Re-scheduling final hearing

[Guest]

Hi I hope that you can help me.
I am the claimant in Civil court proceedings, money claim, with the final hearing at the end of January.
it has been a long, hard stressful struggle as a litigant in person and it’s almost, finally over.
however my precious Grandmother (more like my mother, she brought me up) has just passed away and it’s hit me so hard.
I can not focus or concentrate, I am in a state and the funeral is only a couple of days before the hearing.

i am feeling drained and dreadful atm so I went to the GP about it today. The sick certificate he gave me says ‘depression/bereavement’ and it dates up to 2 days after the hearing...

so I was wondering under what circumstances will a court allow a re-schedule of a final hearing? And when will it be re-listed for please?

[2222]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. These losses can knock you sideways.

It's a decision for the court whether to adjourn the hearing on health grounds, and it's by no means a foregone conclusion. The judge may not be sympathetic and may expect you to soldier on. If you google "ill health court adjournment", you'll see that it's not as straightforward as simply sending the sick note into the court and automatically getting an adjournment.

It is a bit of a lottery, because some judges will be more sympathetic to depression as an illness than others. If you really can't deal with the case right now, you may be best off to get a solicitor to deal with the adjournment application.

Is there any chance of a settlement of the case instead of the hearing?

[Guest]

2222 Thank you. It has knocked me for six and it isn’t simply just the passing of a wonderful, caring, amazing lady that I was proud to call my Grandmother, as if that wasn’t bad enough. There all all sorts of family issues, feuds and things going on plus the way I discovered of her passing was pretty awful. I won’t go into detail, it’s too hard.

As for the case, I wish that he would settle. He’s been as difficult and unreasonable as he could possibly be. He agreed to mediation then refused and I sent a draft consent order without prejudice to him and he has refused that so no chance of any settlement unfortunately.
I am a litigant in person, it’s a small claim track so no solicitor so I don’t have one to do the application for an adjournment.

[2222]

You could have a solicitor just for the adjournment application. But of course it would cost money.

dare I ask how much you are claiming?

[Guest]

The initial default judgment was for £1800 when he failed to respond. It is now over £2,00 with enforcement costs that were started before he applied to get the judgement set aside.
I will also be asking for costs of £500 with a costs schedule due to the unreasonable behaviour of the Defendant.

[Guest]

Anyone please help? I need some information to somehow make a decision about how to proceed?

[slainte caragh]

all I could find was this https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ication-notice

I have no idea if this will be acceptable, but I will tag Ula pt2537 Amethyst Celestine and Peridot

They may know more, and I am so sorry for your troubles.

[Peridot]

Hi Peace1,

Sorry to hear of the loss of your grandmother. It must be hard for you.
Does the other side have a solicitor or are they acting as Litigant in person too? First instance you should write to them and ask if they would agree due to a death in the family and the funeral date being so close to the hearing. If they agree then you would need this in writing from them to confirm to the Court they have no issue with the hearing being moved.

From your previous post it seems unlikely you will even receive a response but don't panic. You can apply to have the hearing moved yourself although you would of course be responsible for the application fee for this. The N244 is what you need if you decide to make the application and you will be asking the Court under CPR 3.1.(2)(b) to in it's discretion agree to an adjournment of the date set for the hearing and a new date to be listed.

However, the Court's are reluctant to relist hearings and they are under no obligation to move the date. It may depend what judge considers the application I'm afraid which doesn't help you.

If the matter has been ongoing for a while do you have everything in order paperwork wise. Is the Defendant likely to show? How much preparation do you need to do to be ready for the hearing?

I have found this website which may help you decide what options you have:- https://www.smallclaimscourtgenie.co...-hearing-date/

So yes you could apply but there is no guarantee the Court would be minded to change the date and if they did it will very much depend on the Court timetable as to when the relisting would take place I'm afraid.