Court proceedings for auto repair visit

foofcat

Crikey...! £15m?!

Capitalism at its finest

foofcat

Okay here's the plan - shout if this is all a bad idea. I think I'm gong to sen tomorrow or Monday. [Again the deadline for DQ is 19 October, but I have missed the deadline for sending my defence statement straight to Gladstones (it was 16 September) because there was nothing I could make out on the form that suggested I needed to send it to them directly.]

First email to Gladstones:


[EDIT: Deleted as a precaution so as to not prejudice my w/p emails]


Second email to Gladstones:

[EDIT: Deleted as a precaution so as to not prejudice my w/p emails]

Unsure about whether I should reiterate that I disclosed who the driver was three months before I received a claim so even if points 1 and 2 didn't exist, they shouldn't have taken me to court..?

To be honest, the thing I'm now most downcast about is Email number one - because I'm kicking myself for not realising I should have sent my defence statement to them. I was / am loathe to give them any information about me at all but I should have in that instance.

[Deleted User]

If they want to take issue, they will. For now send the defence in the matter-of-fact manner you planned.

i enclose a copy of the defendants defence, filed at court on xxxx. I trust that you have by now received a copy from the court.

The defendants DQ is also enclosed. It will be noted that it is requested that this claim is transferred to the defendants local cc, namely xxxxxx cc.

Yours faithfully.

Since a defence was filed within time and you are unrepresented you should be ok. You have now rectified the position as best you can, so you now need to know if the claimant wants to take the late service point. That will become apparent quite quickly if there's gonna be a problem.

foofcat

Thank you! I'm going to double check my DQ now and just use my phone to scan it instead of waiting till Im near a scanner on Monday.

Think now that I've clocked this, time is of the essence...

I wonder if sending the second email, will mean they're less likely to make a big deal of it?

I've checked the court's claim form and guidance notes again, there really didn't seem to be anything indicating I had to send it to the claimants but it's a lesson I'll never forget (and have now bookmarked the CPR link)

Thanks Johnersh

[Deleted User]

Relax. You need to act promptly, but you may as well wait till Monday before you email/fax - especially if you have access to a better scanner.

Any email sent now is deemed received on the next business day at 9am (i.e. Monday).

No harm in keeping them busy.

If the dispute was substantial I'd have advised a court application for safety sake. That's not cost effective here.

foofcat

Okay, thanks Johnersh, I take your point

I've definitely got a cold so I think I should just get into bed now and try not to think about this until Monday. Really appreciate your advice, no idea how I would have handled any of this without this forum's help.

Lamilad

Okay...big mistake on my part....... CPRs. 15.6 says a copy of the defence must be served on every other party.

Ok I can see you're stressing about this so let's put it to bed....

You do NOT have to serve your defence on the Claimant. The court sends it to them.

Trust me, if you had not followed the correct process for submitting your defence they would have applied for a default judgement immediately.

The forms that came with your claim response pack state that your defence is filed with court (forms N1C & N9B).

It's further explained in the HMCTS guidance notes for defendants, form EX303.

So relax.... But remember you DO need to send a copy of your DQ to the claimant.

foofcat

Ok I can see you're stressing about this so let's put it to bed....

You do NOT have to serve your defence on the Claimant. The court sends it to them.

Trust me, if you had not followed the correct process for submitting your defence they would have applied for a default judgement immediately.

The forms that came with your claim response pack state that your defence is filed with court (forms N1C & N9B).

It's further explained in the HMCTS guidance notes for defendants, form EX303.

So relax.... But remember you DO need to send a copy of your DQ to the claimant.

Okay, that makes so much more sense - my mind was spinning and wondering how I could have not realised after reading the forms so carefully. Thank you Lamilad

If you or anyone else has time, would you mind proofreading the second email to Gladstones which I'm hoping to send tomorrow?

Reposting it here for ease of reference:


[EDIT: Deleted as a precaution so as to not prejudice my w/p emails]

beamerguy

Take out >>> WITHOUT PREJUDICE

This means generally that you cannot show this in court

You need to show a judge everything and your dealings
with this incompetent solicitor

foofcat

Ah, I see. Will do, thanks Beamerguy