BW Legal Defence Thread - WS Stage - Court Date < 2 weeks

JP26

Thanks @nosferatu1001, in that case I will send it off to them 1st class, proof of post tomorrow and see.

nosferatu1001

Email does not "hurt" - ie doing so will not put you in a worse position than you are in now.
I am just giving you the correct answers. 
Courts generally wouldnt like the "tit for tat" approach youve taken. Its childish. Worse, theirs can be a mistake, YOURS is deliberate.  Guess what they take a dimmer view on?

JP26

@nosferatu1001 Thanks - the tit for tat / deliberate approach wasn't what I was aiming for, I just had seen a lot of posts from other members saying not to waste a 1st class stamp on the claimant solicitors and email the WS + evidence bundle, so it wasn't 100% clear which method to send by.

Anywho, will hand-deliver to the court tomorrow am and get cracking on my Skeleton argument.

1505grandad

"69 pages includes 15 pages on my WS itself, then all of the lease and tenancy agreements, plus signage pictures and some case transcripts ( I haven't put the Beavis case in)."

Does it also include your summary cost assessment?

JP26

@1505grandadIt does indeed, I have summarised my costs and signed as follows, but know full well it'll be capped well below this figure.

Ordinary Costs

Loss of earnings/leave, incurred through attendance at Court 02/03/20-  £174.26

Research, preparation and drafting of documents (10 hours at Litigant in Person rate of £19 per hour), broken down as follows: 

Reading pre-court letters and researching the issues at the earliest stage - 2 hrs

Appeal: 1 hrs

Complaint to my MP and to the landowner (if you tried it) - 1hour

Reading LBC and 'reply forms' then Claim form and paperwork, and registering for MCOL to respond: 3 hrs

Preparing, researching and signing, printing of my defence - 4 hours

Preparing, researching and signing, printing of my witness statement - 4 hours

Preparing, researching and gathering, then printing of my evidence exhibits - 1 hours

Total Hours: 16

Total Costs: £304

Stationery, printing, photocopying and postage: £15.00

Total Claimed Costs: £493.26

Coupon-mad

If you are serving 69 pages, don't do a skeleton argument as well, the Judge will fall over.  69 pages is too much, not proportionate in view of the claim. 

Only serve a page or two from the lease, the good bits, and take the full thing with you to the hearing, in your bundle, in case the Judge asks for the whole lease.

JP26

@Coupon-mad , I've trimmed the evidence pack down so the whole WS pack is down to 45 pages ( removed the irrelevant sections of the lease and case transcripts) but will take full copies in with me on the day.

WS handed into court with a stamped receipt this morning, and served over email to BW ( with proof of receipt) as well as being posted.

nosferatu1001

You cannot claim more than £95 for a half days loss of pay OR leave,m which you will take evidnece of with you
Not £175 for sure. 
You have headed this "ordinary costs", when only the hearing attendance, mileage and parking are such. Everything else is not allowed on the SCCT unless you ca nshow their unreasonable behaviour. 

JP26

@nosferatu1001 Thanks, I'll take a payslip in with me, even if it means it's still capped at £95 ( If I win that is) which is all I am expecting really.

JP26

UPDATE:

Just as I was about to put the finishing touches to my skeleton argument, I just received a letter of discontinuance from BW legal for the hearing on Monday!

Something in my WS/ Defence pack must have put them off. I'm relieved that I didn't have to spend an afternoon in court, but put so much prep into the process I was looking forward to putting it to practice.

Nonetheless, I can't thank all of you enough who have helped me on this thread. It's clear how busy this forum is now so I will try and remain active to help others instead of slipping into the darkness. Cheers!