County Court Fees for Allocation

Spirited_2

Good Evening,

Quick Question: Do we need to pay a fee for Allocation after filing a defence and counter claim?

We have responded to a court summons with a counter claim, at the time of submitting our defence/counter claim we paid a court fee of £80. We have now been sent an allocation questionnaire which seems to suggest that if we fill it out we will have to pay them £100 and if we don't fill it out then our claim may be thrown out. It wasn't clear from the letter whether only the claimant had to pay or both parties. We are really struggling at the moment with regular bills, and would have to borrow the £100 in order to proceed.

Our ex-landlords have filed a claim against us for £1700 and we have counter claimed for £600. They insist we have caused irreparable damage to items which they have lavishly replaced and expect us to pay the bill. We have counter claimed for our withheld deposit. We have been in touch with CAB before about this case but I'm hoping that this has a quick answer that you lovely people can help me with.

Glitterari

From reclaiming my mum's bank charges to the tune of £4k, when we filled out the AQ we had to pay a fee of £100 too - it's something to do with the amount of money - over a certain amount you have to pay.

It might be cos they're suing for so much. You might also get a better response from the house buying & renting board though as I'm not 100% sure because you're situation is different to mine

C xxx

Spirited_2

Sorry, I don't think that has answered my question. Does anyone else have any idea of what the defendant in a case has to do with the allocation questionnaire?

We have paid a fee (£80) with our counter claim. The letter (though not particularly the form) looks like it is just a copy of what the claimant has received.

I will try and get in contact with CAB tomorrow but I'd appreciate it if anyone here can answer. I did think of putting it in the house and rental board, but I'm not really needing help with the situation (CAB have covered that) just the legal docs. I thought about posting on the bank reclaim threads too, but they are all claimants so may not know what the defendants have to do. This looked like the best compromise *shrug*

file_wizzard

If you have submitted a counter claim and the case proceeds on the basis of your counter claim alone then the allocation fee is payable by the defendant (yourself in this case)

If your counterclaim succeeds then you may request that the court orders that the allocation fee, along with the claim fee is paid by the original claimant.

You may find the following useful;

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/fees/county.htm


In terms of the case its self a number of issues are pertinent

• The claimant must prove that any damage is outside the boundaries of reasonable use or fair wear and tear
• The claimant may only hold the 3rd party liable for a fair replacement, of equal or lesser value and or specification.
• In this case you do not mention if the claimant has offered you due chance to remedy the situation.
• You do not mention if the claimant has offered any form of mediation before submitting a claim.

In respect of the last two items the claimant is duty bound under the Civil Procedure rules to undertake this process, if they have failed to do this, and have proceeded with court action unreasonably, and without due cause then this should also form part of you defence.

The court will have little time for a claimant who has not followed due processes, likewise they will also not take kindly to counter claims that have not been dealt with in the same vain.

You may also find that in a case such as this the court would not see fit to make a full order against either party, and may in fact prefer to see the matter settle amecably by means of a Tomlin Order.