Defending a Claim with Vague and Incoherent Reasons

[BigJ]

Many thanks efpom, will do.

[BigJ]

As a brief update, I filed the bare bones defence today - a few days before it was due. I agreed to mediation.

The claimant has responded immediately rejecting mediation and requested that the hearing is conducted at their local court posting a two page rant arguing their case as the reason. Of note the timescales in the rant don't match those on the claim.

Curiously the claimant has stated that they do not want to give evidence. This seems like a huge waste of the courts time?

Regards, John

[echat11]

efpom

[efpom]

It will be heard at your local court not his.
Are you placed to post up a copy of what the court issued to you if that includes the 2 page rant.

[BigJ]

It will be heard at your local court not his.

Thanks efpom.

What was issued to me today was the claimant's response to the Directions Questionnaire. The interesting bits where the answer to "Briefly explain your reasons" (for the preferred hearing location), which is below, apologies for the massive paragraph, copied and pasted from the PDF changing only personal/identifying details, i.e. town name to TOWN, the business name to BUSINESS NAME etc.:

This is an injustice to the working man trying
to earn a living in deceitful times. I promise
the court with all my working reputation with
five-star rated feedback and the highest
ratings in TOWN, please check google
maps "BUSINESS NAME "XX positive feedback
score, for reliability, politeness, truthfulness &
happy customers in general. This is why I'm
so adamant to proceed with the hearing. I
clearly said to Mr. NAME wife, "I need to
check inside the mechanism to see what type
of lock before giving a quote, she replied yes
yes please go ahead. I can only put the truth
forward to the courts as I believe in the
justice system and hope for all of us
locksmiths to be fairly treated. Sometimes we
have a bad reputation for mainly overpricing,
but if you look at my feedback you will soon
see I am a fair tradesman. This is my seal
and I have many customers that would testify
in court my abilities, and professionalism in
the field. Mr. NAME has not been truthful
and was upstairs working at the time when
Mrs NAME gave me the go-ahead, she then
went upstairs and talked with Mr NAME, they
came down and Mr NAME said nothing of
cost, but asked me to fit his cylinder, I replied
"no it won't fit" because I don't like using
customers locks as they have no warranty if
they failed. I then continued to fit my cylinder
and finish the job. Mr NAME asked for the
invoice and I left with his email so that I could
send him an invoice. Mr NAME agreed to pay
and I said goodbye. When I arrived hope I
later checked my email, I then saw one from
Mr NAME who said he was not willing to pay
and will return my cylinder and pay me £120
as he put his own one in he said was of
better quality. If he had asked me when I was
at his home, I would have supplied any rated
lock he required, but I find the whole thing
premeditated and have had a similar thing
happen to me in the past. I had a bad feeling
when I was at his home, his children wouldn't
say hello, and he was very distant when I first
arrived there. No sooner than I arrived he ran
upstairs and was not to be seen until his wife
went up to fetch him down. Completely
different attitude as to when we spoke on the
phone, he didn't seem worried about cost,
more when could I get there as he couldn't
lock the door. I fit him in the same day as I
knew it was an emergency and was
concerned about them not being able to lock
the door. Because the job was classed
emergency the 14 day right not to pay was
not applicable and I believe I don't need to
give quote in writing.


Also on the form was:

Expert evidence required: No

Witnesses
Do you want to give evidence? No

Other witnesses None



I don't think I have to respond to this as it's part of the directions questionnaire. Still it's interesting to see that the dates don't tie up with his claim or the trail of communication between us. Equally the written communication between us will show that several of the statements above aren't true.

Regards, John

[BigJ]

efpom was there anything in particular you were interested in seeing on the DQ? Did the above cover it?

[efpom]

You do not need to reply to this - the claimant's writing seems to be an admixture of a pleading and witness testimony. Neither are apt in a directions questionnaire & the court will take no notice of that writing.

[BigJ]

Thanks efpom much appreciated.

Am I right in thinking that this will now get transferred from MCOL to the local court where a Judge will review the documents and either:

1) Strike it out due to poor particulars of claim and failure to follow practice direction or
2) Order the claimant to rectify the above or
3) Set a date for a hearing and issue instructions on that process

Thanks again, John

[efpom]

Case will be transferred to your local court.
Your 1) unlikely
Your 2) failure to follow debt protocol already happened - cannot be rectified. Claimant may be ordered to amend his POC at some point.

Your 3) will happen - probably standard directions - see PD 27A Appendix B: STANDARD DIRECTIONS

You might wish to keep a note of your costs and apply for them if the claim is dismissed at trial - CPR 27.14(g)

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...l/rules/part27

[BigJ]

Thanks efpom I'll post again when there's an update.

Regards, John

[BigJ]

As efpom predicted the case has been transferred to my local court - not that the location makes much difference as it's been set for a telephone hearing due to Covid.

I now have to prepare a witness statement and bundle for mid October. I'm back to feeling a little unsure what this would look like given the vague Particulars of Claim. Every example I find seems to be focused on credit/loan debts or car parking penalties.

Should I cover the full story or do I just address the issues in the PoC?

Thanks, John

[efpom]

https://hallellis.co.uk/preparing-witness-statements/

[BigJ]

Where do I stand on asking the claimant to provide me with evidence to back up the claims they have on their website, i.e. professional memberships / professional insurance etc.?

Thanks, John

[echat11]

Where do I stand on asking the claimant to provide me with evidence to back up the claims they have on their website, i.e. professional memberships / professional insurance etc.?

Thanks, John

Could you not check with the associations / bodies that they claim to be members of? most bodies have a list of members that you can search.

[BigJ]

I did and have, unfortunately as Trading Standards have talked to the claimant they have subsequently joined the association so the membership directory reflects the status now - not at the time of the dispute.