Council taking me to court over pothole claim

Djnixlover

Okay so back in January I was driving along a dimly lit area when I heard an almighty bang and almost lost control of my car. I safely pulled over to check and the tyre had burst.
Having walked back along the road to check - I found what was less a pothole more a chasm - located between the kerb and a traffic island (therefore you could not drive round it had you seen it). It was several inches deep at the deepest part.
I had to have my tyre repaired as well as the actual wheel which was completely dented in on one side.
I approached the council and submitted my claim. It was £200 ish (correct figure not at my disposal at present) which was the price of a new tyre, repair of the wheel and realignment. I also have a written testimony of the repairer (stating extent of damage) as well as photos he took for me of the damaged wheel.
The council passed to the insurers who denied liability on the ground it was inspected 4 and a half months previously (in line with the 6 month window). However, it was in fact from a pre existing hole that had been filled - I wondered if anyone knows if that makes any difference - is it still 6 months ? Should repairs be monitored more often? Furthermore when I phoned the council at 9am Monday morning I was the first person of the day to get through - the lady on the phone said "we've had lots of people ringing about this" therefore acknowledging its previous existence. Now there were at least a dozen other people affected- I have names, addresses and details of some of them. The council or insurers gave different reasons to some of them - one of which said there was a cone there so they were not liable (there was not when I saw it). Another said the hole was only small and wouldnt have caused said damage. So in other words they have been very inconsistent with their reasons not to pay.
I paid for a court order and a CCJ has been issued to the council. So their insurers have now passed it onto their legal team who have applied to have the CCJ set aside and are coming after me for the fees.
Out of principle I am not letting this go. Can anyone offer any constructive advice please ? TIA x

AdrianC

Your thread title is wrong.

The council are not taking you to court. You have taken them.

We have no idea what the correct time window is for that road, since you don't say what classification of road it is. There is no difference in the time window for previous repairs. The reasons they give on the phone are irrelevant.

Should we presume the council are applying to have the judgement set aside because the claim didn't allow it to be correctly served, hence them being unable to lodge a defence in time?

Djnixlover

No the title is correct. I put in a claim. The court has decided the outcome. The council are now taking me to court.

I was asking if it being a previous repair made a difference so thank you for confirming the answer.

If you re read it I didn't say they gave reasons on the phone I said they have given each claimant a different reason. I was simply wondering if this diluted their defence.

No they had time to lodge a defence. As I said this was back in January -we are in June now. Unfortunately the insurance company acting on the council's behalf simply chose to ignore all court correspondence despite acknowledging it in emails to myself.

Djnixlover

(The lady on the phone at the council confirmed the council's prior knowledge of the hole's existence. The defence for the entire case is they didn't know it existed).

AdrianC

Djnixlover wrote: »

No the title is correct. I put in a claim. The court has decided the outcome. The council are now taking me to court.

No, they are not.

They are applying to have that judgement set aside, and your claim re-heard. If the set-aside is allowed, everything simply resets to before your claim was heard the first time.

No they had time to lodge a defence. As I said this was back in January -we are in June now. Unfortunately the insurance company acting on the council's behalf simply chose to ignore all court correspondence despite acknowledging it in emails to myself.

They will not got the judgement set aside on those grounds.

If they didn't lodge a defence within the timescale allowed, they lost by default. "Oh, sorry, I didn't get round to it" is not good enough.

Djnixlover

Thank you for responding. I'm unsure how it all works hence asking for advice. I appreciate the council no doubt have people "trying it on" with repair costs etc. I have simply tried to recover the cost of something I truly believe they are at fault for. I never dreamt it would be such an ordeal. Four of the other people claiming have already given up.

In the correspondence I recieved today, the solicitors are adamant the judgement will be set aside and that they can recover the costs from me. They asked me to reconsider and give them permission to have it set aside before they are "forced" to take it to court. I have said that I maintain my position on the matter etc. So not sure what happens next really ��!♀️ half wish I hadn't bothered !

waamo

Solicitors want to intimidate you. Costs are strictly limited in a small claim and the bar for retrieving set aside costs are extremely high indeed.

They need to demonstrate you acted in an unreasonable manner in order to have any hope of getting set aside costs from you. As I said the bar for that is in pole vaulter territory.

They also need a good reason to obtain a set aside. This would be something like the paperwork going to the wrong address. Them being tardy is not a good reason.

Djnixlover

Thank you @waamo I had hoped as much. Out of interest if they don't persue it further do you have any ideas how I would enforce them paying following the CCJ? Or am I better just to cut my losses and forget it ?!

waamo

Djnixlover wrote: »

Thank you @waamo I had hoped as much. Out of interest if they don't persue it further do you have any ideas how I would enforce them paying following the CCJ? Or am I better just to cut my losses and forget it ?!

Enforcing against a council. That would be easy. Baliffs would jump at that job.

If they have put in an application for a set aside I would contact the court and lodge your objection.

Djnixlover

Thanks for the advice I will contact the court next then.

Seems kind of unfair the council would be trying to lock me up for unpaid council tax or a parking fine and they can just get away with stuff like this!

agrinnall

HM Courts and Tribunals Service publish a number of guides on how to obtain payment after a judgement has been made, all available online, have a look for EX321, EX322 and EX325.