Filing a defence following a Judgement Order set aside

[Judah12]

Hi there,

I applied to the County Court to have a CCJ order set aside on the basis that I can prove that the claimant had intentionally served me at a wrong address in order to obtain a judgement by default and that I am able to successfully defend the claim.

I received an email from the claimants solicitors enclosing a consent order to vacate the hearing and agreeing to the set aside. The consent order is dated 16-11-20 and gives 28 days for me to file a fully pleaded defence.

However, I have no statement of claim from the claimant/their solicitor. Tge judgement order was obtained back in 2017 and I was never served, so my questions are as follows:

1. In order to file my defence do I need to complete N9B form?

2. The claimants solicitors has not provided me with their clients statement of their claim.
- Do I:

A) write to their solicitor requesting that they provide a statement of claim? If so, any template I can use?

OR

B) include in my defence that the case be struck out because their is no statement of case to answer? If so, HOW do I make a strike out application?

C) something else?

3. Should I email a CPR-18 Request to the solicitor - he has requested I communicate by email due to lockdown - Then send a certificate of service (N215) to the court by post?

Grateful for any direction - thanks in advance.

[Celestine]

pt2537

[pt2537]

Evening.

Just replying so I remember to respond tomorrow and answer the points above.

[Judah12]

Thanks pt2537 I look forward to hearing from you - any help you can give will be much appreciated.

[pt2537]

Hi there,

I applied to the County Court to have a CCJ order set aside on the basis that I can prove that the claimant had intentionally served me at a wrong address in order to obtain a judgement by default and that I am able to successfully defend the claim.

I received an email from the claimants solicitors enclosing a consent order to vacate the hearing and agreeing to the set aside. The consent order is dated 16-11-20 and gives 28 days for me to file a fully pleaded defence.

However, I have no statement of claim from the claimant/their solicitor. Tge judgement order was obtained back in 2017 and I was never served, so my questions are as follows:

1. In order to file my defence do I need to complete N9B form?

2. The claimants solicitors has not provided me with their clients statement of their claim.
- Do I:

A) write to their solicitor requesting that they provide a statement of claim? If so, any template I can use?

OR

B) include in my defence that the case be struck out because their is no statement of case to answer? If so, HOW do I make a strike out application?

C) something else?

3. Should I email a CPR-18 Request to the solicitor - he has requested I communicate by email due to lockdown - Then send a certificate of service (N215) to the court by post?

Grateful for any direction - thanks in advance.

Hi there

Ok, questions answered, as best i can at least

1) No, you dont, you can draft a defence on a sheet of paper if it is easier for you. You put the Court in the top left, the Claim number top right, then the parties in the middle, claimant first then defendant. You will find examples on line, in fact the consent order will have a header which will be just like you would use for the defence.

2) A, id ask them for a copy of the claim form they should have it and should be able to provide a copy swiftly, you dont need a template, its quite simple t o write a short one line letter " Dear Sirs. Further to the consent order dated......................i have not been served with a copy of your claim, to enable me to answer the claim please may i have a copy of the claim form as filed"

3) What CPR 18 request are you making? Id need to know before i could give any steer on this?


One question for you, did you sign and return the Consent order and has t he Court approved it? If yes, then the above applies, if no then a rethink may be needed

[Judah12]

pt2537 firstly, thank you for your response.

In answer to your question, yes, I signed and returned the consent order to the claimants solicitor. It should be noted that the terms of the consent order were that I file a fully pleaded defence within 28 days of the date of the consent order. The claimants solicitor wrote the following on receipt of the signed order:

"we will now arrange for the countersigned copy to be lodged with the court this morning and request the hearing (19^th November) be vacated.

Upon receipt of the sealed order, we will arrange for a copy to be sent to you and then advise how we are to proceed on this matter"

I have not yet received received the sealed order.

Questions?

1. Based on my answer what are ypur thoughts. Is a rethink needed? And,

2. What happens if the response takes longer than the 28 days?