strike out a claim

[unclebobby]

Hello,

I am being taken to court for non payment of fees by my accountant. He did some work for me, but it was substandard and I refused to pay him the full amount. I received a notice of allocation to the small claims track (hearing) in December and it stated that the claimant had till the 8th feb to pay the court fee. On the 7th feb, the claimant wrote to me asking me to settle his costs before he paid the court fee the next day, but I refused.

It is now the 22nd and I had heard nothing about this from the court. However the claimant wrote to the court today asking for a postponement for the supply of his evidence (which was due today) as his mrs has gone into hospital.

This is unfair, I have not been made aware that the court case was going ahead (by the court admin). Nor was I told by the claimant that he would definitely be putting in a claim. I am now at a disadvantage as I have not been given adequate time to prepare- compared to the defendant.

Can anyone advise if I can get this thrown out as a result of the above, or any other court rules that the court admin and claimants must abide by, in terms of informing the defendant within set deadlines?

many thanks

[unclebobby]

anyone?

[Kati]

tagging Amethyst Diana M

[warwick65]

Hi
So you knew there was a claim because a claim was issued. Did you receive directions as to when witness statements were to be exchanged etc . I assume he copied you in to his request for a postponement or did the court let you know.

[Amethyst]

Normally the date for exchange of witness statements is given in the same document that gives the date of the hearing and date for the hearing fees to be paid - so that document you had in December. It seems he has paid the hearing fee and asked court for more time to prepare his witness statement. Your witness statement would have been due the same date as his ( normally 14 days before hearing in small claims track ).

[unclebobby]

Hello,

thanks for the above. The issue I have about sending my documents before the claimant, is that I am in essence delivering my case before him, which allows him time to strengthen his case. Surely it is unfair to expect the defendant to defend his position before the claimant?! It would be like an arrested man answering police questions before the victim has given a statement!

Also may I ask if the case could be struck out if the claimant has put the wrong name in the court paperwork. The claimant has put his own name down instead of his company name (which is who I had a contract with). Can this be used to get the matter struck out? Any case law that I could use?

Also, the claimant gave the wrong amount that he says I owe. He has since written to the court stating the mistake and giving the correct figure. The problem is that he never once gave me a breakdown for the work for his time. Any thoughts on this?

Finally, with this being a service, can I use the consumer rights act 2015 to argue that reasonable skill and care should have been used? Essentially my accountant was working as an arbitrator. He made the mistake of not checking the contract between me and the other party. Had he bothered to check the contract, he would have seen that there was no clause available for him to have jurisdiction. My argument is that he has failed to use reasonable skill and care when first getting the contract. I believe it would have been reasonable for him to have read the short contract, determined that there was no jurisdiction for him and then charged me say 1 hour of his time. Instead he wants to charge me for 11 hours of his time, essentially trying to see if he had jurisdiction! I do not think that is a reasonable way to provide a service. Anyone have any thoughts?

Many thanks

[unclebobby]

bump

[unclebobby]

anyone?