Small Claims Court guide

Doc_N

sam1970 wrote: »

As expected, the insurance company declined to take the case claiming the building work started before I took the policy eventhough the work continued after the policy started and the dispute started halfway through the policy. They suggested I approach their solicitor on private basis and they will be happy to help...stuff them. This is the second time I am having this so more no legal cover for me with home insurance..not worth any thing.

Sorry to hear that. It’s one of the downsides of switching this type of policy frequently though. OK for motor policies, but risky for home.

abw349

I am about to post a claim to the county court money claim centre.
I have some supporting evidence.
copies of statements for evidence of paying
Copies of messages where the builder canceled the job not me
Do I include now or when I am allotted a court date

thanks

DoaM

At the moment you make the claim and file the Particulars of Claim (i.e. the basis of the claim ... how much, why). Evidence comes later at Witness Statement stage.

Urbanangel

I'm wondering if I can take action against an ombudsman? They have admitted that they made errors in their final judgement on my case but state that nothing can now be done about it. They were extremely delayed in reviewing it and non responsive to communications which subsequently left me out of pocket. (I had to lease a second car whilst contesting the issue with the first car)
There seems to be no line of progressing this with them and so court seems like my only option.

da_rule

Urbanangel wrote: »

I'm wondering if I can take action against an ombudsman? They have admitted that they made errors in their final judgement on my case but state that nothing can now be done about it. They were extremely delayed in reviewing it and non responsive to communications which subsequently left me out of pocket. (I had to lease a second car whilst contesting the issue with the first car)
There seems to be no line of progressing this with them and so court seems like my only option.

You can, but it’s likely to be judicial review rather than a money/debt claim.

You’d first need to seek leave (permission) from the High Court to commence this. The application for leave is generally dealt with on the papers and only very rarely are costs awarded against you if you are unsuccessful (you do have to pay the court fee though).

You’d need to prove either that the Ombudsman acted unlawfully and/or unreasonably (Google ‘Wednesbury unreasonableness’ for this) or that there was some sort of procedural impropriety. Even if you can prove this, there is a defence available where the Ombudsman can claim that, even if the wrongful conduct had not taken place, the decision would have been the same.

Judicial review has very defined (and restrictive) time limits in which you must commence your claim with permission to extend these only being given in extremely rare circumstances (the general rule, in non-planning matters, is that the application for leave must be filed within 3 months of the decision you are challenging).

If you opt for judicial review then you need to mindful that you are dealing with a very specialist area of law and you will be in the High Court. Therefore the cost consequences if you lose can be large (I have seen cost bills in the tens of thousands of pounds resulting from a half day judicial review hearing). As such, if you are looking to progress this, you should obtain legal advice.

Something else to bare in mind is that judicial review is not a challenge to the decision itself, it’s a challenge to the way in which the decision was arrived at. Even if the decision is quashed, the Ombudsman may come to the same decision provided it ensures that it’s decision making is lawful the second time around.

Also, judicial review is a discretionary power of the court. On reviewing the documents they may decide that, especially if you have delayed your application or acted unreasonably, to not interject. The remedies are also discretionary, so the court may find in your favour but decide that the original decision should still stand or simply decline to give a remedy.

Doc_N

Further to the last post, which I wouldn't disagree with in any way (and the Wednesbury unreasonable test is a complex one, quite apart from all the other issues, not the least of which is cost), it might just be worth asking your MP to take the issue up for you.

Not a great chance of success, perhaps, but not at all time consuming, and no cost.

Benight

Urbanangel wrote: »

I'm wondering if I can take action against an ombudsman? They have admitted that they made errors in their final judgement on my case but state that nothing can now be done about it. They were extremely delayed in reviewing it and non responsive to communications which subsequently left me out of pocket. (I had to lease a second car whilst contesting the issue with the first car)
There seems to be no line of progressing this with them and so court seems like my only option.

You can complain to the ombudsman service themselves.
I have found them to be very generous when they admit they have got things wrong.
It's also free to complain. :money:
https://www.ombudsman-services.org/unhappy-with-our-service/customer-relations-form

You must make your complaint within 6 months of the event you want to complain about, or within 6 months of finding out that you’ve a reason to complain.
Complaints after this time are by exception only.

Urbanangel

Thank you for the responses.
I think I'll stick to taking action against the original company rather than the ombudsman then.
It appears that the ombudsman services complaint route only covers energy and communications so I'll have to research that a little more but am aware that regardless they have no powers to overturn any decisions made even if proven to be wrong.

aspie1962

Can anybody help please

I want to bring a case against an energy supplier for loss of earnings through spending hours on the phone trying to sort things, I'm self employed. Also stress through being blocked from leaving by said supplier and then because they were totally inept threats of court action and bailiffs once we had been left a month and still had not received a final bill. It goes on and on. The problem is I haven't calculated the exact hours lost as I rang so many times I've lost count. I'm also disabled and autistic and on low income and they know we are a vulnerable family with a baby in the house too. They threatened court action in the run up the Christmas and we still did not have a final bill to pay.

da_rule

aspie1962 wrote: »

Can anybody help please

I want to bring a case against an energy supplier for loss of earnings through spending hours on the phone trying to sort things, I'm self employed. Also stress through being blocked from leaving by said supplier and then because they were totally inept threats of court action and bailiffs once we had been left a month and still had not received a final bill. It goes on and on. The problem is I haven't calculated the exact hours lost as I rang so many times I've lost count. I'm also disabled and autistic and on low income and they know we are a vulnerable family with a baby in the house too. They threatened court action in the run up the Christmas and we still did not have a final bill to pay.

Unfortunately you’re probably better off letting it go. There doesn’t seem, from your story, to be anything that is actionable. A better option may be to report them to the energy ombudsman which is free and can award compensation.

The first thing to do though is step back and actually concisely set out the issues.

If you commence litigation then you need to remember that their pockets are deeper than yours and you could end up with a sizeable costs bill.