Court Claim

1xvp1

I've scheduled the following to be sent on Monday. This I got the correct address: 
StHelensBailiffGroup@justice.gov.uk

"URGENT: CLAIM XXX - WRONG COURT

I am writing in relation to a case XXX that has been mistakenly allocated to St Helens County Court.

As per the Civil Procedure Rules, this case should be allocated to the correct court based on jurisdiction. The appropriate court is:

Medway County Court and Family Court
HMCTS Main Entrance
Gun Wharf
Chatham
ME4 4AR

I kindly request that this email be placed with the case XXX paperwork for the judge's attention, with a view to having the matter reallocated to Medway County Court and Family Court for hearing.

Thank you for your assistance.

Kind regards,
[Full Name]
[Contact Information]

Coupon-mad

This email cannot be right:

This I got the correct address: 
StHelensBailiffGroup@justice.gov.uk

troublemaker22

The correct address is civil.sthelens.countycourt@justice.gov.uk

This has nothing to do with the bailiffs’ department. 

See https://www.find-court-tribunal.service.gov.uk/courts/st-helens-county-court-and-family-court

LDast

I have just chatted to someone at the CNBC about this problem and I have also raised a complaint. However, as I am not a defendant and don't have any claim numbers, it is down to the individuals concerned to send their complaint to

Here is the transcript of my 'chat' and the issue raised:

Chat Log

Below is a complete log of the chat session.

---

Bot

Please select from the services below. Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) or Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) 

CNBC

Bot

Thank you. You are being connected to the Civil National Business Centre webchat team.

You are now chatting with Shaun.

Agent

Good afternoon  can you confirm your name and address please for security

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Agent

ok thanks , how can we help today?

I provide advice to defendants in claims issued by private parking companies through DCB Legal. In the last 10 days, I have had 3 separate cases where the defendants claim has been allocated to St Helens county court when they specifically requested their local county court which is hundreds of miles away.

Under CPR 26.2A(2) and Practice Direction 26, paragraph 7.1, a defended claim against an individual must be transferred to the defendant’s local hearing centre. This misallocation represents a breach of the Civil Procedure Rules and should never have occurred, particularly when the correct hearing centre was explicitly stated on the Directions Questionnaire. This is not an isolated incident. It is part of an emerging pattern where defended claims involving DCB Legal Ltd are improperly allocated to St Helens County Court — a court local to DCB Legal — rather than the defendant’s local hearing centre. There are only two possible explanations for this serious failure: Either CNBC administrative staff are unaware of the basic requirements of CPR 26.2A(2); or There is improper bias, favouritism, or even undue influence being exercised by or on behalf of DCB Legal Ltd to achieve allocations favourable to them. Either scenario is wholly unacceptable and risks undermining public confidence in the fairness and integrity of the court system.

Each time I have suggested to the defendant that they call the CNBC, they have been fobbed off and told to submit an N244 application which is unfair as the cost is prohibitive when compared to the claim amount and it is an administrative failure by the CNBC, not the defendant.

The CNBC is perfectly able to fix the issue under their administrative powers.

However, as this is obviously not an isolated incident, it points to a problem within the CNCB administration.

Agent

can you give me case numbers?

I cannot just now but I can get them later

I do know that two of the cases were supposed to go to Kingston on Thames but have been allocated to St Helens

I would like a contact email address for the CNCB manager in order to escalate this matter rather than go through the abysmally slow process of filling in the online HMCTS complaint form.

What raises suspicion, is that all these cases have been issued through the bulk litigator DCB Legal whose offices are local to St Helens.

Agent

send email to applications.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and mark email complaint  with its case number

1xvp1

I received a "notice of proposed allocation" a few days ago in the post. But nothing else came.  

1xvp1

I just received a massive pile of papers in which they respond to the defence as well as counterclaim, obviously denying everything. They added photos of the location, as well as their contract with the housing association. They appear to be denying that I'm a resident at the property unless proof is provided. I'm just starting to disentangle this whole thing. They also dismiss my defence as "boilerplate defence found on the internet"

Coupon-mad

Well of course they had to defend your counterclaim within 14 days of receipt, otherwise they'd have lost by default.

This is normal for a counterclaim case.

What isn't normal, is the case staying with St Helens (unless you live there)? However the N180 must go there (not to the CNBC in this case) and cc in Gladstones.

1xvp1

Coupon-mad said:

Well of course they had to defend your counterclaim within 14 days of receipt, otherwise you'd have lost by default.

This is normal for a counterclaim case.

What isn't normal, is the case staying with St Helens (unless you live there)? However the N180 must go there (not to the CNBC in this case) and cc in Gladstones.

I'm on the opposite side of the country in Kent. I sent an email to CNBC asking to change the location of the court, but received no response. 

Gr1pr

You should complain about it to the CNBC , same as all the other complaints 

But you should be asking the actual court itself to transfer it,  not the CNBC  ( so St Helens civil court   )

1xvp1

Gr1pr said:

You should complain about it to the CNBC , same as all the other complaints 

But you should be asking the actual court itself to transfer it,  not the CNBC  ( so St Helens civil court   )

I followed the advice in this thread. 

I'll write something up for the St Helens court, thanks.