Received court judgment against ARGOS. What Next??

terrymats

Hey guys,

I've been able to receive a judgment in default against a local Argos store for a good amount. Being a law student (just a novice, in first year), I know that they probably never got the notice served (lost post) or if their defence was too weak (which surely was) they wouldn't file a defence.

My concern is, if they never got the claims' notice, they may appeal against the judgement of the court. Now that I've got them under my foot, I wish to seek knowledge from some legal experts.

If I issue a warrant against them, will the bailiff go and collect my money on the next day or will he write to them leaving them enough time to appeal? I'm now looking to seal all their back doors of proceeding with the appeal. Don't get me wrong here. I've sued for the right purpose and i'm not doing anything immoral here. I spoke to Money Claims online who told me that if I issued a warrant at my cost of £55 (which would be recoverable), the bailiff in the local court will write to them for the payment, which would still give them a chance of appeal. Whereas, I thought that the bailiff would simply go and fetch me my cheque.

Is it recommended to wait or to go ahead with the warrant? I need to know this quickly, because if I should issue a warrant, i need to do it before Sunday evening so that the warrant is issued on Monday.

I tried calling the local CAB, but they were all busy yesterday. I must also inform you that, I've spoken to the Argos customer team who told me that there was no legal advisor in yesterday and I should hold the warrant issuance until Monday. Are they buying themselves time by doing this? The agent I spoke to did accept liability for the purpose I sued (sale of goods act; tv gone faulty after one year; argos is liable to repair/replace/refund). But she was not the legal advisor, so that doesn't help at all.

All advise will be appreciated ASAP. If you can point me to any resources, it would be great. BTW; i've had a look at the tutorial at the MCOL website which suggests the procedure about the bailiff going and recovering the money immediately where goods (which an be auctioned) or money is available at the defendants' address.

Thanks in advance to all who read and all who reply.

Cheers
Terry

Crispy_Ambulance

If they didn't receive the notice, they could apply to have the judgement set aside. However, they would still have to have a reasonable chance of defending the claim otherwise the judge won't allow it. They can't appeal unless there has been a procedural error as far as I am aware.

Are you sure they aren't going to pay the judgement? The court staff won't be able to give you advice but they are usually pretty helpful about procedures etc.

terrymats

Hey Crispy,

I'm aware that unless the judge has erred on a point of law, the judgement won't be set aside. However, being a fresher to law, I'm not sure if the defendant can argue that they did not have any chance to defend due to lost post.

I'm not really a greedy person, but now after months of patience, I don't think I ought to leave a chance to sue Argos. I requested them to repair the TV which would have cost them just around £150 and now the judgment is around £950, which I don't wish to loose for depriving me & my family of the right TV we had all these months (around 9 months now).

What would be the suggestion? If I went for a warrant, would Argos still have a chance of appealing with the bailiff standing on their door steps? Or does the bailiff procedure generally start with a letter inviting the defendant to pay the money leaving them time to appeal?

Thank you everyone again for your reply and your time.

Cheers
Terry

Pere_Ubu

Can't you ask one of your law tutors? Do they have a Law Clinic at the Uni where you can go for advice? I know you want to do this before Monday but perhaps you could get to a law tutor early??

Crispy_Ambulance

I won't be at work until next week, so I can't check on procedure for you, but if you take a look at this

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/

all the county court forms and leaflets are there and should help you with procedure.

Judges can set aside if the summons wasn't received - I know I have successfully argued this in the past However, Argos will need to show that they have a strong defence and it would go to another hearing.

Hope this helps - don't panic!

Crispy

terrymats

Pere_Ubu wrote:

Can't you ask one of your law tutors? Do they have a Law Clinic at the Uni where you can go for advice? I know you want to do this before Monday but perhaps you could get to a law tutor early??

The problem is that I'm studying external; so no tutors. Let's hope someone would be able to help me here.

terrymats

Crispy_Ambulance wrote:

I won't be at work until next week, so I can't check on procedure for you, but if you take a look at this

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/

all the county court forms and leaflets are there and should help you with procedure.

Judges can set aside if the summons wasn't received - I know I have successfully argued this in the past However, Argos will need to show that they have a strong defence and it would go to another hearing.

Hope this helps - don't panic!

Crispy

I don't think Argos have got any defence at all. Probably that's the reason the didn't even bother acknowledging the claim. I'm quite aware about the procedures on this website. Just hope some expert can throw some light on my issues by tomorrow evening.

Cheers
Terry

Crispy_Ambulance

You have probably already checked this, but the CCJ will give Argos a date to pay you by (off the top of my head 28 days from judgement). So you can't really take any enforcement action before this.

If the 28 days are up, then you can apply for a warrant. I doubt if the bailiffs will be round that day however. If it was an individual creditor, you may be worried about time in case they do a bunk, but Argos aren't going anywhere so serving the warrant this week or next week is unlikely to make much difference.

Argos could apply to have judgement set aside even after bailiffs have visited, if, as I have explained before, they can argue that they did not receive the summons AND they have a defence. Judgements can usually be set aside at any time if the grounds are met. If the summons wasn't sent recorded delivery they may be able to argue that it wasn't received. However, this would only be a delaying tactic and if they don't have a defence, it will not get them off the hook.

If they have grounds for an appeal, then it can be heard, whether you have applied for the warrant or not.

As I said before, don't panic - you are not going to get this settled in the next few days and a delay in applying for the warrant is not going to give Argos an advantage.

terrymats

Thanks Crispy. Those were the words I needed to hear.

Cheers
Terry

Pere_Ubu

Terrymats, may I pick your brains? I am going to issue small claim against British Gas for a repair they did that didn't work - long story. Anyway, how did you word you claim against Argos I want a full refund from BG £430 and have written to them several times. There responces aways say give us 10 days and we will deal with your complaint. This has been going for months now. I wrote last week giving them 7 days to refund me or I will be going to small claims. The work they did was done nearly 12 months ago so am eager to get my claim in before the 12 months is up.

terrymats

A good news to start the day i guess. Argos have asked me to fax the judgment and have agreed to pay me the money. Thanks a lot for all the advise I got here. I know now, that there is no 'panic' in the world of law. Take it calmly and as it comes.

Another funny thing is, I'm also suing Mercedes for a bigger amount for a breach of contract and today is their last day of filing defence. Here too, I don't think they have a good defence and would not really bother spending money on a weak case. Hope I get my money out of here as well.

Thanks again everyone. Esp Crispy Ambulance.

Cheers,
Terry