Actions before small claims court with council

1990xrider

Ok so latest update:

Got ANOTHER Notice of Transfer of Proceedings.  Dated from the 6th December

"As a result of an order made on 28 November 2023, this claim has been transferred to the Claimants home court the County Court at Basildon". 

Why are they transferring to another court when it was already stated Chelmsford was the court?

When I log into money claims I get the update

"The defendant has not responded to your claim. You can request a County Court Judgment against them". 

But there is no option to request a judgement by default, so is this some kind of error on the website?

Called Basildon CC, they seem to think so. Having looked at maps it does appear that Basildon CC is just slightly closer than Chelmsford (9.2 miles for Basildon vs 10.1 miles for Chelmsford). Maybe an admin !!!!!! up sent it to chelmsford, but that was the court i was last advised to send my directions to. Was hoping I would get an allocation and directions questionaire issued this side of Christmas, still time I guess. 

1990xrider

Still nothing. But have been thinking about the case more (I've returned home, I'm a university student). 

I think the defence will try and argue (and i can already see them doing it) that there is no causation to the claim, because of the inclusion of the damage identified by a second garage, the OSF shock absorbers. It was always a concern I had, that having already made the claim for the damage to the suspension links, and then finding out that there was more damage, that adding it would look spurrious. 

Now I understand that the damage was to the offside rather than nearside, I suspect the council will try and say there's no causation there. But here's the argument I'm thinking of and I'm wondering if its a valid one. 

If they're arguing that I can't prove that second damage was the result of the claim (they're arguing the whole claim is invalid mind you), then surely I can argue that whilst it may not be likely that the incident itself caused this damage, but rather accelerated it, the claim is still valid. The damage was not picked up an MOT a couple motnhs before and the problem only presented itself in the aftermath of the incident, and whilst it was missed by the first garage etc that doesn't mean it wasn't there. As anyone who works in health or has had an illness of any kind will testify, you can contract a disease, but it may be some time before you start showing symptoms. Given that both parties, myself and the council, believe the case does not need a hearing, and it has been provisionally allocated to the small claims track, there will be no expert witnesses, eg, a mechanic, to support either side. Balance of probabilities - the damage occured in the aftermath of a significant impact with a pothole. Yes there would be potential financial gain involved in just adding the damage to the claim but for about £185 (on top of the £177 for the suspension links) it seems a great deal of trouble to go to, months of paperwork, investigation, going back and forth etc, all for less than £200 on top of an existing claim. 

1990xrider

UPDATE!!

Letter came from the court today - allocated to the small claims track as expected. Got a court date! 5th June. Judge thinks its suitable for mediation so may try that? but cant' see the council going for it. Seems like their threat to have it struck off was a bluff and either they didn't do it or the judge thought it was bull.

A few things to clarify in terms of documents and what ones/and who to send them to

quoting from the letter

a "the letter making the claim and any reply" - what document would this be, as i have at various stages in the process, sent off various claims including through the inital ecc portal, then the lba, and then via the government portal

in terms of witness statements i have a couple lined up but not sure if i'll be asking them to attend court.

who am i sending this to as it says sent to the court and each party, is that via post or email?

also what about the crucial video evidence, how will that be sent to the court?

thank you

1990xrider

UPDATE!
Don't know if anyone is still following this but I sent an email off to the paralegal team for the council after I got the letter confirming allocation, a court date, and suggesting mediation is avaliable in this case. I reached out to the paralegal team asking if their client would consider mediation.

Today they responded saying they would consult with their client...as to whether they wished to make an offer, or continue defending the claim. Perhaps they will just give up then! They're also asking me if I have an offer to make. I'm thinking the total value of the claim plus the claim fee, minus the interest, which is 8% and has currently accrued £9.95. Maybe just to make it look like i'm compromising, i don't care about the interest so long as i get the money for damages back. I think maybe my offer will also include no requirement for the council to admit liability?

Any ideas? 

Nobbie1967

In a mediation it’s a given they won’t admit liability. Always interesting to see what happens when someone takes it all the way through the process. Wouldn’t be worth my time, but each to their own. Good luck👍

1990xrider

Nobbie1967 said:

In a mediation it’s a given they won’t admit liability. Always interesting to see what happens when someone takes it all the way through the process. Wouldn’t be worth my time, but each to their own. Good luck👍

True. I'd be interested to see in what their offer is, if anything. I don't mind what happens either way, I'd quite enjoy a morning in court. But obviously if it can get resolved without that i will take it. 

1990xrider

Nobbie1967 said:

In a mediation it’s a given they won’t admit liability. Always interesting to see what happens when someone takes it all the way through the process. Wouldn’t be worth my time, but each to their own. Good luck👍

Ok so paralegal got back after I chased them  - council want to continue the case.

So I've got til May to pay, when is the best time to send my documents over? They're ready now  (though still trying to chase up a couple of witnesses and see if they will be willing to make statements), but is it more tactical to wait til the latest possible date to send them across so they cannot prepare as well for their defence? 

lincroft1710

1990xrider said:

Nobbie1967 said:

In a mediation it’s a given they won’t admit liability. Always interesting to see what happens when someone takes it all the way through the process. Wouldn’t be worth my time, but each to their own. Good luck👍

Ok so paralegal got back after I chased them  - council want to continue the case.

So I've got til May to pay, when is the best time to send my documents over? They're ready now  (though still trying to chase up a couple of witnesses and see if they will be willing to make statements), but is it more tactical to wait til the latest possible date to send them across so they cannot prepare as well for their defence? 

Those sort of tactics won't be looked upon favourably by the judge

1990xrider

lincroft1710 said:

1990xrider said:

Nobbie1967 said:

In a mediation it’s a given they won’t admit liability. Always interesting to see what happens when someone takes it all the way through the process. Wouldn’t be worth my time, but each to their own. Good luck👍

Ok so paralegal got back after I chased them  - council want to continue the case.

So I've got til May to pay, when is the best time to send my documents over? They're ready now  (though still trying to chase up a couple of witnesses and see if they will be willing to make statements), but is it more tactical to wait til the latest possible date to send them across so they cannot prepare as well for their defence? 

Those sort of tactics won't be looked upon favourably by the judge

Noted, I will sort everything out asap.
Also, I've been told on another forum that the defendant can make an application to have their legal fees paid by me in the SCC. Is this right? To my knowledge, only the judge has the ability to impose such sanction on a claimant in the case of irresponsible conduct etc. I will avoid the above. I guess though it won't look too good for the council with them having refused the offer of mediation whilst I have been keen to go for it. 

Dave_5150

Noted, I will sort everything out asap.

Also, I've been told on another forum that the defendant can make an application to have their legal fees paid by me in the SCC. Is this right? To my knowledge, only the judge has the ability to impose such sanction on a claimant in the case of irresponsible conduct etc. I will avoid the above. I guess though it won't look too good for the council with them having refused the offer of mediation whilst I have been keen to go for it. 

Have a look in the "Expenses can be awarded against you if you lose" section in this MSE link.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court/#cost