I Have A Court Date Please Help

[DNA]

You may apply to set aside a default Judgment at any time - read this for the circumstances:

 

PART 13 - SETTING ASIDE OR VARYING DEFAULT JUDGMENT

 

Like Glenn said, we're flying in the dark without more detail.

[DNA]

In my experience, when someone submits an application to set aside Judgment, a Judge will normally decide the application at a hearing unless they feel they can deal with it on the papers alone. There are some procedural reasons where the Court can and will set the Judgment aside, they are all explained in CPR part 13. If James's claim does not fall into one of the "automatic" set aside categories, then he'll (unfortunately) have to wait and see what the Court decide. If RBS can demonstrate that they have reasonable prospects of successfully defending the claim, a Court may be minded to set aside the Judgment and issue directions for the future conduct of the matter - again, this is entirely at a Judge's discretion. One thing in James's favour - Courts tend to take a dim view of Defendants ignoring timescales laid down by the CPR in responding to claims, especially if that Defendant is a company (and probably with Cobbetts' backing) - so he might get lucky and the Court will refuse to set aside and the Judgment will stand, James can proceed with his Warrant and RBS should pay up.

[DNA]

Panic not James. I was 2 weeks away from my small claims hearing and about to file my documents that I intended to rely on at Court and with Cobbetts. I telephoned Cobbetts and was shocked to hear that they had accepted my counteroffer (they offered me about 75% of what I was claiming). In my counteroffer I hit back and said it would cost more than the difference between my claim and their offer to instruct a Barrister and thereby costing their client more. They conceded this and increased their offer to match my claim, but without any admission of liability.

 

I've never heard of one case getting all the way to the small claims hearing.