Urgent help needed with defence and counterclaim

[R0b]

So my first question is, how did you arrive at £100,000 for special damages? You must itemise the loss and damage suffered even if you don't have an exact figure for each. The court will not entertain such a huge sum without justification or rationale behind it. I have no idea what figure you need to put your claim at and alot of special damages are based on case law and previous awards so that's likely where you would get a figure from. If you want unspecfied then say it is an unspecified claim but expect to recover a sum between X and Y amount.

Just a couple of quick points on your other post.

- your defence and counterclaim is merely an overview of the facts. You still need to ague you case with reference to the legislation, case law and evidence. That is normally done through oral arguments or written submission. A lack of either does not give much for the judge to go off. But that is unnecessary if the hearing in a couple of days is merely a case management hearing.

- Email is fine for the purposes intended.

[Blueeyes1]

If the Claimant had landlords insurance (which they clearly don't) then I believe I could have claimed more.... I based the £100,000 on available equity/assets I believe the Claimant to have.... I thought I had justified my rationale behind it for the damages caused to me?....How can one put a figure on such severe damages caused?.... Specifically to mental health?....

In any event is too late now, as have now submitted to the court - Which was already very late.... I did reduce the figure before submitting, but otherwise do not know what the courts would expect anybody in my position to do otherwise?...

Let's hope the judge is understanding of a vulnerable litigant in person. How is any person possibly expected to know how to present a legal case, when their options for any assistance are extremely limited.

I sincerely hope the judge will see the reality behind this situation and have made every possible effort to the very best of my ability.

Many Thanks again for your help with this - Very much appreciated.

[Blueeyes1]

I have received a court order. It seems the judge didn't accept the application for a time extension in filing the amended defence and counterclaim. The court order states that as Defendant did not comply with previous court order, judgement is awarded to Claimant.

What are my options now?

[R0b]

That's not surprising to be honest, sounds like your only option would be to appeal the decision. Were there any reasons on the court order indicating why your application for an extension was refused?

Alternative is to accept that you are now liable.

[Blueeyes1]

How do I do that?... Appeal the decision?

[R0b]

Part 52 of the CPR contains the general rules for appealing but you need to read that in conjunction with Practice Direction 52A and Practice Direction 52B (County Court Appeals). For a more layman's terms around the appeals process, the AdviceNow website provides a good explanation.

Because you chose not to attend, you would need to come up with grounds why the judge's refusal was wrong. As a starting point, you would need to obtain a transcript of the hearing so you can understand why the judge refused your application, which comes at a cost unless you ask the court to order the transcript free of charge as part of your application which I believe is listed on the court form as a question.

You normally have a 21 day window to appeal unless you request an extension as part of your application. You are also normally required to file an appeal bundle within 35 days of submitting your appeal notice which should be fully paginated, correctly ordered and contain certain documents.

Personally, I don't think you stand a chance unless the judge got it seriously wrong which you can only find out from the transcript. However, you are free to pursue this course as is your right but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Part 52 Link Here

AdviceNow Link Here

[Blueeyes1]

Is appealing the decision the same thing as applying to set the CCJ aside? Or is that something different?

It also states on the court order that "This is a final order". Is that normal? Does that mean I am not allowed to appeal, or apply for set aside?

When you say about obtaining a transcript of the hearing, do you mean a subject access request? I thought they were normally free of charge, but also if it took up to 28 days for court to send a transcript, that would leave me no time left to appeal?

It states on the court order that Defendant failed to comply with direction 2 of the previous order, which was to "file a properly pleaded defence and counterclaim" by the deadline provided.

Should I presume from that that my defence and counterclaim was not considered at all, as it was filed late and the Claimant did not therefore have 14 days in order to file a defence to my counterclaim? I had assumed the hearing date would be changed, to allow for the lateness of filing defence and counterclaim, but clearly the judge didn't accept the application for delay?

What I don't understand is that the judgment is for over £9000, plus court fee of £355, and the judge has also ordered that the security deposit be paid direct to the Claimant in part payment. The arrears that accrued between the time of being served notice to vacate the property and the time I vacated the property amount to approximately £7000, so there is a discrepancy of about £2000 for which I do not know what this amount is being claimed for?

[R0b]

Is appealing the decision the same thing as applying to set the CCJ aside? Or is that something different?

No, it is an appeal so you follow the appeals process. Setting aside a decision is a different process.

It also states on the court order that "This is a final order". Is that normal? Does that mean I am not allowed to appeal, or apply for set aside?

It is normal, you still have a right to ask permission to appeal which will go to the Circuit Judge for review but as I said you can only appeal on limited grounds.

When you say about obtaining a transcript of the hearing, do you mean a subject access request? I thought they were normally free of charge, but also if it took up to 28 days for court to send a transcript, that would leave me no time left to appeal?

Subject Access Requests fall under data protection laws. A court transcript is an official court recording and not subject to SARs, it must be paid unless the court agrees that the fees should be waived.

Should I presume from that that my defence and counterclaim was not considered at all, as it was filed late and the Claimant did not therefore have 14 days in order to file a defence to my counterclaim? I had assumed the hearing date would be changed, to allow for the lateness of filing defence and counterclaim, but clearly the judge didn't accept the application for delay?

It may have been reviewed but because you didn't comply with the last order, your application was struck out and the previous order that judgment for the claimant applies since you were out of time.

What I don't understand is that the judgment is for over £9000, plus court fee of £355, and the judge has also ordered that the security deposit be paid direct to the Claimant in part payment. The arrears that accrued between the time of being served notice to vacate the property and the time I vacated the property amount to approximately £7000, so there is a discrepancy of about £2000 for which I do not know what this amount is being claimed for?

That is currently irrelevant, the court has awarded £9000, less the deposit and that's what you must pay unless your appeal is granted and the decision overturned. You don't get extra chances to challenge the amount or decision to award judgment other than through the appeal. If your appeal is rejected, the final decision stands and you remain liable.

[Blueeyes1]

Thank you for your reply.

So is a set aside another option available? If not, why is that not an option? Apologies for being so clueless.

How can I get a copy of the paperwork showing a calculation / breakdown of what is being claimed? As the amount doesn't make any sense? I have now been provided with address of Claimant on the court order - I also have an email address for the Claimant. Should I write to the claimant directly at all? If so, what should I write and would that help my case at all?

Do I have any grounds to appeal? If so, what are the grounds?

Do you know what the cost is for a hearing transcript? And how should I request that?

"That is currently irrelevant, the court has awarded £9000, less the deposit and that's what you must pay unless your appeal is granted and the decision overturned. You don't get extra chances to challenge the amount or decision to award judgment other than through the appeal. If your appeal is rejected, the final decision stands and you remain liable."

I cannot pay a bean, and have other, much larger "debts" than this, who I also cannot pay. I do not want debt collectors at my door removing my furniture. Please help.

Is the fact that the amount is incorrect (/ and/or I haven't seen any breakdown/calculation of how this figure has been determined) grounds for appeal?

Would the Claimant have been provided with a copy of my defence and counterclaim?

[R0b]

Don't believe it would be available since it was an unless order and you would have had 7 days to set aside or vary that order and your application would generally go down the appeal route rather than set aside because permission was refused.

I'm, pretty sure I did mention in several earlier posts on how to obtain a copy of the claim form when we talked about your defence/counterclaim, I would suggest you go back and read them - you need to call the court and ask for a copy to be provided.

Wouldn't have a clue for grounds of appeal because we don't know the reason why your application was refused, which I think was out of time anyway and those types of decisions are hard to overturn. Like I said you need the transcript to know the reason. For more information see link here.

If you are struggling with debts, I would suggest seeking help from one of the many debt charities or organisations. The fact you can't pay will not stop the claimant from trying to recover the money and it won't likely be debt collectors, it could be High Court bailiffs knocking at your door.

No the amount is not a ground of appeal, because the court would need to determine that at trial. Because you didn't comply with the court order, the court has decided to award the amount claimed regardless of whether or not the amount is correct or not. Unfair? Maybe, but in the eyes of the court you had at least two chances to comply but didn't and it didn't help your case that you chose not to attend which you could have then argued.

You need to check with the court if the defence and counterclaim was served on the claimant.

[Blueeyes1]

You say you wouldn't have a clue what grounds to appeal because you don't know the reason why the application was refused, but I have explained that in post no: 52?

No, I wouldn't stand any chance of appeal, unless somebody can help with a very clear, step-by-step guide / instructions of exactly what I would need to do.... Including help with actual wording of any documents to be filed.... Are you able to help with that?

[R0b]

In post #52 you say that the order mentioned you failed to comply with the last order but what it didn't say is the reason why your application for an extension of time was refused, hence why you need a transcript of the hearing to understand what the judge said about that.

What you're asking for is to essentially do pretty much everything for you so that you can submit it, but I'm afraid I just don't have the time to help you. There seems to be a lot of history with your case and a very short window in order to get your appeal done, not to mention you still don't have all of the documents needed to submit an appeal and file an appeal bundle.

I am happy to give some pointers but you need to do all of the legwork for any appeal which will be very time consuming for you and potentially even more stressful. Give you current mental health issues you may want to consider whether it is worth going down this route.

[Blueeyes1]

The application was made for a 14 day extension (which I think would have given me until 30 Dec to file amended defence and counterclaim). I didn't receive any response from the court indicating whether the extension had been accepted or refused. Is that normal?.... I didn't manage to get the defence and counterclaim filed in that time anyway, and didn't file it with the court until 5 January. It seems the original hearing went ahead on 7 January.

Is it absolutely necessary to have the transcript? As I am really struggling and it can take me hours just to file a simple court form. Plus I would have to apply for free of charge transcript and just finding everything so mind boggling, would prefer not to have to request that unless absolutely necessary?... I would presume the application was not accepted due to lateness in filing? Is it possible to file an appeal without the transcript?

You say I have 21 days to file appeal. Is that 21 days from the court hearing on 7 Jan, or 21 days from receiving the order, as I didn't receive until 17 Jan? I would definitely need to apply for a further extension, as I cannot possible prepare a bundle of evidence in a matter of a few days.

I apologise for all of the questions, but if you could please answer them all, it will help me to make a decision how to proceed.

With high-court bailiffs, do they have power to force entry? If so, is there no protection for vulnerable people with mental health issues to stop this happening?

I appreciate all of the links you have sent to help me learn court procedures and what I should do, but this really is not something I am capable of doing. If it was, then I wouldn't be asking for help. I cannot think straight and simply do not have the mental capacity to learn how to do this myself. I really would need step-by-step instructions provided very clearly of exactly how, when and what I need to file to the court. I hope you can possibly help with this.

Do I need to submit counterclaim and defence again? Do I need to submit another help with fees application? Do I need to file another seperate application for extension of time? Do I need to submit every single piece of evidence I have, or will a few items of evidence be acceptable? Do I have to submit a witness statement in addition? With photographic evidence, should I have these printed off of phone, or is email acceptable? How long an extension can I apply for, given difficulties owing to ill health? Which forms of evidence should I submit? On my counterclaim, is there a limit to the amount I can claim for damages?

How soon and how would I be notified if appeal had been accepted and what happens then? Would another hearing date be set?

I have found the particulars of claim, which were sent to me via email several months ago. It was sent from a different estate/letting agent to the one I had rented the property through. The document showing calculation of amount being claimed for rent arrears is all jumbled and confusing and doesn't make clear at all what payments I had made and what dates/payments they are claiming for arrears. There is also a further hand scribbled note on the bottom of the document stating a daily rate rent should be calculated at.... The discrepency it seems they are claiming additional rent arrears beyond the date I vacated the property. Are they allowed to do that? It was the Claimant who served me notice - Surely they can't claim rent for period of time I wasn't living in the property?

[Blueeyes1]

I have looked at the forms for requesting a transcript. I am not sure how much it would cost to obtain the transcript, but if any more than a nominal fee, such as £10, then I would not be able to afford to pay for it. The form asks for a reason as to why applying for transcript - What would I write in that box? It also asks which company is chosen to provide the transcript? And various other questions which I am not sure about. There is a separate form to apply for free of charge, which is a very lengthy form asking for full details of all monthly expenditure and also full details of all creditors and other outstanding debts. I am not able to provide this information.... It seems I have a very limited time to file an appeal - Can this be done without the need to apply for transcript? Or Could you help with the application form for copy of transcript - Maybe it will only be a small fee? How much do they usually cost? Do I have to file the application for transcript before they confirm what the cost will be?

How much of a delay am I allowed to request? Is the application for extension of time for appeal a simple case of a N244 application? Could you possibly help with this? Is it that I would be asking for an extension of time to file the actual appeal? How do I do this? Would I need to send this at the same time as the application for transcript, or doesn't it matter which is filed first?

I would struggle to present evidence within the next 7 days - Could you help with how I file an application for extension? I really am so confused and just don't understand.

Is it grounds for an appeal that I am litigant in person and did everything I possibly am able to, to meet the previous court order, however am struggling to meet court deadlines due to ill health and timescales provided, which are beyond my control and trying my very best under the circumstances?

[Blueeyes1]

Apologies for being so clueless.

What is the first thing I need to do? Do I need to ask the court permission to file an appeal first? If so, how do I do that? Is that via a specific form? Or a separate typed document?

I think I only have a few days left to appeal. If there is any possible way you could help with this, would very much appreciate - As would like to be able to get it sent to the court asap.

I am sorry, but I really need clear step-by-step instructions to follow as cannot think straight and brain is all jumbled.

Would my reason for appeal be that I was unable to file in time, due to illness, or would the reason be that the Claimant has misled the judge, by failing to disclose all of the facts of the situation?

Please help - I really don't understand what to do, and have nobody else to ask.