County Court Defence Help Please

dollydoodar

nosferatu1001 said:

Have you checked that the court has their bundle ?By what deadline did they have to file it? It would normally be the same as yours. 
If the court has nothing from CEL then ask that theclaim is struck out, as they have failed to comply with the courts order of X date and have not asked for relief from sanction, and as a professionally represented firm with an inhouse lawyer, no relief should be granted in any case. 

hi there,
i just called the court and their bundle arrived there today so i should receive it in the next couple of days by post. can i get the case struck out and if so, how do i do that please?

Fruitcake

If the scammers failed to provide the bundle in accordance with the court's requirements, then you can make a draft order to the court asking for it to be struck out. 
Do a search of this forum for Draft Order Strikeout or similar search terms. There may even be one in the NEWBIES guide to court.

nosferatu1001

"then ask"
That was a clue
You emai lthe court, asking that the court puts this in front of the judge
The C has bereached the court order of X date that required both parties to file and serve the documents they would rely on no later than... (give the exact text, quote it) ie (give the date this means). As it is now Y days after this date, and you have been informed the court received their copy of the C bundle today and you have yet to receive yours, you ask that the court strikes out eh claimants bundle, as a breach of court order, and does not allow the claimant any relief from sanction (which you understand they have not asked for) as they have an inhouse legal team. You are severely disadvantaged by their breach, as you will have insufficient time to review the claimants bundle before the hearing. 
If the court is minded to grant a strike out of the claimants bundle, you ask the court uses its case management powers to strike out the entire claim; the claimant is required to prove their claim, and absent any evidence they are not able to so do. 

dollydoodar

still not WS from CEL. I am just about to send this letter to the judge via the court. i could not find any draft orders on MSE but I did find limited info on google which helped me understand it and add a bit more content.

can someone please be so kind as to advise if it is suitably wriiten?

i wasn't sure how to add the part about their inhouse legal tem so i left it out.

do i send an email to CEL informing them of this action?

To His Hon Judge xxxxxx QC,

 I am the Defendant in the case and I am writing to inform you that I have not yet received the Claimant’s Evidence Bundle which I understand is a breach of the court order.

 I believe the exchange of written evidence should not be sequential as it is unfair that one party receives the other party’s evidence in advance and can then tailor their evidence in response.

 Also, both sides should have a fair amount of time to review the evidence so as to be able to prepare for the hearing. As I am yet see the Claimant’s evidence, I am severely disadvantaged by their breach as I no longer have sufficient time to review their evidence.

 I was informed by the court that they had received the Claimant’s evidence on July 8th 2020. It is now 8 days after the 14-day deadline of July 3rd and 6 days before the hearing and I am yet to receive their evidence and there has been no explanation from the Claimant about this breach.

 I ask that the Claimant’s evidence be struck out as a breach of the court order and that any relief from sanction (which I believe the Claimant has not asked for) is refused.

 I ask that the court use its case management powers to strike out the entire claim; the Claimant is required to prove their claim and absent of any evidence they are not able to do so.

 Respectfully,

nosferatu1001

You dont need a draft order.
"I believe the exchange of written evidence should not be sequential as it is unfair that one party receives the other party’s evidence in advance and can then tailor their evidence in response."
Irrelevant. It wasnt sequential was it? They had the same deadline as you?
Reorder. 
para 1 stays
para 2 deleted
para 3 becomes para 4
para 4 becoems para 3
Add in what I said about the court being minded. I put it there for a reason. 

dollydoodar

nosferatu1001 said:

You dont need a draft order.
"I believe the exchange of written evidence should not be sequential as it is unfair that one party receives the other party’s evidence in advance and can then tailor their evidence in response."
Irrelevant. It wasnt sequential was it? They had the same deadline as you?
Reorder. 
para 1 stays
para 2 deleted
para 3 becomes para 4
para 4 becoems para 3
Add in what I said about the court being minded. I put it there for a reason. 

i prepared the edited version for your perusal and was just about to post it up when the postman arrived with a letter informing me that the case has been struck out. yaaay! no explanation as to why. am i able to and/or do i need to find that out??

and, do i need to write a different letter to the judge to ask about my costs and compensation or will they inform me about those at some point?

Umkomaas

Good outcome, well done. 

and, do i need to write a different letter to the judge to ask about my costs and compensation

What for?

nosferatu1001

Struck out or discontinued? If it was struck out there would be some explanation,  because the claimant would be entitled to know and therefore to decide to object or not. 
The court will never, ever volunteer costs. You would have to put forward
- if your ordinary costs are still payable, for example you took time off for the hearing and your work wil not let you cancel this leave
- if you have costs for unreasonable behaviour. 
You could ask that the hearing feee has been paid so could this now be a costs hearing, but be damned sure of your grounds. 

WELL DONE!!

dollydoodar

i put in for costs and i want to persue it as i have suffered with stress and anxiety due to 2.5 years of this hanging over my head...should i call the court?  

Umkomaas

Do you have medical evidence?  Did you consult a doctor?  Were you prescribed any treatment/medication for the condition?  Did the doctor directly link any stress to the pursuit by the PPC?  Do you have it in writing?

What other 'unreasonable behaviour' did the PPC exhibit?  Can it be distinguished from any standard PPC behaviour in chasing unpaid parking charges?

These aren't clever d|ck questions, but points you'd need to consider in building enough evidence you'll likely need to succeed in getting over a very high bar in an 'unreasonable behaviour' costs submission.