Civil court case advice

esalad

Hi all

Just a quick question for the wise, I have a pending civil court case coming up shortly in which I have issued a claim against a customer who owes me money. My question is do I physically have to be there on the day or can the proceedings be held in my absence?

zzzLazyDaisy

You *can* opt to have the case heard in your absence on the basis of your written statement, but the reality is that you will almost certainly lose the case if they turn up and you don't.

Buzby

I only tried this once - nobody turned up and the case was struck out*. You need to be there or have representation to deal with issues as they arise. Failure to do so is asking for trouble.

*i was 400 miles away, but that didn't matter.

podperson

I would try and be there if you can. I had a claim in small claims court and I had sent in a huge amount of written information but on the day the judge wanted me to make statements, go through things, answer questions on certain points. I'm sure it would have been unlikely to go in my favour if I hadn't turned up.

bris

It is possible for it to be held in your absence, but your written information needs to be thorough and detailed so the judge doesn't need to ask any questions, if there is any questions then you would likely lose.

If however the judge can see your claim in enough detail then yes you could get a judgement.

Distance can be a factor taken into consideration for an absentee claimant, so it's not an automatic lose if they know beforehand your not attending and have a strong case.

Mistral001

Even if it is a small claims court, it is still a court of law with people being sworn in when giving evidence. Not being there will be seen as being disrepectful to the Court and that could affect the outcome.

esalad

Well what an awful experience that was! Arrived for hearing at 11. Got called in at half one to be told they didnt have time to hold the hearing after all and it would be done on another day. Was subjected to a verbal assault and called all the names under the sun by the defendent. The police are now involved.