Small claims court - appeal question

thenap80

Haven't lost case. Only had the court claim paper through. (By email as like I say, original went to wrong address). I owe money yes, a couple or so years of service charge for the flat I rent. But I feel the chasing for it has been a bit heavy handed as I have been trying to pay and only reason unable was because they hit us with an additional 22k to pay im one go for a separate maintenance programme 2/3 years ago.

MattMattMattUK

thenap80 said:

Haven't lost case. Only had the court claim paper through. (By email as like I say, original went to wrong address). I owe money yes, a couple or so years of service charge for the flat I rent. But I feel the chasing for it has been a bit heavy handed as I have been trying to pay and only reason unable was because they hit us with an additional 22k to pay im one go for a separate maintenance programme 2/3 years ago.

That then reminded me of your other thread, firstly you need to stop using the word appeal, you are not appealing anything, you can only do that after you lose, which bases on all the information you have given will happen. Once you lose you will have to pay the original amount, any court and legal fees and the additional cost of any enforcement. The reality would appear to be that you owe money, are refusing to pay and the management company have got to the end of their tether with you refusing to pay. The court judgement will also be a stage required for them to be in the process of termination of your lease. 

As the flat is not your residence and you are renting it out you need to sell it rather than continuing to accrue costs and not pay them. You can sell and then settle the bill, or you can go to court, lose, see the costs increase massively and them then enforce the sale of the flat which will likely be a quick sale at below market value, meaning you end up with even less. 

You can drag this out and make it cost a lot more, or you can deal with it and minimise any additional costs. 

davidmcn

thenap80 said:

 feel the chasing for it has been a bit heavy handed as I have been trying to pay and only reason unable was because they hit us with an additional 22k to pay im one go for a separate maintenance programme 2/3 years ago.

That's not a defence, either against the debt itself or the costs they've incurred in pursuing it. 

thenap80

So if I wish to contest, not appeal, will that  incur more court cost? They have already added about 450£ for court fee just to bring our to small claim. Will I pay more even after this, in order to contest?

Thanks for advice.

MattMattMattUK

thenap80 said:

So if I wish to contest, not appeal, will that  incur more court cost? They have already added about 450£ for court fee just to bring our to small claim. Will I pay more even after this, in order to contest?

Thanks for advice.

On what basis do you plan to contest the claim if you do not dispute you owe the money? If it is not on the small claims track then they can recover legal costs which would be applicable from court representation, preparation time etc. There will also be additional costs once they start enforcement action once they have the judgement.

thenap80

It is on the small court claims track. We have to respond but I can see they have added £450 court do fee plus legal representative fee. I want to defend on basis that I told them I was paying in heavily increased installments and emailed the  solicitor telling them that I had discussed this with the Director of the Board at the residents association. Next email I got back was a copy of the small claims paperwork. So the basis is that they should have spoken to me about the agreement first.

thenap80

Does the £450 added not give me the chance to defend at no extra cost. That £450 says court fee. Or is that just for them to send the paperwok!!?

unholyangel

thenap80 said:

It is on the small court claims track. We have to respond but I can see they have added £450 court do fee plus legal representative fee. I want to defend on basis that I told them I was paying in heavily increased installments and emailed the  solicitor telling them that I had discussed this with the Director of the Board at the residents association. Next email I got back was a copy of the small claims paperwork. So the basis is that they should have spoken to me about the agreement first.

You say you "discussed" it with the director and that you "told them" you'd be paying in instalments. 

If their response was to issue court proceedings, it doesn't sound like they agreed to allow you to pay by instalments.

davidmcn

You don't have any right to pay in instalments, though it's possible the court would allow that - but you'd still get a judgment against you. 

MattMattMattUK

thenap80 said:

It is on the small court claims track. We have to respond but I can see they have added £450 court do fee plus legal representative fee.

So just for clarity, as you have said the amount is more than £5,000, is it less than £10,000 and has been allocated to the small claims track? Yes you become liable for the court fees should you lose. If it has been allocated to the small claims track then the additional costs that they can claim via the court at this stage are limited, however your leasehold agreement may allow them to recover legal costs by a provision in that, should they obtain a legal judgement. 

thenap80 said:

I want to defend on basis that I told them I was paying in heavily increased installments and emailed the  solicitor telling them that I had discussed this with the Director of the Board at the residents association. Next email I got back was a copy of the small claims paperwork. So the basis is that they should have spoken to me about the agreement first.

None of that is a defence, they do not have to speak to you about any agreement first, you are already in breach of your legal agreement with them. As you have mentioned previously they have written to you and given you time to resolve the late payment, but you have not, they are now taking enforcement action via the courts.

thenap80 said:

Does the £450 added not give me the chance to defend at no extra cost. That £450 says court fee. Or is that just for them to send the paperwok!!?

You have the right to defend yourself, as in all legal cases, but you need grounds to defend yourself. At the moment your defence seems to amount to "I have not paid and will not pay according to the terms of my leasehold", which is why they are seeking a CCJ and then will likely take enforcement action after that which is where considerable additional cost will come in.

If/when this goes to court you will lose, all that is going to do is to add to the amount you owe as you have already admitted you do not have a legal defence. You can choose to pay now, or after you lose in court, that choice has implications and you need to weigh them up, but paying now is, in my opinion, by far the best option.