Court date set for 15 October

Lyndahug2301

I would welcome any advice anyone can offer. Alliance & Leicester started taking their pound of financial flesh when my circumstances changed after a hit-and-run accident & subsequent liquidation of the firm for whom I worked in 1999. The last six years have been very difficult as I tried to re-establish a working life & a financial identity at the age of 55 by becoming self employed & building a cat boarding kennels. I've been progressing a claim against Alliance & Leicester since April this year, initially through MoneyClaim Online who advised that, as I live in Scotland I use a c/o address of a friend who lives in Walsall. Things progressed well & I was given a second bite of the cherry by a sympathetic judge who advised I needed to rewrite the 'Particulars of Claim' section of the Claim Form. The deadline for the receipt of this was 27 July (luckily it was received 24 July). I thought I was being proactive requesting the Judge not to implement a 'stay' using the format I found on PenaltyCharges.co. using the grounds that the bank owes me £3900 (not including interest) & I owe my mortgage company £2000. On 23 Sept I received a note from the court to say the Judge had given a hearing date of 15 October in Walsall & also a letter from the solicitors representing Alliance & Leicester saying they were requesting a stay. Yesterday the court said the hearing would probably be given a stay because of the Test Case. I spoke to the court this morning who say the hearing is going ahead; & the Judge will hear A&L's request for stay before the proceedings.
I'm not in any way au fait with the manners & etiquette of the law & have too much to lose (my house & my cat boarding kennels in the garden of my house).
So, do I hire a solicitor to fight my case & could I get one at this late date? Any tips on the best way to proceed.

LilDevil

Hi hun

Just wanted to wish you luck, I'm in court today and feeling much the same (although I don't have as much to lose).

My bank requested a stay as well, but the courts aren't allowed to grant one without your consent, so in theory it should go ahead (at least that's what I was told when I called the courts about this).

Anyway, better go, my bus is due soon.

Angie
xx

Lyndahug2301

Hi Angie
Thanks for taking the time to post to me, especially when your stress levels must be sky-high - I really appreciate the supportive voice. I hope your outcome was to your benefit. I had my fingers crossed for you but this is the first time I've had chance to reply to you. Let me know how you got on.

Lynda

Summer29

We havent got any to court stage yet but just wanted to wish you luck and hope it goes well for you.

Lyndahug2301

Interpreters Requested Please!
Well, my day in court is over & don't know what to make of the outcome, so I'd welcome opinions & interpretations.
I had already lodged an application for the stay Not to be implemented with the court in September, & when Alliance & Leicester lodged their application for the stay to be implemented the first date the Judge could hear the latter was the day of the hearing.
I finished evening feeding at my cattery at 6 pm & then left a friend in charge & set off for the journey to Walsall. 15 hours later when I arrived from the train at the Court I found the Judge who had been scheduled to listen to the case had moved on & was replaced by a practising barrister who wanted to be a full time judge. Wragge & Co (A&L's solicitors) had sent an agent to act on their behalf. The Judge first listened to their application for the stay & then to my response. When they were asked to respond they had to say they had not been instructed so to do. The Judge halted proceedings & sent them off to get the necessary instructions & the case resumed 40 mins later. Again as they were answering my points, the agent did not have sufficient authority to speak to specifics. The Judge was quite forthright & said unless Wragge & Co could send someone from the firm itself he would charge them with wasting court time & so the case was again adjourned until 2pm when a very officious little man in a pin stripe suit appeared clutching reams of faxes that were still churning from the court fax machine. He & the Judge then played legal intellectual ping pong with Civil Procedure Rules for the next 1.5 hrs by which time I was stressed to the hilt.
In making his judgement he said he was granting a stay because if he did not A&L would definitely Appeal & by the time that was heard the Test Case would be over anyway. He did put a time limit on the stay however; until 1 March. He also said that as I had a 15 hr journey to get to the court he was going to insist that a telephone hearing was implemented to save my journey. Their lawyer said it was not possible (Judge said he had been involved with one a few weeks earlier & he knew it was) & that it was the Claimant's responsibility to set it up. Judge said he was insisting They set it up & was throwing out their application that I pay the court costs.
SO in my world I'm left feeling very tired & emotional as I have not received any of the £4K I am owed (in fact it cost me £200 for a Rail Ticket in which I spent from Sunday 6pm until Tuesday 9.30am travelling for what essentially 2.45 hrs of court time); the Judge has made his mark by setting one or two precedents in law & yet, has not gone against the High Court & OFT by overturning the stay & Wragge & Co had the slightly embarassing event of being sent out of Court to get further instruction & Still get to hold on to my money.
AND what does happen 1 March?
Help please.