help with dubious claim against us

[shedman]

we had building work done last year which didn't end well due to the builder being a crook, we terminated the agreement and eventually issued a letter before action. During the build our direct next door neighbour alleges he gave the builder some loose bricks that were on this property that he says went in our house, we were not asked or informed by either the builder or the neighbour that the bricks had been supplied and used. During this time the neighbour also alleges his fence was broken by the builders, our contractors. About 6 months after the neighbour confronted aggressively me about the bricks demanding money, i refused to engage with him as we have a police harassment log with the police due to his ongoing behavior towards my family. He jumped over the fence and attacked me and threatened to kill me if I didn't give his bricks back and mend his fence. I called the police and he was arrested for threats to kill. I didn't press charges at the time for some reason, a decision i regret. All caught on CCTV

Fast forward to today, he issued small claims proceedings against me and my wife in Feb this year after a string of letters demanding we pay him. The case has been struck once due to him not paying the hearing fee and now I have a date in the next 7 days for the hearing after he paid to have the case reinstated.

I have submitted an extremely thorough court bundle, witness statements, video of the attack etc and evidence that shows his claim is bogus. He has admitted in correspondence that there was no agreement between us and he supplied the builder with bricks as a gesture of good will. He admits that a young man turned up at his door with a broken part of his fence claiming it had been damaged accidentally.

He has not submitted any evidence or witness statements to the court to support his claim and his particulars of claim are a few lines saying he lent us some bricks and our builders broke his fence and that we are being rude not paying him.

The window has closed to swap documents, it seems so bizarre that the court could allow this to go so far, am I missing something here, so I have anything to be concerned about? We have exchanged a few words and he is adamant that he has taken legal advice and he doesn't need a prove any agreement to win, he claims he has a recording of me admitting his bricks are in my property taken from the debt collector he used to scare me into paying up and that is all he needs. It seems to me he is delusional but am am I missing anything?

[atticus]

Surely his claim for the fence is against the builder, not you. The legal principle is that you do not have vicarious liability for your independent contractor.

It sounds as if he has failed to establish any kind of agreement that you would pay for the bricks.

As to his evidence, well a claimant has to prove his claim.

[shedman]

thanks for the response, an addition to vicarious liability which I was aware of there is also the 3rd party rights act which I believe may apply here. Nobody I have asked has provided an explanation as to why such a claim is allowed to progress with a lack of evidence. There is just a few lines on the POC and nothing else, no dates, no breakdown of costs, no witness statement nothing. When I spoke to the court they indicated something along the lines of his rights to have his case heard at trial but there seems to be no due diligence done to ensure only claims with a legal basis proceed to hearing.

[R0b]

Everyone has a right to commence legal proceedings in the pursuit of justice (subject to some very exceptional reasons such as being a vexatious litigant) and the Civil Procedure Rules sets out how that process will work.

The role of the court is to process that claim and to have it heard by a judge to make a final determination but it has no role for vetting claims and will never be the process. Claims are processed on the basis that they are valid unless found otherwise to be the case. There are some rules that allow the court to strike out the claim of its own volition if certain criteria is met under the Civil Procedure Rules, but otherwise it is up to you to put a stop to that, either through an application to strike out the claim or seeking summary judgment. Both options come at a cost of £275 and have criteria to meet and unless you are well prepared for it, you may not be successful.

If you choose to not put a stop to this at the early stages by making an application based on one of the above options, you cannot complain about his case because you are enabling it.

Based on what you describe, you have grounds to request strike out of the application and/or to ask the court for an order to provide detailed particulars otherwise the claim shall be automatically struck out. Strike out claims are draconian so the courts will usually allow an opportunity for the claimant to rectify their mistakes.

[shedman]

Thanks for all the advice, judge dismissed all parts of the claim, no legal basis and no evidence.