Received a claim, claimant unknown!

[michaeldigby]

Hi there, hope all is well.

Received a claim, the claimant name and address are both unknown. They don't state they are representing anyone.

In this instance what do I respond to the claim, do I simply defend it and state we hold no record of the claimant and claimant address and the documents do not show the claimant is representing a third party?

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[ploddertom]

Tell us who it is then?

[michaeldigby]

Not sure what the relevance is, its a claim against my business, I do not recognise the claimant, do not have any record of their name or address on any sale/invoice billed. So what do I do in such a case?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[efpom]

1 - Does the claim form show the claimant's name and address for service?
2 - What is the nature of the claim?

[michaeldigby]

Yes the it does, however I have never heard of the claimant nor have a record of their address.

The claim is for a claim of goods not received.


The question is if I do not recognise a claimant how do I proceed? I am guessing the claimant is suing the wrong company and have got me mixed up with someone else or the possibility could be that I have a customer and someone else is suing me on their behalf, but surely they should state they are representing someone else?

If someone sues me, surely they should have done business with me?

[ploddertom]

We ask questions to try & help but if you don't want to answer then you will be on your own. You may never have heard of the Claimant but we may and might be able to help point you in the right direction.

[efpom]

3 - Acknowledge the claim
4- File your defence

You can find out how to do that elsewhere on this site. Note that there are time limits for 3 and 4 above. If you do not file 3 and 4 at all or within the time limits the claimant will likely get a judgment in default against you.

It is not for you to prove that you did not enter a contract with the claimant. i.e. prove a negative. It is for the claimant to prove that there was a contract, that you breached it and that he suffered damage flowing from that breach.

You are entitled to inspect and take copies of any document referred to in the claim form until the claim is allocated to the small claims track. See https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...l/rules/part31

With few exceptions, none of which seem to apply here, A representative cannot sue.

You will appreciate that without providing detailed information, it is simply not possible to provide sensible help. Therefore, you might wish to consider posting up a redacted copy of the claim form and any other documents issued by the court to you.

Until that occurs, it will not be possible to even begin to help you enter your defence, which I assume is your purpose in seeking help on this forum.

[efpom]

Further, you should have received a letter before claim, before proceedings issued - Did you receive such a letter?

[michaeldigby]

Thanks for the response EFPOM.

In essence what I'm asking is if the person suing me has to have a contract with me/ i.e the claimant on the claim form, should I have dealt with that person before? if not do they have a right to issue a claim against my company, or do I response to the claim and state that I have no record of such customer name or address and have never dealt with such a person.

[efpom]

Anyone can sue anyone for anything. You have been sued.

Here, I ASSUME that the claimant sues asserting that he had a contract with you for the purchase and delivery of goods, that you took his money but did not deliver the goods. If that is the claimant's case, he must prove it.

If he can do that, the result is that he will win his case against you.

If you choose not to show on this board, the letter before claim, the claim form, the particulars of claim and any documents mentioned in the POC, no one on this board is in any position to give any opinion what the claim against you actually is and in consequence opine on your defence, if any.

If, for whatever reason, you are unwilling to post ALL of those documents on here, my final suggestion is that you immediately seek advice from a solicitor firm.

[michaeldigby]

I won't be posting the claim form. It doesn't bear much relevance.

In this case I have established what order the amount relates to, but the claimant does not bear any resemblance to the person who placed the order, the name is completely different and the address is completely different and 100s of miles from that of the person who placed the order.

The claimant is not a solicitor nor stated they are representing the person who placed the order.

So again I ask, if someone sues me that I have never dealt with what would one respond to the claim form?

[ostell]

Have you acknowledged or are you just ignoring? So you just defend saying you do not recognise. So have you asked the claimant for copies of all the documents that they intend to use in court, in order to narrow the issues between you, as expected by the courts? You expect them by return.

If you aren't willing to give more details how the heck do you expect correct advice? You're as bad as your claimant.

[efpom]

Defendant contracted with agent of principal?

[michaeldigby]

Have you acknowledged or are you just ignoring? So you just defend saying you do not recognise. So have you asked the claimant for copies of all the documents that they intend to use in court, in order to narrow the issues between you, as expected by the courts? You expect them by return.

If you aren't willing to give more details how the heck do you expect correct advice? You're as bad as your claimant.

I have acknowledged. Ignoring would lead to a CCJ by default.

The claim is simple. Someone has raised a claim against me for a sum of money, I have now been able to locate that sum, however the claimant is not someone I have dealt with, I don't recognise the name and the details do not correspond with that of the person who placed the order. The claim particulars are irrelevant, all i want to know is if someone who I didn't contract with can sue me. The claimant is not claiming to represent the customer I have on record.

[michaeldigby]

Defendant contracted with agent of principal?

Not as far as I can see.