MCOL (Small claims) - HELP

Flyveryhigh- · 8 January 2018 at 4:33AM

Hi all. I submitted a claim using MCOL on Thursday morning for the return of a deposit I gave to an ex landlord who is hoping the whole problem will just go away.

The amount is £600 and I opted to add interest in bringing the claim up to £640ish. Including court costs the claim totals £704. I have looked over the Particulars of claim section and have made 2 mistakes - my fault.

Mistake 1 - I mentioned I sent a letter before action on 17/10/17 - but I should have written 17/11/17. Typo regarding the month.

Mistake 2 - although I clicked the option to automatically include court fees in the claim (so it automatically added it on to the amount) - I forgot to put a sentence saying "I'm also claiming the court fees" in the POC section - however the total claim amount includes court fees.

This ex landlord is the type to try and wiggle their way out of anything and I'm pretty sure they will pick up on those 2 rookie errors.

Can anyone please advise me on what best to do, and whether my worry is actually justified? Should I send the claim?

Thank you !!

bowlhead99 · 8 January 2018 at 5:42AM

Flyveryhigh- wrote: »

I submitted a claim using MCOL on Thursday morning

Should I send the claim?

Not sure I follow. Did you submit/send the claim, or not?

If you have not sent it, change it to use the correct facts. It does say in big red letters on their homepage that if you make an error upon issue of the claim, you will not be eligible for a refund of the court fee.

How do you expect the landlord to respond? When your document says you gave him a letter before action on 10 October, he can quite factually say you didn't. However, he has still had a letter (in November) saying you would take him to court if he didn't resolve things to your satisfaction though, so he can't actually claim he was unaware that there would be proceedings against him. It seems like you should inform the court of this pertinent fact, to avoid confusion on a point of process.

Per the MCOL homepage:

The Money Claim Online Helpdesk can be contacted on 0300 123 1057 / 01604 619402. It does experience a high volume of calls so you may wish to consider emailing your query to [EMAIL="ccbc@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk"]ccbc@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL].

When you contacted them about the omission / error in your submission, what did they suggest you do about it?

I suppose it depends on whether you actually submitted the claim (your first sentence, where you say you submitted the claim) or whether you have not sent it yet (your last sentence, when you ask whether you should send the claim).

GrumpyDil · 8 January 2018 at 7:46AM

Just wondered but was the deposit protected as I'm wondering why you are using MCOL rather than one of the deposit protection schemes to get your deposit back?

If it was protected has the landlord turned down arbitration and if not have you looked into the rules around non protection of deposit?

Flyveryhigh- · 8 January 2018 at 1:37PM

Apologies. I submitted the claim. What I was meant to say is "should I amend the claim". Autotype on my phone. Thank you!

Flyveryhigh- · 8 January 2018 at 1:42PM

When I contacted them they weren't all that helpful - just suggested if I wanted to make any changes I'd have to wait until they had fully processed the claim and at which point if I wanted to make any changes it would cost me £100.

Unfortunately because I was classed as a lodger the landlord wasn't required to use a deposit protection scheme.

I will give them another call today and report back. Thank you.

teneighty · 8 January 2018 at 1:50PM

When I went through the Moneyclaim process I was pleasantly surprised that the hearing was relatively informal and the judge spotted a couple of minor errors and just amended them during the hearing.

The defendant tried to be clever and thought he'd get the case thrown out but it just made him look stupid in front of the judge which probably didn't do him any favours as he lost.

Comms69 · 8 January 2018 at 2:04PM

Indeed, minor errors can be corrected even at the time of the hearing, however it's sensible to notify both defendant and court of the amends when submitting your bundle

whilst a judge 'could' get funny about it, I doubt that would happen over minor chronological mistakes.

G_M · 8 January 2018 at 7:47PM

I doubt either error will matter.

If the LL uses these errors as part of his defense you can either correct them at that point, or simply do so when you are sitting round the table with the judge at the hearing. It's all very informal.

Flyveryhigh- · 9 January 2018 at 1:21AM

Many thanks for all of your responses! You've really made me feel at ease - the whole thing is very stressful.

I called MCOL today just before they closed and the person on the phone advised just to wait it out and see what the LLs response is. I was just highly strung because I know the type of character of the LL and if theres any way to get out of something like this they'll try it.

I will update on future progress. Claim was issued today.

Thanks!

Flyveryhigh- · 12 January 2018 at 2:39PM

Hi all. Some advice needed please... again.

So I have received a response from the landlord. Originally I was due my deposit back in March 2017 - I gave them ample opportunity to pay back but was mostly ignored, phone calls, texts etc. During the summer they told me they sent me a cheque which never arrived. I had been promised the money back several times but received nothing. In may i sent the first formal request, then in November I sent 2 letter before action (1 was not delivered because they missed the royal mail delivery and never collected, so I hand delivered one (took a video on my phone of delivery and had a witness).

I received no response and further chased up via text. The landlord asked if they could pay me back £100 per month which I agreed to in November. I heard nothing and at the end of November I sent a further text saying I had heard nothing as per our agreement and I'd like the first installment by 1st December. They replied saying that they will pay the first installment 1st Jan, and then accused me of being aggressive/rude on my text and that they didn't like the fact I was sending the same text via Whatsapp and Text message (sending via whatsapp also because you can prove message has been delivered and read) - so they subsequently blocked me on whatsapp. They also said they has messaged me regarding the first installment date but i never received a message.

After initiating the MCOL court action above, I received a message yesterday saying they had messaged me on 18th December saying they made a mistake and wouldn't be able to pay me until 31st Jan - and they forgot to but the "3" infront of the "1" in their original text...

I never received the above message on 18th December and the landlord is saying... "... i hope we can resolve this amicably" and that they're "... not happy because we had an agreement" - which we did, first installment was due 1st Jan and they didn't pay. I have had nearly a year chasing it and have had enough.

Effectively the landlord wants to keep the arrangement of installments in place. I'm wary of closing the court claim because i doubt the landlord will stick to it, plus there are now court fees to pay (original £60 MCOL fee).

Can I still ask the landlord for the original deposit (£600) and fees (£60) at once to close the case, or if the payment plan is the only way they will pay, can I get this endorsed by the court to ensure they will stick to it?

Many thanks for your advice in advance!

teneighty · 12 January 2018 at 2:46PM

The landlord can make the payment plus the court fees right up to the day of the hearing which will probably be months away. It is then up to you to notify the court and withdraw the claim.

I would keep the claim going until you have the cash in your bank, they sound like a right slippery customer.

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MCOL (Small claims) - HELP

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