CCJ set-aside. Now Small Claims & Draft Defence.

Khayman

Here's the order. Very little detail!

Coupon-mad

Jolly good.

Send that to Elms, telling them how much £xxx in costs you'd require in April for their client to settle the matter, which is very much in their interests. Not only to avoid exposure to a 'strike out and costs' application, but more importantly, a Judge scrutinising the waste of time they caused with the fake consent Order that Cilex warned Elms months ago, in 2023 to stop doing.  Point out that substantial court time and money has been wasted by Elms' (negligent or deliberate) misdirection of the Court yet again.

Attach a Costs Schedule including court fees, travel, time off work x 2 and about 30 hours of wasted time dealing with this case for months (attach proof of your hourly rate of pay and demand it).

Talk about Dammerman and vexatious conduct.  Push and push that it is in their interests to settle.

Khayman

A very interesting development!

I received two letters from VCS today both dated 29th March:

Odd that they're dated the same day yet threaten different things, but more interestingly that they seem to have dropped ELMS Legal!

Obviously they are not particularly relevant at this point as the notice of the order being set aside has since been sent (not checked the date of the court letter but will be stunned IF it predates the 29th!

So, I guess my next step is much the same, but that I'll be addressing everything to VCS instead of ELMS. Presumably as ELMS were their representative VCS are accountable for their actions as far as I'm concerned and so I will just be cutting out the middle man with regards to my demand for expenses etc. I guess the only thing it really affects is the 'threat' of the court looking more closely at ELMS actions as VCS can distance themselves now they're not represented by them.

Anyway thought I would share, and would be interested to hear thoughts on whether this might have any impact on my course of action?
Otherwise I will start on my correspondence regarding the latest from the court and the expenses I will be seeking.

JoeN1988

Nothing particularly interesting there. Standard stuff with VCS/Excel.

The first is just an offer they hope you'll take so they don't actually have to work for their money.

The second letter is standard. ELMS never see it through, they send scary letters and quit when you aren't intimidated. Glorified debt collecters. At least you know that's one party not getting paid. 

Castle

JoeN1988 said:

Nothing particularly interesting there. Standard stuff with VCS/Excel.

The first is just an offer they hope you'll take so they don't actually have to work for their money.

The second letter is standard. ELMS never see it through, they send scary letters and quit when you aren't intimidated. Glorified debt collecters. At least you know that's one party not getting paid. 

Elms legal are only involved because nobody at VCS/Excel is legally qualified and therefore, they can't claim the £50 legal fee for issuing the claim.

Coupon-mad

Yep they always drop Elms before hearings and always send that misleading letter pretending they can claim extra costs from you ...they can't, because YOU haven't acted unreasonably.

But you can claim all your costs.

Send what I suggested.

Khayman

I have mostly completed a draft email to VCS, along with an assessment of costs, and a draft (!) consent order for them to hopefully sign and put the matter to bed! I will post here asap, but have one question:
References to the 'White Book'. I have searched through the forum and read posts citing the white book, but so far all I've been able to find is the quotes relating to claiming costs after the claimant has discontinued. As this is not relevant to me (yet?!) I wondered whether there was another section I should be referring to??

Thanks in advance! 

Coupon-mad

Sadly we don't have access to the White Book.  It's available to Judges, solicitors etc. and if you Google it, even an old version is expensive!

The annotation mentioned (whilst it is in a section about discontinuances) is making the fundamental point that: even though anything other than fixed costs are not payable in small claims normally, they DO come into play when a party has acted wholly unreasonably.

Khayman

OK so, below is the email I'm planning to send to VCS, as well as the assessment of costs, and draft consent order.

Should I send this as is to the court as well, or adapt the email and only send the assessment of costs?

Thanks!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Burgess,

Thank you for your two letters dated 29th March 2024 and for informing me that ELMS Legal are no longer representing Vehicle Control Services (VCS). As I am sure you are aware, per the letter from the court dated 2nd April 2024, the order dated xx has been set aside (save for paragraph 1) and a new hearing for the balance of the application (namely for a strike out and costs) has been listed for the xx June 2024. This is in response to my contacting the court to inform them that the ‘consent order’ ELMS Legal sent on 25th January 2024 was no such thing, and of my concern and evidence that the court had been misled by this falsely named and unsigned draft order, a practice I know ELMS Legal had been advised in 2023 by CILEx not to continue.

I am writing to you to inform VCS of the costs I will be seeking at the hearing. Please see the attached assessment of costs for further details. I will be forwarding this to the court also. I am confident that, should the hearing go ahead, I will be awarded costs per Dammerman v Lanyon Bowdler, and as laid out in the White Book (annotation 38.6.1) due to the ‘vexatious and wholly unreasonable' conduct by your representative at the time, ELMS Legal, resulting in a waste of both my time and a substantial amount of court time and money.

In light of this, and in the interests of avoiding wasting any more of the court’s time on this matter, I will be willing to accept a reduced cost of £275 for the court fee for the original set aside application, and for the claim against me to be dropped in its entirety. I have attached a signed draft consent order detailing this which I will forward to the court upon return from you.

I look forward to hearing from you, and hope that the matter can be resolved without the need to take up further of the court's time.

Sincerely,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the County Court at Leeds
Claim No.:

Between

Vehicle Control Services

(Claimant)

-v-

(Defendant)

DEFENDANT'S ASSESSMENT OF COSTS

Application to the court to set aside judgment dated xxxxxx : £275

Research and preparation of defence as litigant in person @£19 per hour x 20 hours: £380

Time off work to attend hearings on xx March 24 AND xx June 24 @£xx.xx per hour x 8 hours: £XX
(Proof of this rate will be brought to the hearing on xx June 24)

Train fare to attend court and return on xx March 24 AND xx June 24: £15.80

Total costs claimed: £XXXX

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the County Court at Leeds
Claim No.:

Between

Vehicle Control Services

(Claimant)

-v-

(Defendant)

CONSENT ORDER

Upon the parties having consented and agreed to the terms set out below:-

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

In addition to the County Court Judgment dated xxxx having already been set aside.

1. The claim be dismissed in its entirety
   

2. The claimant pay the defendant the sum of £275 to cover the cost of the court fee for the application

_______________________           _______________________

[name & address]                        Vehicle Control Services
                                                    [address]

Defendant                                    Claimant

Dated xx April 2024

Coupon-mad

The word 'UPON' should be in capitals.

I'd remove the start:

"Thank you for your two letters dated 29th March 2024 and for informing me that ELMS Legal are no longer representing Vehicle Control Services (VCS)."

Not needed (Jake didn't write those letters. They are both templates seen in every case, and your contact isn't in response to those, so no need to give them the time of day). Cut to the chase.