Vehicle found to be non road legal

[Getitdone]

So the defendant rejects the claim ( still via LD)
They're suggesting mediation.
We suggested this months ago and it was completely ignored and immediately after that communication LD sent communication stating the matter was closed.
I understand that the Judge will want to see that there's been an attempt to resolve the matter outside court , but , as LD and the defendant are still insisting that ( from the advert text and a whatsapp message) we knew the vehicle didn't have a cat , I can't really see the point of mediation as it would appear that they're not going to alter their position and neither are we!

There's a whole load of legal jargon regarding the claim we submitted not meeting x,y,z , plus they've also said their preferable County Court is Ipswich for ease of attendance of witnesses ( one ,who presumably is the person who sent the whatsapp message )
The dealer is in Colchester but claimant's permanent address is in the north east with temporary work accommodation in the south east . Presumably the company director ( whose signature is in the form ) lives in Suffolk.
Does the claimant have any say in a court preference?

[des8]

Regarding mediation, there is no point in that if either party is not prepared to compromise.
Not agreeing to mediation will have no affect on the outcome of the trial

Regarding the allocation of court allocation you should request the court nearest to you as you are a consumer litigant in person claiming against a limited company. Normally cases are heard in the defendant's local court, but that is not set in stone
If it is allocated to Ipswich immediately write to that court asking for venue to be changed.

[Getitdone]

Thanks des8 Having had a look, Doesn't seem like anyone involved lives in Suffolk.
They say the defendant runs a small business. He actually runs 2 in addition to the car sales business, all based in and around Colchester.

In the response document, signed by the MD of the company along with the statement of truth, they state

Paragraph 3.6 is not admitted. The Claimant was given notice that the vehicle was remodified for track use and was then advised if he wanted the vehicle to be made road legal which the Claimant refused.

Paragraph 3.3 is admitted save that insofar as ‘track car’ was not
specifically in the advert. the advertisement provided an extensive description including various stages of remodifications of the vehicle. Furthermore, the Defendant confirmed via WhatsApp with the Claimant that the vehicle had
performance for track use and the performance can be reduced to a road
legal requirement which the Claimant confirmed to ‘leave it as it is’.

The statements in bold are untrue.

The WhatsApp message wording was
reduced to a more road legal level.

To me, that doesn't mean that the car wasn't road legal.
Regardless, they were talking about the vehicles performance, not engine emissions.


.

[des8]

It is what is to be expected.

Your witness statement and exhibits will refute their contention, and it will then be down who comes across more convincing in court

Suggest you start drafting your witness statement.
it might not be needed for sometime, but you don't want to leave it to the last minute and the more time spent on it, the better it should be!

[Getitdone]

Thank you.
The court document asks us to provide a reason for refusing mediation.
If we tick " other" we can provide our reason. Aside from having tried to resolve the issue with the defendant , and paid £200 for advice from a solicitor (in advance of sending the LBA and after they rejected mediation) , we've no faith that the defendant ,having now signed a response which contains untruths, would be truthful in mediation.
How would we phrase that on the court document , or doesn't it matter/ is it not worth selecting "other" and writing anything ?
We could select that we've tried to resolve it already .

If the case ends up being heard in court, can somebody (other than a solicitor) represent/ appear instead of the claimant ?
The claimant is airline cabin crew and often away for 2/3 days at a time. He has no control over his work roster ,except to request annual leave ,but at short notice there's no guarantee that it would be granted, especially if the date fell over the busiest summer months.They're talking about 20-30 weeks for a court date.


Thank you again.

[des8]

Just state that you are not prepared to accept less than you think you are owed, and it would thus be a waste of mediator's time.
Add that earlier attempts for mediation pre claim had been rebuffed by defendant.

Regarding right of audience, basically you need a solicitor.
Explain to the court your quandary and perhaps seek a court date next October? or agree to mediation and see if you can come to an acceptable compromise?

[Getitdone]

We've had an email stating that a Judge has reviewed the claim without a hearing and it's been transferred to the small claims track at Durham County Court.
It states the case will be scheduled for a triage call at the next available date.
Any idea of the purpose of the call? Presumably this isn't the actual final hearing ?
Thank you.

[des8]

The purpose of the call is to allow the court to determine if your case can be dealt with via telephone or zoom, what directions need to be given for a final hearing etc.
It is possible for the judge to determine the matter having heard from both parties, so it could turn out to be the final hearing

[Manxman]

Getitdone - would I be right in thinking that this car was bought by your son? If so, did you actually witness any of the negotiations and discussions about the car prior to purchase? If you didn't, are you confident that there is no possibility at all that the dealer could provide evidence that the track car/lack of CAT issues were discussed with your son prior to the sale and that he knew about them?

Presumably he knew he was buying a stage three modified performance car - didn't he read the invoice and query the fact that the car was described as a "track car" as soon as he got the invoice? I know nothing about cars but I would have queried that immediately - not waited until I'd got an MOT done.

[Getitdone]

des8 thanks again and apologies for late thanks.
So will we be expected to have our witness statements fully prepared by then?

[Getitdone]

Manxman yes, he knew he was buying a Stage 3 performance car. That iwas on all the adverts, however Track car wasn't on any of them. Neither did they say the car wasn't road legal. In one message they said it was "set up for the track" , but they were talking about the power, not emissions.
They were trying to sell a car without a cat as a road legal car and "fudging it" by calling it a "track" car ( on the invoice) .

I do wonder what they would have said if he'd asked what they meant by "track car" , bearing in mind that they specifically sent him a video ( one of 2 available on the internet) of the car being driven on a public road ( NOT on a track) and according to the messages between the dealer and my son, the car's never been on the track, although according to one message the power is "set up for the track "

The car at one point was even advertised as AA approved but they're only an AA approved dealer. Obviously that's pretty meaningless.
If, as you're suggesting, he knew it didn't have a cat, why did he take it to an " unknown" testing garage while he was away from home ? If he'd known it had no cat then he knows plenty of people up here who I'm sure would have been able to tell him where to take it to get a pass.

Finding out it didn't have a cat like that put him in a really difficult position with 2 days to get the work done and car retested before he was back at work for 8 days.

He never spoke to anyone on the phone. All done by email and then messenger. He collected the car and all the paperwork was on the passenger seat. He drove it away.

[des8]

des8 thanks again and apologies for late thanks.
So will we be expected to have our witness statements fully prepared by then?

Not unless the court has so directed

[Getitdone]

So we have a date at the end of this month for a remote hearing
When the court provided the date we sent a letter to the dealer suggesting we settle before court for £1000 .
Email received from LD today says their clients position remains unchanged but because the amount to defend at 2 hearings will be about £500, they're offering £500 .
Am I correct in thinking that LD can't "appear" for the defendant?

[des8]

Lawdata are not a firm of solicitors registered with SRA, altho' this website (https://www.solicitors-barristers.co...e/lawdata-ltd/)
confusingly describes them as thus, and at one point gives a reference number (22433) which turns out to be allocated to a non practising solicitor (a Leanne May Clark)

As they are not solicitors they may not represent their client,( without permission of the court which is unlikely to be given!)

If the dealer does appear with someone in tow I would be ready to ask about their right of audience, as if this was a firm of solicitors planning to appear I would expect costs well north of £500.

This seems more to me an attempt to lower their potential losses

[Getitdone]

des8 apologies for the delay and thank you again for you invaluable assistance.
As we thought.
Do you have any guidance regarding specific points the Judge may wish to clarify? We're aware that the Judge hasn't seen any evidence .
As the defendant's position is that the consumer was aware that the vehicle wasn't road legal and had had the cat removed by way of 1.the description of stages of modification included in adverts
2. the WhatsApp messages regarding the vehicle's road legality

might the Judge focus on these issues?

Or is this hearing more likely to be about trying to get the parties to agree on a settlement?