Please advise on adjourning County Court hearing date

pwmdgxju

I wonder if you might be able to advise me as a claimant in the county court.

I have a default judgement against a rogue trader, which they have (for the second time) applied to have set aside.

The hearing date has been set for later this month, unfortunately on a day when I’m due to be away, as I’m taking my elderly mother to Cornwall on a trip where she intends to catch up with some friends who she seldom sees.
I can evidence that the accommodation was booked a while ago, before the court date was set. She needs me to drive as it is too far for her to manage these days. If we have to cancel, it’s unlikely that the trip will ever be possible again.

A few questions, if I may:

1. I am advised that I can apply to adjourn by filling in a form and paying a fee.
If I do so, citing the reasons above, am I likely to be successful in seeking the adjournment?

2. Will I need to provide evidence of the booking? And if so will a copy be available to the defendant? As I don’t wish for them to have any information about the personal details of my mother, as they are a thoroughly unpleasant individual!

3. The fee is £100 which I can ill afford at the moment. Unfortunately I do not think I will be successful in having it reduced as I work hard and do have some hard earned savings.
If I pay the fee, is it something which can theoretically be claimed as costs against the defendant under any circumstance?

Thank you so much for any help you can offer at this extremely stressful time.

powerful_Rogue

pwmdgxju wrote: »

I wonder if you might be able to advise me as a claimant in the county court.

I have a default judgement against a rogue trader, which they have (for the second time) applied to have set aside.

The hearing date has been set for later this month, unfortunately on a day when I’m due to be away, as I’m taking my elderly mother to Cornwall on a trip where she intends to catch up with some friends who she seldom sees.
I can evidence that the accommodation was booked a while ago, before the court date was set. She needs me to drive as it is too far for her to manage these days. If we have to cancel, it’s unlikely that the trip will ever be possible again.

A few questions, if I may:

1. I am advised that I can apply to adjourn by filling in a form and paying a fee.
If I do so, citing the reasons above, am I likely to be successful in seeking the adjournment?

2. Will I need to provide evidence of the booking? And if so will a copy be available to the defendant? As I don’t wish for them to have any information about the personal details of my mother, as they are a thoroughly unpleasant individual!

3. The fee is £100 which I can ill afford at the moment. Unfortunately I do not think I will be successful in having it reduced as I work hard and do have some hard earned savings.
If I pay the fee, is it something which can theoretically be claimed as costs against the defendant under any circumstance?

Thank you so much for any help you can offer at this extremely stressful time.

I can't help on points one or two, hopefully someone will be along shortly that can.
In regards to point 3, I very much doubt you would be able to claim it back from the defendant. They didn't set the time of the case.

KeithP

At this stage, everything you send to the court must be copied to the other party.

So you need to send a copy of the adjournment application to the defendant. You also need to send the defendant a copy of any supporting documentation you send to the court.

Another option that you may not have considered is not attending the set aside hearing and have the judge decide whether to set aside or not based on your written submission.

If you do decide not to attend, then you must write to the court telling them that at least seven days before the hearing.

twhitehousescat

as this is a default judgement , setaside , if you do not turn up and they get the setaside (didnt get court papers etc) , it simply sets it back to where you start a new claim

pwmdgxju

Some interesting points, thank you for your replies.

I’ll properly respond tomorrow when I have more time.

pwmdgxju

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

I can't help on points one or two, hopefully someone will be along shortly that can.
In regards to point 3, I very much doubt you would be able to claim it back from the defendant. They didn't set the time of the case.

That was my initial feeling, but looking into it further I have read that they stipulate that “court fees” are usually allowable expenses. They don’t seem to stipulate which fees. Although they didn’t set the time of the case, they did apply for the set-aside (again, having been unsuccessful the last time) and thus put me in the situation I am now in, which is not within my control.

KeithP wrote: »

At this stage, everything you send to the court must be copied to the other party.

So you need to send a copy of the adjournment application to the defendant. You also need to send the defendant a copy of any supporting documentation you send to the court.

Another option that you may not have considered is not attending the set aside hearing and have the judge decide whether to set aside or not based on your written submission.

If you do decide not to attend, then you must write to the court telling them that at least seven days before the hearing.

Thank you for the clarification.
I’m certainly considering now the option to not attend. It’s not going to do my health a lot of good if I do, I got so stressed on the last occasion, I felt physically sick.

In order to refute the defendants application to set aside the judgement, what would I need to do exactly?
Would a written submission be done in the form of a Witness Statement? Or something else?

twhitehousescat wrote: »

as this is a default judgement , setaside , if you do not turn up and they get the setaside (didnt get court papers etc) , it simply sets it back to where you start a new claim

Indeed, and I understand that I would then be able to have a full hearing to allow a judge to fully consider the evidence on both sides?
But that would presumably entail more fees for me to pay? And potentially costs?
It would certainly be preferable if the set aside application is rejected?

Another question; if the judge grants the set aside application, could I be held liable for the defendants costs?

Thanks again.

twhitehousescat

on what grounds are they asking for setaside , you also mention previous failed setaside?

pwmdgxju

twhitehousescat wrote: »

on what grounds are they asking for setaside , you also mention previous failed setaside?

They object to the judgement being in their personal name. At the time they were hiding behind a limited company, but it was shown on Companies House to be dormant, and thus I argued that it could not have been trading at the time and so I must have engaged in business with the seller as an individual.
They have now produced as evidence a copy of a bank statement in the company name, but on cursory examination it’s got all the signs of being a company account run as someone’s personal account!

pwmdgxju

Pleased to be able to let you know that the judge on the day dismissed the application to set aside.
I didn’t attend as I was in another part of the country, but I did submit a witness statement comprehensively refuting the defendant’s assertions, and with evidence that the company had always been dormant and therefore I could not have done business with the company.
I’d love to know exactly what was said in court but sadly I can’t afford to request the transcript.