Help with Virgin Claim going to Court

halifaxmortgage

Doam and Waamo, much appreciate your both of your advice, but I'm confused as I don't know which one I'm supposed to follow?

DoaM

Why the confusion? We've both said pretty much the same thing.

waamo

DoaM wrote: »

Why the confusion? We've both said pretty much the same thing.

Indeed. I don't see any contradiction. If your evidence is all complete and ready send a copy to their defence team.

halifaxmortgage

Sorry, my mistake as I read DoaM's post "You can't just wait for them to file so you can amend your evidence - they could take the exact same approach." incorrectly.....I read the word can't as can, lol.

Okay, I'm going to start gathering everything and resend it again. I'll send it to the defence email as well as the defence's personal address too.

waamo

IIRC the witness statement needs to be sent to the court fairly late in the process. A few days before the hearing is the normal deadline but once a case is allocated to a particular judge it doesn't hurt to send a copy early.

Just be aware you need several copies. Make more than you think as someone invariably loses one.

halifaxmortgage

I have now received correspondence from the mediation service, advising that due to it being unsuccessful, case is being transferred to the local court and that I need to wait for the judge's directions.

Am I right in thinking that I need to send one copy to the defence team and another to the courts? There has been no judge allocated as yet, so do I just address it to the court address?

Other than a witness statement (which is just a bullet-pointed letter) , do I need to resend photos and videos too?.... If this is the case, then do I print out the photos or do I create new cd's with photos/videos again?

Also last time I sent all evidence, which included any correspondence from vm too. So do I need to include this once again? If so, then that's quite a lot of pages to send.

waamo

The court will need to see all the evidence beforehand as will the defence. You can't spring surprises in court. If you what them to see something then they have to see it early.

Send everything you have to the defence team now. The court will want it once a judge has been allocated. Remember be organised. Make sure everything is neatly indexed and bundled. Make life easy for the judge.

steampowered

Once the case has been allocated, you will get directions.

The directions will tell you when you are supposed to provide your evidence. This includes your witness statement.

The normal direction is that the parties are supposed to exchange the evidence they intend to rely on 14 days before the hearing.

I suppose you could give VM your evidence earlier if you want, but I don't really see any benefit.

If you have not received directions yet, I would wait. The county courts lose the things they get sent on a regular basis. If you send things to the court before your case has been properly allocated the chances of it getting lost are even higher.

halifaxmortgage

Thanks so much guys. I was actually going to get everything prepared today, until I've seen steampowered's post, LOL.

I see 2 options:-

1. I send everything to both the courts & vm right now

2. I just prepare/index everything now and once directions are received, then I send everything to both the courts and vm.

waamo

Personally I would send the information to the defence team now. They have indicated they may be willing to settle once they have reviewed the evidence. On that basis I would take them at their word. I also wouldn't build my hopes up.

It's your call as to your options but either is ok.

Don't send it to the court until it's been allocated.