Acknowledge of Service without a Particulars of Claim - CCMCC

[jaguarsuk]

Thanks Jaguarsuk. We are just in the process of requesting that extension now.

Can I just check one thing. The letter that the expert sent that i enclosed redacted a few posts earlier....he has entitled it letter of instruction. Does that mean that he is saying that our letter of instruction is put to one side and this is the formal letter ? I just got confused after reading it again as the basis of instruction doesn't mention the schedules.

You titled your letter "Letter of Instruction," so it is the done thing in correspondence to reply with the same title to ensure the recipient is aware of the subject of it. Usually one would put "RE:" before the title meaning "regards," but the expert has missed that.

[Ssssssssss]

You titled your letter "Letter of Instruction," so it is the done thing in correspondence to reply with the same title to ensure the recipient is aware of the subject of it. Usually one would put "RE:" before the title meaning "regards," but the expert has missed that.

Hi Jaguarsuk, We decided we would ask the other side quickly and in a very brief email for an extension. If they didn't agree one we were going to do exactly as you said and write to the court for one. We got this today along with the letter of instruction they sent the expert. They didn't say what other enclosures they had sent other than we had seen them already so i am assuming they sent their doctored photos.

I'm not proposing to go into an argument with them but not sure what they are saying here regarding timescales. Shall we just write to the court now - otherwise won't it end up being an open ended thing ?

See attached

[jaguarsuk]

I’m on my phone and so won’t get opportunity to read those until Monday, can’t seem to view pdf docs on here on mobile.

I did did say to simply write to the court to ask for an extension, you don’t need their agreement or permission because you are in possession of facts that necessitate an extension.

All you have achieved by writing to them is delaying asking the court for an extension until a week or less before the deadline along with their solicitor sprouting more rubbish.

Stop writing to them needlessly, they have made it clear they don’t want to settle or even be reasonable and therefore litigate in the place for litigation - court!

They want the deadline to be missed because then you have no evidence and your counterclaim falls apart, of course they want to argue back and forth of whether there should be an extension without actually commuting to anything.

[Ssssssssss]

I’m on my phone and so won’t get opportunity to read those until Monday, can’t seem to view pdf docs on here on mobile.

I did did say to simply write to the court to ask for an extension, you don’t need their agreement or permission because you are in possession of facts that necessitate an extension.

All you have achieved by writing to them is delaying asking the court for an extension until a week or less before the deadline along with their solicitor sprouting more rubbish.

Stop writing to them needlessly, they have made it clear they don’t want to settle or even be reasonable and therefore litigate in the place for litigation - court!

They want the deadline to be missed because then you have no evidence and your counterclaim falls apart, of course they want to argue back and forth of whether there should be an extension without actually commuting to anything.

Thanks Jaguarsuk.

I wonder if the phone issue might be something to do with whether its fully logged into the site or not ? I have gotten that a few times and I've had to close everything down and re-log in and use chrome ? Does it look like it is going to open the PDF but then a blank page appears instead ? If i can help i will - just let me know.

Thanks - I'm sorry i wrote to them and didn't just write to the court as you said. I guess there was a tiny bit of hope left in me that they would be reasonable but that has now gone :-(

Yes, let me know. Their letter is just saying we don't agree as we don't see that one is needed or something along those lines i think.
I'll draft up something for the court over the weekend so it is ready to go.

[Ssssssssss]

I’m on my phone and so won’t get opportunity to read those until Monday, can’t seem to view pdf docs on here on mobile.

I did did say to simply write to the court to ask for an extension, you don’t need their agreement or permission because you are in possession of facts that necessitate an extension.

All you have achieved by writing to them is delaying asking the court for an extension until a week or less before the deadline along with their solicitor sprouting more rubbish.

Stop writing to them needlessly, they have made it clear they don’t want to settle or even be reasonable and therefore litigate in the place for litigation - court!

They want the deadline to be missed because then you have no evidence and your counterclaim falls apart, of course they want to argue back and forth of whether there should be an extension without actually commuting to anything.

Hello Jaguarsuk. Thanks for replying on Friday - put things into perspective for us.

OK Monday morning. I've done the following

1. I sent urgent letter via email to the court asking for the extension. I then walked around to the court ( as its not far from me). I went to the urgent issues counter. First they said i needed a consent order. Then i said well can i just ask for further directions then because we already asked the other side about an extension. They then went and spoke to someone else who said we needed to file a formal application at a cost of £100. I then said, well its a joint expert so can we ask for further directions instead then. He then got someone else to come to the counter. She read the letter and asked if the letter was from the expert himself. I said yes. She then said well that should be fine then. I'll see what we can do and refer it to the judge and give you a call as soon as possible or send you a letter with courts decision. She said if its from the expert then they can look into it without a formal application or something like that i think.

I said we had filed our instructions letters etc with the court previously so they were on file ( the ones you told me to file )

I also asked if they needed a copy of the other sides letter not agreeing to the extension and they said not just yet but we could file a copy with the court later maybe.

2. I've drafted letter to expert BUT not sent it yet. Stating we are happy to proceed. We have asked court for extension. Send us the invoice. We will pay our half.

3. I've drafted letter to other side ( not sure whether to bother sending it) saying :- "We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 16^thAugust 2019. With regards to an extension, we are not clear on the approach you describe and so due to the deadline being so close, we have now written to court to ask for the necessary extension along with a copy of the experts letter."

How does that all sound and the letters the other side sent us on Friday.

Thanks in advance !

[jaguarsuk]

Hello Jaguarsuk. Thanks for replying on Friday - put things into perspective for us.

OK Monday morning. I've done the following

1. I sent urgent letter via email to the court asking for the extension. I then walked around to the court ( as its not far from me). I went to the urgent issues counter. First they said i needed a consent order. Then i said well can i just ask for further directions then because we already asked the other side about an extension. They then went and spoke to someone else who said we needed to file a formal application at a cost of £100. I then said, well its a joint expert so can we ask for further directions instead then. He then got someone else to come to the counter. She read the letter and asked if the letter was from the expert himself. I said yes. She then said well that should be fine then. I'll see what we can do and refer it to the judge and give you a call as soon as possible or send you a letter with courts decision. She said if its from the expert then they can look into it without a formal application or something like that i think.

I said we had filed our instructions letters etc with the court previously so they were on file ( the ones you told me to file )

I also asked if they needed a copy of the other sides letter not agreeing to the extension and they said not just yet but we could file a copy with the court later maybe.

2. I've drafted letter to expert BUT not sent it yet. Stating we are happy to proceed. We have asked court for extension. Send us the invoice. We will pay our half.

3. I've drafted letter to other side ( not sure whether to bother sending it) saying :- "We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 16^thAugust 2019. With regards to an extension, we are not clear on the approach you describe and so due to the deadline being so close, we have now written to court to ask for the necessary extension along with a copy of the experts letter."

How does that all sound and the letters the other side sent us on Friday.

Thanks in advance !

As I expected their letter is all waffle and no substance, you have done the right thing and I wouldn't even bother with point 3. You asked them to agree, they refused and they'll find out your actions when the court issues directions.

[Ssssssssss]

As I expected their letter is all waffle and no substance, you have done the right thing and I wouldn't even bother with point 3. You asked them to agree, they refused and they'll find out your actions when the court issues directions.

Thanks Jaguarsuk. We won't bother with point 3 - you are absolutely right. It feels good to just go back to the court. I suspect it won't be the last of it as i'm sure if the court grants the extension, they will continue to either protest this experts appointment based on his increased cost or they will just not respond until the new deadline runs out. One step at a time i guess though. Once we hear from the court, I'll let you know what they say and hopefully if the extension is granted we can just mail the expert saying to send us our half of the invoice so he can get on with it.

[jaguarsuk]

mail the expert saying to send us our half of the invoice so he can get on with it.

I'd do that any way, sooner he gets on with it the sooner he's done.

[Ssssssssss]

I'd do that any way, sooner he gets on with it the sooner he's done.

Hi Jaguarsuk.

So we sent a letter to the expert on thursday afternoon last week (22nd august) saying we have told the court to extend deadlines and also please sent us invoice and we are happy to proceed. We haven't received any response yet from the expert and the other side were copied in but we haven't heard anything from them either. The expert can't start until both sides pay though so if the other side don't answer him then he won't do anything i guess. It would be nice if he answered though although i know its been bank holiday weekend so we haven't followed it up yet.

We have also now today received an order from court dated 28th August 2019. It says

"Upon reading the attached letter from the proposed single joint expert in relation to the timescales in which he can report. It is ordered that:-
1. The order of Deputy District Judge x is varied at paragraph 4 to provide for the single joint experts report to be filed by 18th Sept at 4pm.

2. This order having been made by the court persuant either to rule 3.3 or rule 23.8 of the CPR 1998, any party affected by this order has the right to apply to set it aside, vary or stay it by application made not more than 7 days after this order was served on the party making the application.

Dated 21st August 2019."

What should we do. We should probably sent the order copy to the expert but given neither he or the other side have done anything so far and the other side haven't signed the experts letter or requested an invoice be sent to proceed, we are at a loss as to how to force this forwards now ? The 18th is also cutting it fine i guess too

[jaguarsuk]

Hi Jaguarsuk.

So we sent a letter to the expert on thursday afternoon last week (22nd august) saying we have told the court to extend deadlines and also please sent us invoice and we are happy to proceed. We haven't received any response yet from the expert and the other side were copied in but we haven't heard anything from them either. The expert can't start until both sides pay though so if the other side don't answer him then he won't do anything i guess. It would be nice if he answered though although i know its been bank holiday weekend so we haven't followed it up yet.

We have also now today received an order from court dated 28th August 2019. It says

"Upon reading the attached letter from the proposed single joint expert in relation to the timescales in which he can report. It is ordered that:-
1. The order of Deputy District Judge x is varied at paragraph 4 to provide for the single joint experts report to be filed by 18th Sept at 4pm.

2. This order having been made by the court persuant either to rule 3.3 or rule 23.8 of the CPR 1998, any party affected by this order has the right to apply to set it aside, vary or stay it by application made not more than 7 days after this order was served on the party making the application.

Dated 21st August 2019."

What should we do. We should probably sent the order copy to the expert but given neither he or the other side have done anything so far and the other side haven't signed the experts letter or requested an invoice be sent to proceed, we are at a loss as to how to force this forwards now ? The 18th is also cutting it fine i guess too

You'll need to send the expert a copy of the order and ask them to confirm that they can meet the deadline or inform the court why they can't.

If the other side don't pay to prevent the expert being able to produce a report you would seek directions from the court, but a judge is going to see it for what it is and that will only reflect badly on the other side.

Time is marching on and it might be wise to perhaps telephone the expert to follow up with them and find out what is going on.

[Ssssssssss]

You'll need to send the expert a copy of the order and ask them to confirm that they can meet the deadline or inform the court why they can't.

If the other side don't pay to prevent the expert being able to produce a report you would seek directions from the court, but a judge is going to see it for what it is and that will only reflect badly on the other side.

Time is marching on and it might be wise to perhaps telephone the expert to follow up with them and find out what is going on.

Thanks Jaguarsuk. I'll send it over to the expert right now. I did just call them too but he was out. I'll try again later today. He's off tomorrow too He's very busy it seems.

When you say we would have to seek directions from the court again - would this have to be as a formal application or just a letter to the court outlining the issue ?

[jaguarsuk]

Thanks Jaguarsuk. I'll send it over to the expert right now. I did just call them too but he was out. I'll try again later today. He's off tomorrow too He's very busy it seems.

When you say we would have to seek directions from the court again - would this have to be as a formal application or just a letter to the court outlining the issue ?

You would have to make an application to extend the deadline further and that the court order pursuant to CPR 35.8(4) the amount quoted by the expert as the limit of their fees and the parties to pay the amount into the court within 7 days. Then the expert can be instructed, invoice the court and get on with it.

[Ssssssssss]

You would have to make an application to extend the deadline further and that the court order pursuant to CPR 35.8(4) the amount quoted by the expert as the limit of their fees and the parties to pay the amount into the court within 7 days. Then the expert can be instructed, invoice the court and get on with it.

OK - I;ll draft something up.

I just spoke to the experts secretary who said she would have a word with the expert and find out what is happening but that they couldn't proceed without the other sides signed paperwork anyway but they could chase it up. She said she would let us know either way. Fingers crossed he doesn't pull out completely as a result

[jaguarsuk]

OK - I;ll draft something up.

I just spoke to the experts secretary who said she would have a word with the expert and find out what is happening but that they couldn't proceed without the other sides signed paperwork anyway but they could chase it up. She said she would let us know either way. Fingers crossed he doesn't pull out completely as a result

Wait and see what the response to the chase up is, no need to be drafting an application unless it's required.

[Ssssssssss]

Ok cool. Expert has given other side a deadline of Monday to respond. So will see what comes of it as you say.