couldn't believe it when she said who she wanted to use as an expert. 

Just confused as to why the original expert didnt want to do it, maybe she didnt instruct them in the 1st place. I have never recieved anything from them. She said she spoke to them and they have put a trace on me. She's crackers! 

Thank you for all the advice, fingers crossed the next hearing will be the last. 

[AndyOrch]

He probably also lost patience.

[BazzaS]

Is it worth contacting the previously agreed expert and finding out what has changed and why?

 

If they are willing to write to you (or the court!)  explaining (have they received instructions at all? What has changed??) so much the better

 

The judge might not be able to consider what such a letter would say (unless they’d be prepared to make a witness statement), but you might accidentally drop it into discussion, and if the judge asked to see the letter it might be useful if it places the claimant in a bad light ….

[keek]

Thanks, I will give them a call tomorrow and update if I find anything out. 

[AndyOrch]

5 hours ago, keek said:

 

 

She told the judge the independent expert we chose will not attend now.

 

The judge said she could use her own expert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to CPR  the use of expert witness was to be chosen and agreed between the parties.

 

Quote

There will be a single expert witness instructed by the parties jointly, whose evidence will be in the form of a written report. The judge may define the issues to be addressed. Further directions may be given as to this expert, as below..
Pre-action protocols may have required an expert’s inspection before the claim is filed in court.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/standard-directions/general/experts

[keek]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the info.

 

I'm struggling to understand how the claim can be resolved with no independent expert.

At the last hearing the judge said it could only be resolved with an independent experts report. We aagreed on one.

Why would he then let her pick her own and me act as my own expert? 

 

Her "expert" did a witness statement at the very beginning, im sure the judge told her at one of the hearings it couldn't be used as he wasn't an expert. I think I uploaded the report. Its rubbish. 

Will her "expert" do a new report or just attend the hearing and rely on his initial statement?

 

I'll will update when I get the info from the court. 

 

 Thanks again. 

[AndyOrch]

All valid points that you must make a note of to raise with the DJ at the hearing...but reading between the lines with your last update it could be the judge is humoring the claimant and simply going through the motions....hopefully getting ready to dismiss the claim.

[Manxman in exile]

I've been following this thread since it started two years ago and the person demonstrating most patience here is keek!

 

I understand that in small claims cases judges may need to give inexperienced and unknowledgeable parties a lot of leeway, but the courts seem to leant over backwards here in the claimant's favour to a ridiculous degree.  With the litany of court requests and orders here that the claimant has failed to comply with, I can't see that the judge needs to humour her any further before kicking the claim out.

 

With the judge apparently giving the claimant carte blanche to choose a family friend and non-expert to give an independent report, if I were keek I'd be concerned about what else might happen.  Surely this should have been done and dusted ages ago?

 

I also agree with Bazza's post #179.  I'd contact the original expert keek thought they'd agreed on and ask him why he no longer wants to be involved.

[Manxman in exile]

In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the expert keek thought they had agreed on is still willing to do it and the claimant has made up that he doesn't!

[BazzaS]

Precisely. At which point keek gets the agreed expert to report that the claimant was being obstructive …..

[keek]

Hi , thanks for all the replies, Much appreciated. 

I've not spoken to the expert we agreed on yet, I am waiting on the directions from the court after the hearing last week. 

 

I have received a letter from the claimant this morning telling me she is in the process of getting a fully qualified cctv expert.  

 

Think she's trying to backtrack on the family friend non expert she said she wanted at the last hearing. 

 The letter is nonsense she's on about a cracked skirting board now.

[keek]

Hi,

Received the new order this morning. I've attached it to the post.

Thanks for reading.

 

mags may 2021.pdf

[AndyOrch]

Simply confirming the replacement expert witness ......not sure what the defendant evidence may include matter of  opinion entails.?

[keek]

Had the hearing this morning and lost!

Dont know what else to say. 

Absolutely pissed off! 

Judge said her experts evidence had weight even though he said he wished he never met her , absolutely stinks! 

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by keek

[AndyOrch]

  How ?  what's the details ?

[keek]

God knows , Really dont know how I lost, she got caught her out with the lies she told.

In summing up the judge agreed with the "expert" witness that the height wouldn't make a difference to image quality even though it does. 

I just dont get it, she didnt even have any of the paperwork the judge had to read it for her, she said she had lost it. 

I'm livid.

She tried to claim costs of £1050 plus £550 but was awarded £750 cheeky cow! 

I asked if I could appeal but the judge said it wasn't a good idea. 

[AndyOrch]

Has she got the same surname as the Judge presiding ?

[keek]

No, but it's all so strange especially how she has conducted herself.

Something seems off. The photos in my evidence of the cctv images should have been enough on their own without all the txt messages she sent telling me how clear they are and what a good job I've done.

Funnily enough she had the paperwork for her costs.

[AndyOrch]

So the total judgment is £750 including costs ?

[keek]

She ended up with £550 for the cctv system that still up at her property and £150 for costs. 

She tried to claim for law enforcement, I think she means bailiffs. And all sorts of court fees. She wanted £1650 all in. 

[keek]

 

Makes me wonder if her councillor friend had a hand in it. She is well dodgy. Been in local paper a few times for dodgy dealings. 

I'm in shock, I cant believe it. 

[AndyOrch]

Its a pity you didn't ask the judge to order the return of the equipment for you to offset your costs/losses given that is of no use or satisfactory to her and that he had just ruled in her favor to that fact.

[keek]

I can't thank you all enough for your help and time dealing with this, it's really appreciated. Honestly your advice and patience has been invaluable and I've learnt so much. Thank you. 

 

But No point in dwelling onwards and upwards, hopefully karma will go looking for her. You live and learn. Definitely no more favours. 

 

 

[AndyOrch]

Absolutely its a pity we didn't get a favorable result...but as you said onwards and upwards put it behind you.....get it paid off by the date advised in the final order to avoid the CCJ being registered.

 

I would advise that you now look at your quotation/contract paperwork for future work and make it water tight in the event that this ever happens in the future...assuming that you continue in this line of work.

 

Regards

 

Andy