Letter before court claim signed for by a neighbour!

Mishomeister

So I have sent the letter to some one I want to sue via recorded delivery and the tracking shows that the letter was signed with a number 6. No further info on the tracking whatsoever! The recipient's address is at number 5!

It looks like that some damn neighbours took my letter which can affect my whole claim.

Any thioughts on this?

powerful_Rogue

You don't need to send recorded. Send 1st class with a free certificate of postage and it will be deemed delivered two days later by law.

SiliconChip

You're overthinking it. I expect the postie tried to deliver it to No. 5, there was nobody in, knocked on No. 6 and the person there signed for it. I'm quite surprised the postie didn't sign for it themselves and just stick it through the door, but they will no doubt have left a card to say where it is and your intended recipient will collect it when they get home.

Mishomeister

But what stops the intended recipient from claiming they never had it? 

eskbanker

Mishomeister said:

But what stops the intended recipient from claiming they never had it? 

Nothing, but it doesn't matter if you can show that you sent it to the correct address.

Mishomeister

eskbanker said:

Mishomeister said:

But what stops the intended recipient from claiming they never had it? 

Nothing, but it doesn't matter if you can show that you sent it to the correct address.

Would you mind me asking,  where you got this info from?

eskbanker

Mishomeister said:

eskbanker said:

Mishomeister said:

But what stops the intended recipient from claiming they never had it? 

Nothing, but it doesn't matter if you can show that you sent it to the correct address.

Would you mind me asking,  where you got this info from?

Interpretation Act 1978, section 7 confirms that delivery is assumed once posted:

Where an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post (whether the expression “serve” or the expression “give” or “send” or any other expression is used) then, unless the contrary intention appears, the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

Mishomeister

eskbanker said:

Mishomeister said:

eskbanker said:

Mishomeister said:

But what stops the intended recipient from claiming they never had it? 

Nothing, but it doesn't matter if you can show that you sent it to the correct address.

Would you mind me asking,  where you got this info from?

Interpretation Act 1978, section 7 confirms that delivery is assumed once posted:

Where an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post (whether the expression “serve” or the expression “give” or “send” or any other expression is used) then, unless the contrary intention appears, the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

Not sure what contrary intention means in here, but can the neighbour signing be seen as it?

Ectophile

Where the law requires (or allows) notices to be sent by post, then Section 7 of the Interpretation Act applies https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/section/7

If you can show that you posted the letter, then it's up to the other party to prove that they didn't receive it - which is almost impossible to do in most cases.

But it's not clear that there is any legal requirement to send a Letter Before Action to anybody.

eskbanker

Mishomeister said:

eskbanker said:

Where an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post (whether the expression “serve” or the expression “give” or “send” or any other expression is used) then, unless the contrary intention appears, the service is deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

Not sure what contrary intention means in here, but can the neighbour signing be seen as it?

'Intention' would imply to me something done (or not done) by the sender, e.g. trying to subvert the process by giving the impression of sending without actually doing so.

Alderbank

Indeed, and the Act is justified by overwhelming evidence such as in the last 12 months 0.07% of letters were lost or substantially delayed, so there is a 99.3% probability that he got the letter on time.

Some solicitors recommend sending 2 copies on different days (although you don't have to). The chance that neither will be delivered is less than 0.0049%.