Sold Campervan buyer wants money back

LightFlare

Just not turning up without notifying the court in the prescribed manner/notice is tantamount to contempt imo.

Inforapennyinforapound

mandy1955 said:

force_ten1 said:

when the judge asked would it be a huge problem to postpone then i would have said yes and tried to get the case heard in the claimants absence 

they are taking the mick and you have had this drag on long enough already  

I honestly didn't think I could do that, even though the judge said the claimant said he would accept it going ahead without him.  I'm now wondering if this postponement is due to case going in his favour.  I've been so stressed about it for the last few weeks I thought it would be over today. 

Sorry,bit confused by your post here. You said that the judge said that ‘the claimant would accept it going ahead without him’. So even though the claimant was happy for it to be heard in his absence the Judge decided to postpone?…or you just agreed to postpone? …I am just a little confused(it’s an age thing😊).

Good luck in any event. Fingers crossed🤞

mandy1955

Inforapennyinforapound said:

mandy1955 said:

force_ten1 said:

when the judge asked would it be a huge problem to postpone then i would have said yes and tried to get the case heard in the claimants absence 

they are taking the mick and you have had this drag on long enough already  

I honestly didn't think I could do that, even though the judge said the claimant said he would accept it going ahead without him.  I'm now wondering if this postponement is due to case going in his favour.  I've been so stressed about it for the last few weeks I thought it would be over today. 

Sorry,bit confused by your post here. You said that the judge said that ‘the claimant would accept it going ahead without him’. So even though the claimant was happy for it to be heard in his absence the Judge decided to postpone?…or you just agreed to postpone? …I am just a little confused(it’s an age thing😊).

Good luck in any event. Fingers crossed🤞

Hi, yes the judge said he's been advised the claimant is unable to attend as he is stuck offshore due to the recent storm but has said he's ok for things to proceed in his absence the judge then said in cases like these he likes to hear both sides in person and would it be a huge inconvenience to me to postpone.   So I said no, it's ok although it is stressful having had to wait a long time already.  So he thanked me and said he'd arrange a new date at the earliest time, possibly up to 2 months. 

TripleH

Do court's issue any documents for deferrals like this?

Whilst this time it may be genuine, next time he may play silly beggers to waste your time if he thinks you will kerp deferring until he shows up. It may also be a different judge.

Jenni_D

They should issue a letter/document to advise when the next hearing will be. If the claimant did indeed try to play silly beggars then I'd hope @mandy1955 would be more assertive with the judge, tell them that the claimant appears to be abusing the court system, and aim for an extended costs order to account for all the time and effort she has had to put in to defend the case ... which is more than just the time to attend 2 hearings.

fatbelly

I used to work in the local courts, employed by CAB. There was a rule of thumb that a defendant could miss one hearing by reason of illness etc, but not two.

Never had a claimant fail to turn up but I guess it would apply to them too.

mandy1955

TripleH said:

Do court's issue any documents for deferrals like this?

Whilst this time it may be genuine, next time he may play silly beggers to waste your time if he thinks you will kerp deferring until he shows up. It may also be a different judge.

Unfortunately I wasn't given any documentation but I'm sure the judge made notes he was writing throughout the time we were there.  I wouldn't think he'd be given a second chance though.   

mandy1955

Jenni_D said:

They should issue a letter/document to advise when the next hearing will be. If the claimant did indeed try to play silly beggars then I'd hope @mandy1955 would be more assertive with the judge, tell them that the claimant appears to be abusing the court system, and aim for an extended costs order to account for all the time and effort she has had to put in to defend the case ... which is more than just the time to attend 2 hearings.

Good points, thank you. He asked for it to be held in his home town but the court advised me that it usually takes place in the defendants town/city I think he was disappointed he'd have to travel 150 miles.  I did wonder if he'd turn up to be honest. It's just so irritating to have to wait again.  Such a waste of the courts time and mine. 

mandy1955

fatbelly said:

I used to work in the local courts, employed by CAB. There was a rule of thumb that a defendant could miss one hearing by reason of illness etc, but not two.

Never had a claimant fail to turn up but I guess it would apply to them too.

Good to know, thank you. I've never been in a court before so I was unsure what i could say or do. So I just complied with the deferral.  Hopefully it will be sorted at the next hearing 

fatbelly

I actually think you were right to graciously agree. You will be more comfortable with the court layout and procedure than the claimant, next time around.

I've been in cases where we just sat back and let the judge destroy the claimant. So one tip I would give is to listen to the judge and answer questions as succinctly as possible. If it's a yes/no question, that's all you need.