Small Claims Court guide

gemnomnom

1angrymum wrote: »

I paid £150 to a so called friend on 4th April for some concert tickets for my daughters birthday present, on the 26th may I contacted her and asked what was happening, I had 2 responses but only one saying she will post them through my letterbox the night before the concert, on the morning of the concert still no tickets so when I finally got in touch with her I went to her house to collect them.
She refused to give them to me saying I hadnt communicated with her, she knew full well that only 3 wk before I has lost my baby at 17wk and had been in and out of hospital as well as suffering from depression, I told her that the concert was the last thing I wanted and she said well Im not giving them you so I asked for my money back and she said once she had sold them, I left peeved to say the least. Since I have heard nothing about the tickets or money only a message saying it was me who had let my daughter down and she had done nothing wrong, I have contacted the police but as it is a civil matter they cant help, so I have been advised by them and the CAB to make a claim through the small claims court, I have sent her a message today highlighting this giving her 28days to respond with her intentions but im not expecting anything. Am I in with a chance of winning or this even being accepted as it is only for £150. I wouldnt really bother but it was my daughters birthday present and this friend of mine knew this so it really is a 12yr old she has stolen from.
please advise

Really shocked and saddened to read this story

In answer to your question - it is worth using the small claims court here. £150 is a lot of money! I used it for £54 and it worked!

My advice is keep all your evidence (any texts for example) and you have a chance in court.

Also 28 days is a long period to state in the first letter - usually 7 or 14 will suffice. No harm done but just advice for your next letter.

bearpeje

Hi

I have no experience of making a claim, but maybe someone can help please.
My son was using a pitch and put golf course, and parked his car nearby. When he returned to his car, the windscreen was smashed ( Obviously by golf ball ). A staff member pointed out the person responsible, who admitted he had caused the damage by accident. He gave my son his full details, and agreed to pay the damage.

My son used his car insurance to call out the repair service. Normal cost about £200, but only cost my son £75 as his excess.

He texted this info to the lad responsible, who agreed to pay into my son's account. Despite numerous texts and emails to him, five weeks have now passed and still no payment.

In one email, I advised him that I thought if we had to take out a claim against him, it may cost him a lot more than £75, and I appealed to him to be reasonable. He didn't reply. We have kept all texts and emails and his replies.

If he still doesn't pay, Is a claim suitable and likely to succeed ?

TheLostProphet

Hi guys,

I've been pursuing my deposit and rent from an old landlord that was never paid back to me. She hasn't responded to anything so I have won the judgement by default and now have a CCJ against her.

Could anyone give me advice as to the best ways of enforcing the judgement in the case of silence?

Also on the off chance that she's moved address during the time I've been chasing her up, how would that affect my case? MCOL told me that using the 'Last Known Address' is fine, but it seems as if it'd be easy to say you never received anything.

Would it be worth hiring a private Process Server to track her down and resubmitting my claim? Could I add this onto the costs?

Thanks

terryw

Have you considered obtaining a copy of the Land Register from the Land Registry - it only costs few pounds as they may throw up her current address.
You could also apply for a charging order.

TheLostProphet

Thanks for your reply. Yes I've obtained a copy, it seems to list the people who've built the block of flats rather than the homeowner themself.

I was thinking perhaps apply for an Oral Examination, whereby she comes to the court to list her assets, but if she's moved (or burying her head in the sand as I suspect), not sure what good it'll do.

terryw

You have found out that enforcing a judgement is often more difficult than obtaining it!

An enquiry agent will be pricey and the costs not recoverable. You need an address to apply for an oral examination.

Does the LR cert not show her name (and address for notices) as the registered proprietor?

Are you sure that you have the LR details for that flat and not,for example, the freehold of the whole block? Just a thought

TheLostProphet

Haha, indeed. It's quite frustrating that it's so easy to dodge the court system, I always thought it was pretty solid in England before all this!

I'm actually not sure what I have, it's almost as if the registry hasn't been updated in 7 years. For example, under Address it just says "Land at [Adjacent Street, London], followed by a long list of flats and no owner. The owner is listed as the original property developer from 2007.

Is this the correct file or did either I or the Land Registry make a mistake?

stebiz

TheLostProphet wrote: »

Haha, indeed. It's quite frustrating that it's so easy to dodge the court system, I always thought it was pretty solid in England before all this!

I'm actually not sure what I have, it's almost as if the registry hasn't been updated in 7 years. For example, under Address it just says "Land at [Adjacent Street, London], followed by a long list of flats and no owner. The owner is listed as the original property developer from 2007.

Is this the correct file or did either I or the Land Registry make a mistake?

Are you sure you aren't looking at the Freehold owner. If she owns a flat it is likely she'll be registered as a Leaseholder. This will also be registered at the Land Registry. This should give her address. If not you might want to consider trying for a charging order on the flat?

TheLostProphet

I think you're right, it's a Freehold rather than a Leasehold. Sadly the Land Registry doesn't have any records for Leaseholds for some reason.

I suspect she may have moved already sadly. I've done some pretty intense Googlings and I've managed to find her real name (she goes by her middle and surname), birthday and importantly that she registered a shell company that's still active. Looking at Companies House, the date given was the 7th January 2013 and lists her home as being the address I sent the court documents to.

There is a Company Address also which I assume is still active, not sure if this would help me though.

Apologies for this scavenger hunt!

diddly74

Hi there I hope one of you lovely people will be able to give me some advice.

First the Back Story: - Back in January my Best Friend and I discussed holidays for this year and it was decided between us and our partners, and her sister-in-law, that we would hire a cottage in Ireland and all go for 2 weeks to rural Ireland as they have family over there and had not seen them for a long time. I paid the £349 deposit on the cottage for all 3 families, thus making my "balance" portion due in July smaller (I thought I was being clever and would make it easier on saving our spends up).
Anyway as the year progressed the Sister in Law's family backed out, and the story I was told was that they were having financial problems, trying to sell their home and couldn't afford the holiday. My friend and I agreed that we would now take the bill 50/50 now.
On the 1st May, I found out that my Best Friend and Husband had been having an affair for approximately 12 months and my world imploded. I was very upset and angry (and still am), I confronted her and my husband and obviously the holiday was off!
There have been quite a bit of nastiness since, not only were we Best friends, but we work for the same company and our children all go to the same schools and in the same classes. We lived our lives very closely together. Life has changed, I've lost my Best Friend, trust and support and I've said lots of things, she and her husband have decided to stay together and my husband has pleaded for a second chance.

Anyway I asked for my money back on the holiday - at first due to my anger I demanded the cost for my flights too - but once I cooled down I knew that really I could only ask for what she originally owed me. That is now 50% of the deposit paid. The rest of the money is lost, cannot cancel the flights so will lose them.

So after she and her husband have refused to speak to me over any issue, I felt forced to take my claim to court. Completed the MoneyClaimOnly form and they have both responded with part admission. I claimed for 50%, but both have submitted defence for a 1/3 (that being £116), as that is what was originally owed claiming that 3 families were going and the other family (related to them) backed out due to something my Husband had done earlier in the year regarding facebook, but that was not the story we were told when they cancelled orginally.

So finally the reason for the question:- what do I do now? If I decide to accept this money (basically to get this part of our life closed and finished) how do I do it? Have I got a reason to say NO you owe me for 50%? As for the other 1/3 (if I accept a 1/3 from her) I do not know where her Sister in Law is as she has since sold her house and moved to Somerset or Devon so do not know how to request for her 1/3 of the deposit.

So advice and help please, with great thanks from an Emotionally Exhausted and Very Sad 40 Something Who's Whole Life has Changed.