Can defendant in Small-Claims court charge for ''time spent preparing for trial''??

October868

Hello I did read that CPR before I filed, however as all the legal language is purposely worded in complex ways, rather than simple easy to understand language, I don't understand what that CPR even means/what it doesn't mean.

That's why I phoned the court and asked them directly "Do I need to post a copy of my N244 form to the defendant, or just to the court?"

And they said "You send the application & documents to us the court, and we then serve copies of it to the defendant".
So that is what I did, I sent copies of my N244 form to the court, and they sent a copy of it to the defendant (along with the judge's decision on it) 10 working days later.

But I just want to check that I have fully complied with the legislation about this please??

da_rule

If the Court have served it then you’re fine.

October868

da_rule wrote: »

If the Court have served it then you’re fine.

Thankyou for confirming that.

But yes I posted it to the court on 1st September, they recieved it, processed it, and posted a copy of my application & documents (+ the judge's decision) to the defendant on 12th September.

So the court did serve them with it.


They (the defendant/her McKenzie friend) however are claiming that I acted improperly by not sending them a copy of it directly myself, at the same time as I sent it to the court.

da_rule

It’s always good practice to send copies to the other side, however the requirement is for it to be served ASAP after it is filed, which the Court did on your behalf.

October868

Ok thankyou for confirming that.
Ultimately this was just another attempt by them to try panicking me into think I had done something wrong, to damage my mental-health even further.
They have said they are going to write a substantive appeal to decision by the judge, but so hopefully the judge won't change her mind on allowing me to state my case.

da_rule

October868 wrote: »

Ok thankyou for confirming that.
Ultimately this was just another attempt by them to try panicking me into think I had done something wrong, to damage my mental-health even further.
They have said they are going to write a substantive appeal to decision by the judge, but so hopefully the judge won't change her mind on allowing me to state my case.

No, because that’s not how it works. This is now an application hearing. Therefore all evidence must be given in writing. Read the relevant CPR on applications and their hearings, but essentially you put your written evidence in, they get a chance to put there’s in, then you get a chance to reply (the Court won’t order you to reply or anything so you need to make yourself aware of the deadlines to do so). Everything is then put before the judge at the hearing who asks questions on what has been provided and makes their decision regarding the application.

In your application, did you specifically say that you are applying to set aside the default judgment?

October868

da_rule wrote: »

No, because that’s not how it works. This is now an application hearing. Therefore all evidence must be given in writing. Read the relevant CPR on applications and their hearings, but essentially you put your written evidence in, they get a chance to put there’s in, then you get a chance to reply (the Court won’t order you to reply or anything so you need to make yourself aware of the deadlines to do so). Everything is then put before the judge at the hearing who asks questions on what has been provided and makes their decision regarding the application.

In your application, did you specifically say that you are applying to set aside the default judgment?

Hello but yes, my N244 application was to set aside the dfefault-judgment, based on that I feel I have a good prospect of successfully defending the claim (or rather the counterclaim).
I then entered, in the allocated box on the form, more details as to my reasons for that belief.
Plus also attached my supporting document along with the N244 form (my supporting document was my defence statement to the counterclaim, which I had already filed & served a few days earlier).

But so just to confirm the other party will now file & serve a written statement saying why they think the default-judgment shouldn't be set aside,
and I then will have to respond back to that in writing (to them and the court) saying why I think they are wrong? :S

October868

I think I have also potentially found another major loophole (or rather piece of legislation), which should potentially have a massive positive impact in my favour!


The defendant's counterclaim has 3 parts to it-

1. She claims that because I expressed an interest in placing future orders for more videos from her, depending on how the initial order went, that she should be paid by me the sum of money that she would've made if I had chosen to proceed to make those orders.

2. She claims that due to me telling people (professional associates of mine) about what she had done, and word of that apparently getting circulated to a company which she worked for regularly as a self-employed contractor, she claims that it was due to this that she was 'driven out' of working there (no explanation/evidence provided as to what being driven out actually means), apparently she didn't do any self-employed work for any other brands for an 8-week period, and so she claims that I should pay her the sum of money which she claims she would've earned if that brand had offered her work during that period.

3. She also claims that she should've charged me extra money for various costs which she incurred (although these costs were never ever mentioned to me when she gave me the price quote/and I paid it), but she is now saying adding these new hidden costs into the claim sum (including costs that she should've charged me a higher price per clip due to them being complex scripts she claims).


I am going to write down my clear & concise defence to each of those points, which I will read out to to the judge at my hearing for the default-judgement to be set aside,
and will publish that on here (ommitting any identifying details) if anyone would be kind enough to just let me know if what I write sounds ok.


However the key point which my mind is now focusing on is that her point 2# is ultimately a claim against me for 'Libel'.
As she is claiming that she apparently lost income due to things which I said to other people (nothing posted publicly ever mentioned her name just to add).

However after having done some research it seems that 'Libel Claims' are not permitted in the County Court, and instead need to be made through the High Court...

But so as a large part of her counterclaim is clearly for alledged Libel, and this case is being heard in the County Court, can I include in my appeal that her entire claim (or atleast that part of her claim) should be thrown out due to the fact that Libel claims cannot be made/heard in a County Court, only in the High Court??


*The only time I was ever asked about where the claim should be heard in was on the N180 form where it asks ''if you agree that the case should be allocated to the 'Small Claims Track', due to claims for below 10k that is the standard route.

But so by ticking yes I agree with the court's recommendation of which track it should be allocated to, could the defendant say that ''He agreed to the claim being heard in the county court''?

HopeAndDriftWood

Is #2 a claim for libel, or loss of earnings? I'd have read it as the latter, it doesn't look like they are seeking any moneys for damaged reputation or anything, just that your actions forced them to incur losses (according to them).

(I am in no way an expert here, though)

BoGoF

SaucySecrets wrote: »

Is #2 a claim for libel, or loss of earnings? I'd have read it as the latter, it doesn't look like they are seeking any moneys for damaged reputation or anything, just that your actions forced them to incur losses (according to them).

(I am in no way an expert here, though)

When I saw that username I thought you were the defendant for a minute!