Small Claims - Difficult Ex

therightdeal

Good Morning,

Please accept my apologies, as this matter is ridiculous and frustrating.

• Ex partner has obstructed contact with my daughter consistently for four years
• Contact moved to my home. Mother claimed daughter was now allergic to my dog, and had breathing difficulties etc.
• Court insisted on a dog allergy test specifically, and I was to pay for it to recommence contact at home
• Mother was to take child to appointment, I was to attend remotely
• Before the appointment, mother refused to proceed if I was attending remotely. I waited 45 minutes like an idiot for the appointment to begin
• Allergy test came back negative
• In the following weeks mother booked a further appointment for more allergy tests with the private hospital. I was only notified when £350 was debited from my account
• Hospital refunded immediately when I complained
• Mother is now taking me to small claims court stating I owe money, which she has not actually paid to the hospital
• No written agreement. Emails stating I agreed to pay for a dog allergy test, not further testing
• This is all a nonsense and waste of the courts time and pretty straight forward, right?

Thanks

tacpot12

Pretty straightforward. Court will find there was no agreement that you would pay for further tests. Ex will have wasted money going to court and be in breech of court order to facilitate contact if the allergy test came back negative, so go back to the family court. Ex will be less happy than they are now. 

Recommend ask your bank to give you a new account number as your bank details are clearly in the hands of someone who should not have them. 

It is possible that your daughter has allergies, and you should be concerned to find out whether this is case so that you can avoid anything that might give her breathing difficulties. If you have parental responsibility, might you apply for your daughter's medical records to check that her GP is treating her for asthma? (A lack of GP involvement should indicate to the family court that the ex is being manipulative). 

I would also look into whether, if you daughter has allergies/asthma, will exposing her to your dog be likely to make her sensitive to the dog in future. I'm not an allergy expert, but wonder if you might be better arranging contact to take place in a location where the dog has never been present so that you can have contact and avoid any risk of making her asthma worse. 

therightdeal

Thanks tacpot, appreciate the reply. Understood on all points and all seems sensible. 

Stateofart

Seems familiar.  Eventually I think the court will realise she's wasting time and order that it's fine for daughter to be around dog.  But then, they'll be another issue of course.  Some people are just like that.  I have a neighbour just the same.  As soon as one issue is fixed, or they've been told to stop, they move onto the next thing.  It never ends.