Small Claims Assistance

[ceepeebee]

Hi all,

Last year we had some 'work' done on our property and the long and short was it was hideous, not fit for purpose and still is not complete. We initiated a discussion with the company and we were unable to receive a refund, so we initiated small claims proceedings.

Fast forward, mediation didn't help so we went through the pre-hearing phase and back in Feb we received a letter telling us the hearing date would be in July time, and that we'd need to submit all of our evidence to be heard prior to that in June, via a portal.

Has anybody got any experience of when this portal becomes available? We're a month away from that submission date now and when viewing the case on MoneyClaims portal, there's just a "not available" next to the relevant portal/submit documents, etc. I'm hoping we're not given just a few days to upload everything as we have a WHOLE bunch of things to grab

I'm just wondering if somebody has experience and can put my mind at ease in terms of timings!

[atticus]

Maybe you can start grabbing your things so that when the portal is ready you can upload them in a sensible manner.

[Pezza54]

No sorry. It sounds like the new MoneyClaims.Service.gov.uk which is still being developed with the intention to replace MCOL. The portal on MCOL stops being updated when the claim is transferred to the county court
There has been complaints about the new online service so it wouldn't surprise me if the bar on uploading evidence isn't lifted
Just in case you are unable to upload evidence you should be prepared to file and serve documents by email.
You state you have a lot of evidence so you need to be aware of the limited size of email the court sets. In addition I have read that only one email is permitted for each step in the process, so you may have to attach all your evidence to one email
Too much evidence to email, then make sure you have paper and a printer with plenty of ink

[ceepeebee]

Sorry for the delay in coming back on this.

We have all the documentation together (we have the original case submission plus a number of pieces of evidence documented ready) however I am still unable to upload any of this to a portal (I'm trying to access via this via the original small claims account online).

I've tried ringing the Leicester County Court, but I get told to email...I email, and get no response, and I've also tried the national line too, and that simply states to email. I'm a tad worried as the hearing fee hasn't been paid yet (as I can't get in touch with anybody!) and I can't upload the docs even if we had paid, and the deadline for it is looming in the next couple of weeks!

Any assistance greatly received!

[Pezza54]

Please read Practice Direction 51R SECTION 14 SUBMITTING DOCUMENTS AT COURT.........

This Section covers the situation where the OCMC website is malfunctioning

You can email documents to the OCMC email address or post them to the OCMC postal address

In your email you should provide the court with your phone number so they can ring you to take payment for the hearing fee

[Pezza54]

You mentioned Leicester County Court
Have you received notification that your claim has been transferred to this court?

[ceepeebee]

You mentioned Leicester County Court
Have you received notification that your claim has been transferred to this court?

Yes, in April, the (only) letter we received details that the hearing will take place in July at Leicester County Court. Am I to presume I can just email their "enquiries@" email address with the documents?

[Pezza54]

Please read PD 51R SECTION 2 - SCOPE OF THE PILOT
2.1 (2A) (b) documents should be emailed to the allocated county court

The email address is hearings.leicester.countycourt@justice.gov.uk

[ceepeebee]

Please read PD 51R SECTION 2 - SCOPE OF THE PILOT
2.1 (2A) (b) documents should be emailed to the allocated county court

The email address is hearings.leicester.countycourt@justice.gov.uk

Thanks for the information - it would be incredibly handy for people that aren't often making use of such services, if the correspondence referenced this information.

I still have no way of paying the court fee however, other than going down to the County Court direct.

[Pezza54]

Please see the last sentence of my post 5

You could try phoning Northampton business centre on 0300 123 1056 and select the paying fees option

[ceepeebee]

Please see the last sentence of my post 5

You could try phoning Northampton business centre on 0300 123 1056 and select the paying fees option

Thanks for the response. I'll try ringing these guys today - the problem with emailing them is the auto-response I got back told me to expect a 29-day lead time for response! Here was me patiently waiting for this mythical portal for the last month!

[ceepeebee]

Pezza54 I rang the number, selected the payment option and spoke to an agent. They said they can't take the payment as it's with Leicester County Court, and to ring 0300 123 5577, a number I am only too familiar with. This number tells me that they will contact me if they need more information and to hang up.

So, my letter is telling me to pay the hearing fee by a certain date...and I can't.

I'm not particularly stupid person, but this is irritating me now .

Thanks again for your advice to this point. Anything else you can suggest?

I might have to just visit the county court offices...I bet I'd need an appointment for that though!

[Pezza54]

Very frustrating, I have checked my email history. I paid my hearing court fee to my local county court over the phone
I wrote "URGENT" in the subject line of my email and stated I needed to pay a hearing fee. I provided a phone number and an hour slot to receive a call from court staff

[ceepeebee]

Very frustrating, I have checked my email history. I paid my hearing court fee to my local county court over the phone
I wrote "URGENT" in the subject line of my email and stated I needed to pay a hearing fee. I provided a phone number and an hour slot to receive a call from court staff

Thanks again for the response - I've done exactly the same. Here's hoping I get a call. I'm going to see if my Wife can go in during the day and get the low down on what we need to do because this is rather ridiculous.

"We have a target of 5 working days to deal with incoming work which we strive to work towards, however, due to an increased workload, we are currently progressing work at approx. 29 days. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."