What time limit is considered 'promptly?'

[Jackisin]

For applying to set aside a Judgement?

I've read 14 days.

Any precedent here?

[Amethyst]

It depends on the circumstances, when did you find out about the judgment you want to apply to set aside ?

[Jackisin]

Oh I won a case and it has been four weeks since the Default Judgment was sent out. Wanted to make reasonable sure they are out of time re: promptness of any application.

[Amethyst]

It depends if the Defendant is aware of the claim and the default judgment... have they communicated at all through the process ? the correct service address has been used? etc. Have you brought the judgment to their attention ? requested payment ?

[Jackisin]

Yes they must have been aware as I already took them to court once using the address they have listed on Ccmpanies House, and won.

They then paid.

I also emailed them a week after Judgment, with a copy of the Judgement, and again last week.

They have yet to respond.

[Amethyst]

If you have only emailed I would put it in writing hard copy as well - make it signed for so you have evidence that they are aware. Presumably you are considering enforcement options ? Have you checked the company is still operating /active ?

[Jackisin]

It is as of today and I doubt they would be going bankrupt any time soon. And I used getnotify today and received instant notofactikns of emails being read.

In the circumstances, would you say two weeks was a fair definition of prompt?

[Amethyst]

Do they accept service by email ? Have you previously agreed service by email with them?

To give yourself back up I would put something in a letter - it's just more straighforward to justify in court later should it come to a late set aside application - if you're thinking of enforcement you can say in the letter that you will be asking court for a warrant of control if you haven't received payment by XX date (7 or 14 days time ) at which point the sum owed will increase by £xx ( whatever the warrant fee is nowadays) and there may be further enforcement agent fees added. Then there's no argument that they weren't aware when the bailiff does show up ( if you go that route). Is the registered office address their trading address or just a mailing address/accountants ?

It's the court they'd have to convince that they have made the application promptly, and the more evidence you have to show that they were more than aware of the judgment, and the more reasonable you appear to have been, the better you chances of succeeding in denying the set aside.

Also have you checked with the court that an application hasn't already been filed putting a bar on enforcement.

There isn't a line in the sand right answer, there's a case where 30 days was deemed prompt but only just ( a litigant in person ) and another where it was a represented company where 28 days was deemed too long. The court holds the discretion.

[Jackisin]

Okay thanks. Checked today and no application has been made also we previously have been corresponding by email so I think it's okay.

Thanks for your advice des8!

[R0b]

I think you mean to refer to Amethyst, but I'm sure she won't mind

I'm not sure if you read my guide on setting aside a default judgment (link here) but it is really dependent on the circumstances. My guide does say that if an application is not submitted within 14 days then you could be in trouble but I also pointed out that a High Court judge agreed to set aside a default judgment after 30 days (defendant took time to seek legal advice) though commented that it was dangerously close to the line of not being prompt.

Even if you submit an application within 7 days, the facts and circumstances might dictate that it isn't fast enough and should have been sooner. Do bear in mind that not being prompt is fatal to an application of setting aside a default judgment but does require explanation from the defendant as to why it was not made promptly. Even if there is no reasonable excuse a court may still find that it is in the interests of justice and fairness that the set aside should be granted in all the circumstances.

In short, a judge does have a rather wide discretion when it comes to setting aside default judgment under CPR 13.3.

[Jackisin]

lol many thanks all.

[Jackisin]

"another where it was a represented company where 28 days was deemed too long"

Amethyst any chance you could point me to this case?

[R0b]

I can't remember the name of the case but I can point you to some cases that contradict, proving that it depends on the circumstances of each case.

Regency Rolls V Carnall [2000] EWCA Civ 379 - The court held that 30 days was fatal to an application to set aside. A key quote from this judgment is Lord Justice Simon Brown:

At first blush it might be thought that any inappropriate delay whatever on the part of an applicant would require that he be found not to have acted promptly. Yet such a construction would carry with it the Draconian consequence that, even if he had a good, perhaps compelling, reason for not having attended the trial, and a reasonable — perhaps, indeed, excellent — prospect of success at trial, the court would still be bound to refuse him a fresh trial. I would accordingly construe "promptly" here to require, not that an applicant has been guilty of no needless delay whatever, but rather that he has acted with all reasonable celerity in the circumstances

Regency Rolls judgment here

Mullock v Price t/a Elms Hotel Restaurant [2009] EWCA 1222 - The court held that in this case the defendant did not act promptly, and adopted the the definition of Simon Brown LJ above.

Mullock judgment here

Tideland Ltd v Westminster City Council [2015] EWHC 2710 (TCC) - a more recent case where the judge set aside default judgment after a two month period. Reasons were that the defendant had a reasonable prospect of successfully defending the claim, the defendant had acted with some reasonable speed given the circumstances and (perhaps crucially) if the court were to allow the default judgment to stand, it would deprive the defendant of a good chance of defending the claim.

[Amethyst]

Thanks R0b, those cases are useful, and really back up the 'there isn't a right answer'. All a claimant/default judgment holder is ensure a Defendent is made aware of the judgment as early as possible, and as evidentially as possible, so the clock is running and any money later spent instigating enforcement isn't going to give rise to a successful application to set aside.

Gordon Exall has a few decent articles around the subject which reference many other cases - see https://civillitigationbrief.wordpre...mportant-case/ and https://civillitigationbrief.wordpre...ay-promptness/ for example

[pt2537]

For applying to set aside a Judgement?

I've read 14 days.

Any precedent here?

Regency Rolls Ltd & Anor v Carnall [2000] EWCA Civ 379 (16 October 2000)

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2000/379.html

45........ I would accordingly construe "promptly" here to require, not that an applicant has been guilty of no needless delay whatever, but rather that he has acted with all reasonable celerity in the circumstances. That said, I too would regard the appellant here as having failed even in that obligation. 30 days was altogether too long a delay before making this Part 39 application. Having regard to the long, and generally unsatisfactory, history of the proceedings to that point, the application plainly could, and in my judgment reasonably should, have been issued well before it was.