CEL Small court claim

[Deleted User]

You must file a defence because the Defendant has lodged particulars (albeit late). Bizarrely, whilst the usual sanction for tardiness on service of many documents are that they cannot be relied upon, the CPR does not enshrine this in the rules.

Whilst relief from sanction is, in my view, needed and your objections justified, failure to serve a defence in these circumstances is ill-advised.

I would, however, amend your defence to include at the outset a general preliminary point something like the below. It needs tweaking to ensure it is consistent with your intended defence.

1. That the POC were served late and that no relief from sanction has been applied for.
2. That the POC were backdated, which the Claimant has neither admitted nor denied.
3. That despite your requests the claimant has failed to file a certificate of service verified with a statement of truth to confirm service.
4. The defence has now had to be filed in response to late PoC merely to protect the defendants position and may require amendment
5. The claimant appears to have brought the claim prematurely before he was able to properly plead, which is an abuse. The claimant was not constrained by limitation and the approach adopted has incurred additional time, cost and use of court resources inappropriately.

Loadsofchildren123

Why on earth are they telling you to file a defence ASAP. You need to file it by the due date not be bumped into sending it in early because MCOL is staffed by idiots who don't know the rules.

nosferatu1001

Did you send them CPR15.4, which clearly states when the defence is due by?
I would LOVE them to comment on their own damned rules somehow being wrong....