Can't attend court - am I done for?

dustyshoe66

MothballsWallet said:

@dustyshoe66 When did you send the email?

I think we've seen some courts (and the CCBC itself) seeming to "lose" emails if they're sent outside office hours - which, imnsho*, is completely stupid since email servers run all the time (except for maintenance/outages), so someone in the office should be checking the emails when they start work.

* In My Not So Humble Opining (as an IT Professional)

Just double checked now, all sent within office hours, but like you said shouldn't matter. I'm not sure what the usual turnaround is.

Coupon-mad said:

No, you cannot let the date pass without paying. That will get you a CCJ for 6 years.

I hope you can provide some clarity on this. I have been asked to pay the full sum by 14th July, the letter send by BW Legal says the CCJ can be removed if paid within the month, so I'm not sure what the true deadline is. But if I pay BW Legal the full amount and the Court finds there was an error, would the Court order BW Legal to pay back what's owed, or would the Court themselves compensate me?

Coupon-mad

You must comply with a court Order.

 But if I pay BW Legal the full amount and the Court finds there was an error, would the Court order BW Legal to pay back what's owed, or would the Court themselves compensate me?

Either will do. That's why I worded my suggested complaint for you, the way I did.

I would send BW Legal an email now, stating that in view of the payment date on the erroneous Order you are ringing them up to pay on Monday, but the sum of the payment is made under protest.  The money should be placed in a holding account.

A formal complaint will be made about the incorrect finding in the Order, that the Defendant did not excuse their non-attendance. This was done well in advance, by email on (date) thus it was vexatious and wholly improper of the Claimant's rep at the hearing, to seek an order for additional costs.

(You didn't tell us whether BW Legal knew you could not attend but the rep at the hearing failed to tell the Judge what they knew, if they were copied into your email in June explaining you would not be attending? This is important to know as if they knew, I'd say their conduct is unreasonable). 

dustyshoe66

Coupon-mad said:

You must comply with a court Order.

 But if I pay BW Legal the full amount and the Court finds there was an error, would the Court order BW Legal to pay back what's owed, or would the Court themselves compensate me?

Either will do. That's why I worded my suggested complaint for you, the way I did.

I would send BW Legal an email now, stating that in view of the payment date on the erroneous Order you are ringing them up to pay on Monday, but the sum of the payment is made under protest.  The money should be placed in a holding account.

A formal complaint will be made about the incorrect finding in the Order, that the Defendant did not excuse their non-attendance. This was done well in advance, by email on (date) thus it was vexatious and wholly improper of the Claimant's rep at the hearing, to seek an order for additional costs.

(You didn't tell us whether BW Legal knew you could not attend but the rep at the hearing failed to tell the Judge what they knew, if they were copied into your email in June explaining you would not be attending? This is important to know as if they knew, I'd say their conduct is unreasonable). 

Thank you again. I'll be sure to comply and send an email to BW Legal too.

No, I am realising that I only told the Court I could not attend. Would this mean that neither of us could be seen as unreasonable?

bargepole

dustyshoe66 said:

Thank you again. I'll be sure to comply and send an email to BW Legal too.

No, I am realising that I only told the Court I could not attend. Would this mean that neither of us could be seen as unreasonable?

I'm afraid you are completely Friar Tucked on this one.

CPR 27.9 says as follows:

Non-attendance of parties at a final hearing

27.9

(1) If a party who does not attend a final hearing–

(a) has given written notice to the court and the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date that he will not attend;

(b) has served on the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date any other documents which he has filed with the court; and

(c) has, in his written notice, requested the court to decide the claim in his absence and has confirmed his compliance with paragraphs (a) and (b) above,

the court will take into account that party’s statement of case and any other documents he has filed and served when it decides the claim.

So you needed to file with the Court, and serve on BW Legal, a notice that complies with the above. Just sending an email to the Court saying that you can't attend doesn't cut it.

Your complaint will go nowhere.

Grizebeck

bargepole said:

dustyshoe66 said:

Thank you again. I'll be sure to comply and send an email to BW Legal too.

No, I am realising that I only told the Court I could not attend. Would this mean that neither of us could be seen as unreasonable?

I'm afraid you are completely Friar Tucked on this one.

CPR 27.9 says as follows:

Non-attendance of parties at a final hearing

27.9

(1) If a party who does not attend a final hearing–

(a) has given written notice to the court and the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date that he will not attend;

(b) has served on the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date any other documents which he has filed with the court; and

(c) has, in his written notice, requested the court to decide the claim in his absence and has confirmed his compliance with paragraphs (a) and (b) above,

the court will take into account that party’s statement of case and any other documents he has filed and served when it decides the claim.

So you needed to file with the Court, and serve on BW Legal, a notice that complies with the above. Just sending an email to the Court saying that you can't attend doesn't cut it.

Your complaint will go nowhere.

Whilst @bargepole is completey correctly,  being the small claims track you may well get some where with it
A court case I am dealing with was listed as an all day hearing  (4 tickets)a month earlier then they said they expected it to be ( due to government requirements) and yet an email complaining about this got the hearing date put back with no official application. ( as clashed with holidays not put on the n180 form)

dustyshoe66

bargepole said:

dustyshoe66 said:

Thank you again. I'll be sure to comply and send an email to BW Legal too.

No, I am realising that I only told the Court I could not attend. Would this mean that neither of us could be seen as unreasonable?

I'm afraid you are completely Friar Tucked on this one.

CPR 27.9 says as follows:

Non-attendance of parties at a final hearing

27.9

(1) If a party who does not attend a final hearing–

(a) has given written notice to the court and the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date that he will not attend;

(b) has served on the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date any other documents which he has filed with the court; and

(c) has, in his written notice, requested the court to decide the claim in his absence and has confirmed his compliance with paragraphs (a) and (b) above,

the court will take into account that party’s statement of case and any other documents he has filed and served when it decides the claim.

So you needed to file with the Court, and serve on BW Legal, a notice that complies with the above. Just sending an email to the Court saying that you can't attend doesn't cut it.

Your complaint will go nowhere.

Hmm, that's annoying. The notice of allocation form said only about informing the court, so I think that's where I made my mistake.

@Grizebeck
Yeah probably worth complaining anyways with some slim hope.