Duplicate claim?? What the....?!

[Chris1986]

Hi everyone, just to let you know, I’ve got my strike out hearing on Monday - fingers crossed it goes my way!!

[jaguarsuk]

There's no reason why it shouldn't go your way, it's clearly a duplicate of the other claim and needs to be dismissed. Good luck and let us know once you have been in what the outcome was.

[Chris1986]

Well that was an absolute joke! The “judge” DIDNT strike the second claim out!! He’s decided to merge the two claims together!! When he asked the claimant why she opened a new case, the best that could muster was because she wanted to respond to my defence and there wasn’t a button for it! So even though I requested and paid for a strike out hearing, that’s not what I got. So now I don’t have a case number to go against and I don’t even know how much she’s claiming for or what she’s claiming for, because she brought up the issue with the road tax and now that’s been thrown into the mix, and now I have to come up with a defence for it!

What am I supposed to do now?! Can I complain or make an appeal??

[jaguarsuk]

Well that was an absolute joke! The “judge” DIDNT strike the second claim out!! He’s decided to merge the two claims together!! When he asked the claimant why she opened a new case, the best that could muster was because she wanted to respond to my defence and there wasn’t a button for it! So even though I requested and paid for a strike out hearing, that’s not what I got. So now I don’t have a case number to go against and I don’t even know how much she’s claiming for or what she’s claiming for, because she brought up the issue with the road tax and now that’s been thrown into the mix, and now I have to come up with a defence for it!

What am I supposed to do now?! Can I complain or make an appeal??

That is absolutely ridiculous, filing a second claim to respond to a defence shouldn't just be accepted, if she doesn't know what she should be doing then she shouldn't be handling the claim.

Did you ask for your costs of the application?

You have already defended the claim, you'll need to submit an amended defence to now defend the crazy points that have been added.

[Chris1986]

He said he wants us both to submit a whiteness statement for the whole thing. I asked him about my costs of the strike out and he essentially said, but tip toed around it, that I’d have to see what happens with costs at the end. It looks like nobody knows what’s actually being claimed for, and it’ll just be made up on the day in court!

[Amethyst]

Okay the claims have been merged, so in essence one has been removed, and both her claims are a single claim. The costs for your application should be dealt with at the full hearing at the same time removing any costs she added for issuing the second claim.

Your witness statement should cover the issues made in her claim ( so both of the claim particulars treat as one )

So the particulars in https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...67#post1479467 and in https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...76#post1479476 deal with through your Witness Statement. Your current defence to the original claim will stand so your Witness Statement wants to expand on that and counter the further points she made.

She doesn't actually seem to be saying there is an issue with the Timing Belt , the claim appears to only be for the invoice for the timing belt, we don't know how she has calculated what she is claiming or on what basis she is claiming it.

Do you have the Ebay Advert ?
How much did she buy the car for?
(can't see the answers to those in the thread so sorry if I missed it )

[Chris1986]

Hi, sadly the eBay advert has vanished as it was so long ago. I essentially said the belt had been changed and she says that she doesn’t believe it, without proof. The closes thing to proof that I have is a copy of the advert from when I bought it also stating that it had been changed. She’s not used the car sunscreen buying it, she claims it’s not road worthy. She’s not supplied any information to why she says it’s not been changed and hasn’t submitted any type of quote costing to have the work done. The way she was speaking to the judge (or whoever) today she was implying that she was out of pocket and that’s why she was making the claim. But it’s cost her nothing. All it’s cost is me £255!



she paid £1700 for the car, give or take £50 I can’t quite remember

[Chris1986]

Just another quick update. I’ve put a complaint in against Wakefield justice centre, essentially saying that I want the hearing I paid for and was granted. I don’t think it’s acceptable for the ‘judge’ just to sweep the second case under the carpet and merge them. I’ve just called them to see what’s happening with it and apparently they’ll get back to me in a few days.

I can’t begin to explain just how frustrated and anxious this has left me!!

[Amethyst]

He can merge the cases, it's not swept under the carpet there is now one claim rather than two....so in essence that claim has been struck out. Your costs should have been awarded but it does sound like he has deferred the question of costs until the outcome of the final hearing. I'd concentrate on putting your witness statement together.

[Chris1986]

Hi all, I’ve got a strange update, that I really don’t understand! I essentially got 2 letters at the same*time to say that the two claims would be heard, but during the same hearing. Then recently I got a letter, specific to the duplicate claim, to say it’s been adjourned and scheduled 2 months earlier than previously planned. It does mention the strike out, and says that she needs to pay £80 costs and if she doesn’t then it’ll be struck out immediately.*

What happens if she does/doesn’t pay it? Is it a case of if she doesn’t pay it, it gets stuck out and the hearing cancelled, and if she does, then we have a hearing??

[Amethyst]

Pretty much - it's the hearing fee and she will need to pay it for the claim to proceed. If she doesn't then the claim gets struck out and the hearing cancelled. If she does then the hearing will go ahead.

With the hearing being moved to an earlier date are there new directions for witness statements or just 14 days prior to the hearing ?

[Chris1986]

Well it doesn’t mention anything about whiteness statements. But I now have 2 seperate claims and 2 seperate hearings, but only 1 mention of a whiteness statement

[KingUnemployed]

This is interesting, hopefully it is the same judge. The judge including road tax, seems to be a blessing- easy to defend I think

'The registered keeper of the*vehicle*is*responsible*for paying the*vehicle tax*or making a Statutory Off-Road*Notification (SORN) if the*vehicle*is to be kept untaxed and off the*road.' If she is saying it is not road worthy check if she has SORN.

Also highlight the exact wording of the law in relation to road tax, as if (she) you’re buying a car, you can't carry over any remaining months on the tax disc – and the seller can't give or transfer that ‘unused’ tax to you, whether they want to or not.

[Chris1986]

Well I’ve had a few more developments recently. They strike out hearing was brought forward, and a few days later moved waaaaayback! I think it’s in July now....annoying! I frequently check the tax status of the car, and it’s been sorned since day 1. My prediction is that she will say the car is unroadworthy at the next hearing, as the MOT will lapse in a few weeks, and it’ll have been stood for over a year. She’ll take it for an MOT and it’ll need the brakes doing as an absolute minimum, possibly cracked tyres too! I know it won’t really have stance, but she’ll try it! She’s not offered any reasonable proof that the car isn’t roadworthy, or that the timing belt hasn’t been done. Surely to bring a claim like this you’d need some kind of evidence? Like an inspection report, or a break down report for if the belt had snapped and chewed the engine up? It’s just her opinion!

[Chris1986]

Hi all, thread revival here! I’ve just received my copy of the defendants whiteness statement, it’s growing all kinds of arms and legs! She’s increased the amount she’s claimed for, essentially due to inflation. And she’s also trying to add an extra £115 for a battery, seems it’s my fault the one on the car has gone flat!!

Getting really stressed again, so could use some wise words to get me back on the straight and narrow