Dilemma over CCJ and huge solicitors' charges

[Pezza54]

So if Kathy loses her case the judge may order Kathy to pay just the costs of the solicitor drafting the consent order, and the court fee for the application if the solicitor pays it

[Kathy321]

The solicitor has changed Point 3 in the consent order from 'Costs in the case' to 'No order as to costs'.

WoooHooooo!!

So now I don't need my Witness Statement or my evidence, just N244 + signed Consent Order + Draft Defence.

My last question to you all before I send this off:
What goes in the large empty box under question 10 on the N244 now? Maybe nothing? Or should I summarise my case in that box, as there is very little other information on the form for the judge to go on.

[Pezza54]

That's good news
As the order by consent states the defendant to respond to the claim (file and serve defence) within 14 days from the date of the order, there is no need to attach your full defence or witness statement. You should state you believe the defendant has a strong defence to the claim and want the opportunity to present your defence and evidence in court. Provide brief skeleton statement of your defence
The court fee is £119

Under Section 3 have you quoted the relevant CPR that apply to your application notice?

[Kathy321]

Yes, I have written CPR 13.3(1)(b)(i)

Do I file my defence within 14 days of signing the Consent Order, or 14 days from the date the CCJ is set aside?

[Pezza54]

In my opinion you should just state cpr 13.3

Cpr 13.4 (3) An application under 13.3 must be supported by evidence
You should provide evidence that you were away when the ccj arrived (if it actually arrived) at your home

14 days from the date of the court order

[Kathy321]

'14 days from the date of the court order'

So this is 14 days from when the judge meets us (or makes a decision without needing to meet us). Is this right?

[atticus]

if you mean 14 days from the hearing, yes. I trust that you are working on your Defence.

[Kathy321]

I DHL'd everything to the CNBC yesterday and paid the fee. Thankyou everyone for your guidance.

I thought I had done all the hard work of writing the Witness Statement and the Draft Defence, and getting the solicitors to consent, as well as HOURS of googling.

I have now fallen into the rabbit hole of reading other people's Defences on Google. But they all seem to relate to unpaid parking charges or storecard debt.

Does anyone have a link to a Defence that relates to unpaid ground rent?

[Pezza54]

In your first post you stated you missed the £100 ground rent payment on 1 July. You didn't realise this error until November when you received the solicitor's first letter including their charge for £600. If the management company did not chase you about the missed payment and admin charge, this will strengthen your defence. From July to early November you were still at home to receive correspondence

The Particular's of Claim fail to provide the date of the missed £100 payment, that £180 is an admin fee. If the management company did send chasing letter or letters during the period July to November, the claimant may include this in their witness statement

The solicitor stated he will seek to recover his full costs of £23xx. Assuming the CCJ is set aside, the claim will be allocated to the small claims track and even if the claim (the sum stated as owed on the CCJ plus interest) is successful, the solicitor will only be entitled to recover limited expenses

Make sure your defence denies owing any of the solicitor's legal costs

Please update the forum when you arrive home about letters and the CCJ

[Kathy321]

Thankyou. I received no letters from the management company from July to November.

I am home on Wednesday.

[Pezza54]

IMO you should dispute the £180 admin fee in your defence as not being reasonably incurred and not being reasonable in amount (disproportionate to the value of the missed payment)
You missed a £100 payment and the management company failed to chase you about the missing payment
Please read CPR 44.5 (1) (a) and (b)

You should refer to the relevant CPR in the defence

[Kathy321]

Oh dear. In my Draft Defence I said that I owed the £2XX missed payment (made up of ~£100 ground rent charge and £180 late payment fee). I did not know that I had any grounds to contest this. After all, I did pay it late! Am I now able to dispute this £180 fee when I write my Actual Defence? Or will I just have to accept this £180 fee because I have accepted it in my Draft Defence?

Don't worry, I strongly denied that I owed the Claimant £18XX as stated on their Particulars of Claim....

I am just half an idiot, not a whole idiot, thank god.

[Pezza54]

Have you filed your draft defence? If you have don't change it

[Kathy321]

I sent my Draft Defence in with form N244 to the CNBC. Is this what you mean by 'filed'?

[Pezza54]

Yes don't change it