Tarmac Driveway done by Tom Diggins Stockport Driveways, judgment plus costs - ***WON***

[BazzaS]

You can make an offer (giving a sum you would accept, to avoid the hassle of the case continuing), and, if made “without prejudice save as to costs” he can’t use it to influence the judgment, only the issue of costs once the case is concluded.

[BazzaS]

On 21/07/2021 at 11:16, smithy49 said:

Thanks for your advice.

 

The court letter says that if we dont receive a response from him by 4pm on 29th July we can instruct the surveyor of our choice. 

 

We have to instruct a Surveyor by 4pm on 2nd August and send them copies of the court letter, our claim and the defendants response. 

 

We have the details of a groundwork expert who is highly regarded in his field. He has said he can do it but I am unsure if we can use him with him not being a Chartered Surveyor. He is qualified to act as an expert witness.

 

If we are unable to get 3 x CVs before 26th July then it might be our only choice to put him forward. 

BF, this may well mean that D (the defendant) hasn’t failed to comply, as the court has given D the option:

1) Agree before 4pm July 29th, or

2) Accept C’s choice of expert if not agreed before 4pm July 29th.

 

So I doubt the court will strike out the defence merely because D didn’t choose option 1).

Thus the court won’t strike it out of their own volition over that alone, and an application for strike out by the OP would be an expensive gambit that is unlikely to succeed.

Edited August 14, 2021 by BazzaS

[BazzaS]

Recorded delivery isn’t required, and can be refused / left uncollected, and then you know it hasn’t been received

 

send a copy ordinary first class post (which is all that is required!). Get a (free!) certificate of posting.

 

You (and the court!) are then entitled to rely on the Interpretation Act, which will presume it had been delivered on the second working day after posting ……,

 

if he is trying to play silly side by refusing recorded delivery, more lookout for him when he says he never received it, and you tell the judge “I sent it by both recorded delivery, and in case he declined such a delivery, ordinary 1st class, too…….”

[BazzaS]

Summary judgment isn’t “an option for an early trial”. It is for when there aren’t any triable issues.

 

So the report being clearly in favour of C can’t be used to say “trial not needed”. The trial is where the judge considers the report.

 

An application for the judgment sum to be paid into court because D hasn't been complying could be useful, and could add pressure on D. Whether it’d be heard before the main hearing on the 4th November is another matter, though!

 

Adding in a request for summary judgment that can be successfully opposed by the one line response of “the issues remain to be determined, the trial is where that should happen, including where the report should be considered” risks losing that application fee, though.

 

 

[BazzaS]

I’d put the altered email as the most prominent for the court to consider, followed by the invoices dated before the work was started.

 

Don’t call him a liar. Do a supplemental WS, and state that “those statements are, at best, factually incorrect, because ….”

Then highlight for the court that the email appears to be missing a key phrase that was clearly present in the original…. (You can attach both to be put both side by side for comparison!)

and then highlight the date issue on the invoices, giving the date the work started, again showing the discrepancy.

 

Then highlight the lack of statement of truth, asking that his WS be disregarded if he isn’t willing to attach a statement of truth …. The court might decide they’ve had enough of his games, or might ‘give him some rope to hang himself with’ ……

 

Then you can state that, in your recollection, Person X wasn’t present on <date>.
All the better if you have any notes to back that up (but don’t despair if not!).

 

Your aim is to have the judge reach their own conclusion D is a liar, so by the time it comes to deciding who remembers if Person X was there or not, the judge already knows who to believe!.

 

If Person X is then foolish enough to come to court and perjure themselves …. Their lookout.

If they won’t come to court, then ask the court to disregard their statement.

 

The judge will know you are calling him a liar, but in such a way you can prove that which is provable, letting the court reach its own conclusion. 

[BazzaS]

Do you need to give him the “heads up” that you are going to highlight his falsehoods & misrepresentations?

 

why not entitle it “representations made by the Defendant”.

 

That way you get to provide the evidence, and once they’ve filed their bundle you point out to the judge : “the evidence I have provided shows the misrepresentations made, and his subsequent alterations of documents so as to mislead the court”

 

you aren’t introducing new evidence late, just not telegraphing what you intend to use that evidence to show…..

Edited October 23, 2021 by BazzaS