Small claims court lead

viola13

Hi. there are 9 of us taking TUI to the small claims court. We have been through mediation which failed. After 3.5 years we are going to court. The claim form we registered at court has all 9 names on. My Dad is the first but he is 79 and all of us have signed a document to say we allow my Husband to be the main liaison point. The court was fine with this at mediation and they spoke to him along with TUI. TUI are now engaging us in emails with offers (which are very poor) but they say as my Dad is the first claimant on the list he as to do all the emails/talking etc. They say if someone else is to be appointed we have to pay £300. Has anyone heard of this? Why would we have to do this if we have all given signed permission for one of to act on our behalf and the court was fine with it?

eskbanker

Mediation is a less formal process so doesn't set precedent for how matters are dealt with in court, but how are TUI describing the £300 payment?  Travel companies will normally include terms that include dealing only with the nominated lead passenger, who must agree to act on behalf of all other travellers, but is there any such distinction made between the nine litigants on the court paperwork to support their view that the first-named is the one who needs to be the lead?

viola13

This is what they wrote Whilst I appreciate your remarks regarding Mr Smith’s management of your claim, I note that you are the 1st claimant and I’m not in receipt of an application to change this. Until such a time where the appropriate application is received, I will continue to abide by the information on the claim form you filed. For your awareness, the cost of the application is in the region of £300.00. We just listed everyone as we were all there but as it has taken so long he is older and has health conditions so it is better for my Husband to take over, hence is doing the document dated and signed. I can't find the £300 cost anywhere on the net so was just checking before we go back to them. No. nothing to distinguish as we are all equal and all claimed/completed a form

Brie

Were you all on the same Tui booking?  Or separate ones?  

Surely your husband talking on behalf of the group is not that different than a solicitor talking on behalf of his clients?  

But I have no legal training so am just asking questions as it seems odd that there is no leeway in this.  I would have thought it was up to the court to decide, not Tui.

Okell

Why don't you just get your husband to reply etc in your dad's name?

viola13

Think that's what we have to do. Yes, all on one booking but they have been awkward from the start and it will have been 3.5 years by the time we go to court in October. I just couldn't find anything so thought would ask just in case it was obvious.

sheramber

viola13 said:

Think that's what we have to do. Yes, all on one booking but they have been awkward from the start and it will have been 3.5 years by the time we go to court in October. I just couldn't find anything so thought would ask just in case it was obvious.

I would ask them where you can find details of that charge. 

Are they treating it as a change of lead booker? 

Presumably your holiday is long past. 

TELLIT01

Not directly relevant to the OPs claim but just an example of TUIs methods.  3 couples we know travelled together but booked seperately with TUI.  Flight back was delayed several hours and arrived more than 3 hours late.  All 3 couples claimed compensation.  1 couple were paid almost immediately but the other 2 were not, that despite them all using precisely the same wording in their claims.  They were also all offered different amounts of compensation, with TUI taking ages to respond to questions from the 2 couples who were being messed around.  There was a strong feeling from those couples that TUI seemed to hope they would just go away.

A_Geordie

viola13 said:

Hi. there are 9 of us taking TUI to the small claims court. We have been through mediation which failed. After 3.5 years we are going to court. The claim form we registered at court has all 9 names on. 

If I am reading this right, the claim is what is known as a multiple joint claim on a single claim form. This is where multiple parties to a claim can proceed under a single claim form provided they have the same interest and all claims can be disposed of conveniently at the same time. 

My Dad is the first but he is 79 and all of us have signed a document to say we allow my Husband to be the main liaison point. The court was fine with this at mediation and they spoke to him along with TUI. TUI are now engaging us in emails with offers (which are very poor) but they say as my Dad is the first claimant on the list he as to do all the emails/talking etc.

There is not, from the top of my head, any Civil Procedure Rule that says if there is a multy-party claim on a single, the first named claimant will act as the representative on behalf of all the other claimants. This sounds the TUI legal rep is describing a representative action which is an entirely separate thing to a multi-party claim using a single claim form. Unless the court has made an order to say that your dad is the lead representative on behalf of all other claimants, each claimant is entitled to represent themselves or, in this case, sign a letter of authority nominating your husband as the point of contact for settlement discussions. 

Whilst I appreciate your remarks regarding Mr Smith’s management of your claim, I note that you are the 1st claimant and I’m not in receipt of an application to change this. Until such a time where the appropriate application is received, I will continue to abide by the information on the claim form you filed. For your awareness, the cost of the application is in the region of £300.00.

I think the TUI legal rep is saying that you need to make an application to substitute your dad as the first claimant with your husband. This is done using an N244 and the cost is something like £308. This as far as I'm concerned is absolutely unnecessary and not warranted for the purposes of settlement discussions. It may that the legal rep is correct but I am not able to immediately find anything that supports this position.

Assuming there is no court order that confirms this position, I would be inclined to respond to TUI something along the below. 

Dear TUI Legal Rep, 

In your previous email you mentioned that I am the first claimant in this action and in order for you to respond to Mr Smith, you require an application made to the court to substitute myself as the first claimant with Mr Smith. I have looked into the Civil Procedure Rules and there is nothing I can find that imposes an obligation on the first claimant to act as the representative for all other named claimants on the claim form. This is a multi-party claim using a single claim form in accordance with CPR 19.1 but there is nothing within CPR 19 that suggests the first named claimant automatically becomes a representative for all other claimants, unless the court has made an order to that effect (which it has not). In fact, the first named party is merely initiating the claim in order for all claimants listed in the claim form to be determined and disposed of in the same proceedings.

Each claimant is repsonsible for representing themselves in these proceedings and providing any necessary evidence to support their case. As you have acknowledged, each of the claimants (including myself) have signed a letter of authority appointing Mr Smith as the point of contact in respect of communications and settlement discussions. Therefore, in accordance with the overriding objective please direct any further communications and offers of settlement to Mr Smith who will act as the voice for all claimants. 

If you cannot accept this, then I would ask you to either: (a) provide the relevant rule under the CPR that supports the position that the first named claimant shall be the automatic representative under a multi-party claim and to change the representative, a substitution application to the court is required or (b) please ensure that you communicate with each claimant individually as regards to their claim against TUI, including any offers of settlement or otherwise as I do not have authority to represent or act on behalf of the other claimants. 

I reserve the right to bring this email to the courts attention on the question of costs and as to your conduct in this matter which, on the face of it, appears to be obstructive, unnecessary and without foundation other than an arbitrary decision made by you in an attempt to frustrate the legal process and/or genuine attempts to resolve this dispute for all parties involved.

viola13

Thank you all. Yes the holiday was in June 2022. I thought she meant lead passenger (which is a charge of about £50) but she states lead claimant. They have stated multiple things that are incorrect which we have evidence of so I am not surprised. Anyway, we will continue as we are and use the above in a reply.

A_Geordie

Thank you for your time, that is very helpful

A_Geordie

Good luck.

Just as an FYI, the charge for changing the lead passenger on the contract is a separate matter to legal proceedings. If the TUI legal rep ever suggested that this needed to be paid before they can speak to whoever is authorised to act on behalf of the group in the proceedings, this would more than likely breach the legal rep's professional regultory obligations - so don't pay it.