Application to set aside judgement although judgement hasn't yet been made

[Cornflake22]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the site so I'm still trying to find my way around so please bear with me. Here is my scenario:
Due to Royal Mail delivering our post very late, I missed the deadline by a week for replying to a claim from the solicitor of a company who did some very poor workmanship at our property, which I can prove by way of video and photographic evidence and expert survey. They want us to pay a very big final balance but we are obviously wanting to defend the claim.
I contacted the court literally as soon as I received the claim. They were brilliant and talked me through what happens as I have never had to deal with anything like this before. I could hardly speak as I was crying so much but they were very patient with me. I was advised that a judgement had not yet been made, but that the application for judgement could be in a queue to be processed. I then managed to get some legal advice and was advised to contact the claimants solicitor straight away to ask if they would give us extra time to get our defence together. I did this but the solicitor confirmed that they had in fact already applied for judgement. I was then advised to complete form N244 which I have done and sent in, outlining the fact that we have had a lot of problems with our post and that we feel we have a good defence. I have been researching the process and seemingly one of the things the judge will look at before making his decision as to whether the judgement can be set aside is if we have a good defence. My question is do I send in details of our defence at this stage or should I wait for the hearing?
Also should I go back to the claimants solicitor to ask if she will consent to set aside the judgement? (I am presuming the judgement will be made at any time in the next few days as it is in the court backlog queue of approximately five days).
I have currently got a claim going through for legal services through our household insurance so I am trying to deal with with this myself in the interim period. I am worried sick so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance if anyone can give me any advice.

[Amethyst]

Hi Cornflake, Apologies for missing your post.

It does sound like you have got things back in order quickly after finding out about this claim.

I sounds like you have done enough in your set aside application about what the claim was and why you wanted to defend it. YOu will be able to expand on anything at the hearing if necessary.

You may get directions from the court when they transfer the case and set a hearing date to provide a draft defence or a witness statement, but most often they deal with the set aside hearing first, and then ask you to file your defence within 14/21 days etc.

How much approx is the claim ?