Stalemate on agreement to settle out of court

[man123]

I'm currently involved in a civil case with a company in which I am the Claimant.

I have a default judgement against them, but they have applied to have it set aside. The hearing is due in 10 days, however, we are close to reaching an agreement out of court.

The problem is that, at the moment, they will only agree to pay me (nearly half the amount the CCJ is for) upon receipt of the notice of discontinuance from the court. From what I understand, this will give me no protection at all if they decide not to pay me after the notice if filed, and I will have to pay the court fee.

What I have put forward to them is either:

1. They pay me the agreed amount and I will then file.

2. They draft a consent order, file the notice themselves and pay the cost for filing.

Both of which they are refusing to do and are insistent that I file before they pay me.

Could anyone suggest a way forward please? A friend has suggest using Transpact online as a separate account for the funds to be transferred to, and then only released on receipt of the notice of discontinuance. Has anyone had any experience using Transpact?

Thank you

[jaguarsuk]

On what grounds are they asking for the order to be set aside? Is it a Solicitor you're dealing with or the Claimant directly?

If they are agreeing to settle they must not be confident they can have the order set aside and/or even if they are that they can defeat your claim.

Firstly they have to get the judgement set aside for you to discontinue the claim. So, I wouldn't rush into anything as if they don't attend the hearing or fail to get it set aside you have a judgement you can then move to enforcement for the full amount.

At the end of the day you have to ask yourself who this settlement most benefits, from what you have written above it seems them. If it most benefits them, then it's just a matter of telling them to do the leg work or you'll proceed as planned.

If they want to settle I would advise you get a Consent Order as then if they renege on it you can return to the court proceedings to have it paid.

[pt2537]

I'm currently involved in a civil case with a company in which I am the Claimant.

I have a default judgement against them, but they have applied to have it set aside. The hearing is due in 10 days, however, we are close to reaching an agreement out of court.

The problem is that, at the moment, they will only agree to pay me (nearly half the amount the CCJ is for) upon receipt of the notice of discontinuance from the court. From what I understand, this will give me no protection at all if they decide not to pay me after the notice if filed, and I will have to pay the court fee.

What I have put forward to them is either:

1. They pay me the agreed amount and I will then file.

2. They draft a consent order, file the notice themselves and pay the cost for filing.

Both of which they are refusing to do and are insistent that I file before they pay me.

Could anyone suggest a way forward please? A friend has suggest using Transpact online as a separate account for the funds to be transferred to, and then only released on receipt of the notice of discontinuance. Has anyone had any experience using Transpact?

Thank you

Hi there

It may be helpful to know what their grounds are for applying to set aside the Judgment first.

On the discontinuance point my initial thoughts are HELL NO!!! you discontinue you lose and whats more you could per CPR 38 have to pay their costs too.

If they want to do a deal to set aside the Judgment then this could be done in a consent order that sets aside judgment then you could have a clause that allows for the Defendant to pay you money as agreed.

That would mean they no longer have a CCJ, you have an order that they have to pay and if you word it right you could enforce the order in court if they refuse to pay later

I would not discontinue this claim at this stage no way