Court Claim Form - Advice on how best to proceed - interesting situation!

Coupon-mad

How far away is the court allocated, in the same county/area? Sometimes courts allocate cases within the same area, and sometimes courts close (e.g. the county court at Bury is closing I think, and many London cases are being heard at Clerkenwell which may not tbe the nearest court but they do that to save court money...).

Acidmonkey

Coupon-mad wrote: »

How far away is the court allocated, in the same county/area? Sometimes courts allocate cases within the same area, and sometimes courts close (e.g. the county court at Bury is closing I think, and many London cases are being heard at Clerkenwell whcih may not tbe the nearest court but they do that to save court money...).

Yup, has moved from Barnet to Clerkenwell. Has it been transferred to just decide if I am awarded anything from the counterclaim? Can the claimant still have a say?

Coupon-mad

Here is why it was transferred, in simple terms, because they can:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72119136#Comment_72119136

You should be able to tell from the Order, what it now relates to. It must be about hearing your counterclaim, so gather your evidence and check if it states the date by which you must file your own Witness Statement and evidence before the hearing. You don't just rock up.

Acidmonkey

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Here is why it was transferred, in simple terms, because they can:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72119136#Comment_72119136

You should be able to tell from the Order, what it now relates to. It must be about hearing your counterclaim, so gather your evidence and check if it states the date by which you must file your own Witness Statement and evidence before the hearing. You don't just rock up.

Thanks for the info. The Order mentions nothing, only that the case is being transferred. No requests for a WS, evidence or a date.

Coupon-mad

So for your Counter-claim, am I right that you have paid the £25 fee but have not filed a WS or evidence? I would call Clerkenwell Court and ask for clarification as to what this hearing is set to address, and at what point does the Judge require your WS and evidence.

Others may advise differently - maybe see what LoadsofChildren123 makes of it when she is back on the forum (maybe later this week) as she is legally qualified and I am not.

Does is say how long has been set aside for that hearing? 20 mins? An hour?

System

Thanks for the info. The Order mentions nothing, only that the case is being transferred. No requests for a WS, evidence or a date.

Clerkenwell is being used as some London courts are being closed. [There are no facilities there but there is a cafe on the corner of Gee Street and Goswell Road]

As regards communication from the court, when they have a date you will get instructions to say when the WS has to be sent and more importantly when the hearing fee (£25) has to be paid. If you don't pay it, the case will automatically be struck out under the new Civil Procedure Rules. So watch out for the Notice of Allocation.

The_Deep

Has anyone mentioned the Davies case? That is what happens when the PPC take on a barrister.


http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?377246-UKPC-liable-for-trespass-**SUCCESS**

Loadsofchildren123

have a look at hairray's thread as well, where I gave some advice on his lease and letters to the freeholder and the management company - these may help you with your WS and your Skeleton Argument (the latter is not a compulsory document, it is a document you do a few days before your final hearing and in it you summarise your case, their defence, and your evidence and you cross refer it to the case law and documents you rely on - it's like an aide memoire for use at the hearing).


The case may have been transferred to the Defendant's home court - the "Defendant" for these purposes now being the MA/PPC. Or it may just be a neighbouring court that has capacity.


So the order just says there's been a transfer. Once the file has been received at the new court, a judge will look at it and make directions for exchange of evidence, final hearing etc. Once you've got that put up a post and we'll help you take it from there.


Perhaps now might be the time for you to write to the MA and the PPC and pressurise them both to offer a settlement?


Well done for getting it this far!

safarmuk

I think AcidMonkey has already paid £255 for the counter claim (against UK CPM the claimant in the original claim) and £70 to add the MA to the counter claim (second defendant).

If I remember correctly the Defence was submitted with a Part 20 counter claim but Gladrags didn't do the DQ's so they lost by default, however the counter claim should have gone ahead. I guess this last bit is what will occur in Clerkenwell but as others have said here (and this is new to many people here) it might be good to phone the court and find out what further you need to submit before the date and when LOC123 is back get her advice as well (or even Jonersh)

EDIT - and right on cue LOC123 posts ^^^^^^^

Loadsofchildren123

Yes I think the OP has done all the paperwork correctly and paid the correct fees.


What did you counterclaim for in the end Acid? Was it damages for breach of quiet enjoyment, trespass plus DPA breach? Can you put your Defence and counterclaim up here for us to see?


Parties can only be added with permission, so I think formal permission still needs to be given. I'd expect the first order from the new court to deal with this by making an order joining the MA formally as 2nd Defendant and making the usual directions on the counterclaim as it is now the only claim - so WSs and documents to be served on x date, a trial bundle to be prepared by the claimant in the counterclaim (that's you Acid - it's a bit confusing, everyone will continue to refer to you as the Defendant, but you are now really the Claimant!) and a trial date.


It's a good job you kept on top of this because some numpty at the court hadn't noticed your counterclaim/Pt 20 application (in spite of you paying the £255 issue fee plus the counterclaim fee....). So assume that the staff at the new court are equally as numpty-ish and do call them to make sure they understand that no directions have been made in the counterclaim yet and that the 2nd Defendant needs to be formally joined as a party.


There's a chance the court may list a separate hearing for the issue of the joinder of the 2nd D to be determined, but there's no reason why this can't be dealt with on paper.