CCJ from VWFS (Car Finance)

[Unknown2023]

I take all your points on board, thank you, and that's a real eye opener.
In all honesty I spent a lot of time printing a lot of the legislation off already and had attached it to my witness statement evidence, as you mentioned before that if I didn't submit it to court and the other side then I couldn't use it.

I didn't want to risk not having the legislation available to me in Court so s87, s90 etc is all included in my document bundle but it is not as comprehensive as you have provided. I look forward to looking through the rest of the legislation and seeing which parts are applicable to my case.

No I'm not in a rush at all, still getting my head around a lot of this stuff. I was merely suggesting that the case summary looked finalised with the additional information, however I do expect they they will refuse it on the grounds of it being heavily worded. Obviously there's a balance between including all of the points but keeping it short and to the point, however if you feel that everything contained must absolutely be submitted then I will submit mine separately to the court if VWFS refuses.

Good idea regarding the agreement, as it is houses within the evidence bundle as you suggested. In fact their evidence bundle was very weak, showing only the agreement and the new vehicle order form with a tonne of blank forms attached to it which were neither signed not filled out with any information regarding the sale. So I don't see what actual evidence they are relying on.

The charging order was placed immediately after the CCJ was filed, they gave me no chance to pay anything as it was all still being disputed and to this day still hasn't been removed despite my numerous requests and the CCJ having been set aside. But heck if they want to include it and waste the judges time further it's on them.

The Court of appeal case regarding the 1/3 rule is fantastic as they are not easy to find, not many seem to exist and that will be an excellent piece of information to refer to!

[R0b]

So I think this is probably going to be my last meaty post, being everything I can provide you in terms of examples, documents and other things to help support your defence and counterclaim. The rest is going to be up to you to determine how you structure everything and your arguments in preparation for the hearing - over the weekend when I have more time I will post some tips about the hearing, what to do or not do or say etc so you have an idea of what to expect.

I have uploaded an updated zip file that contains the following:

1. Case law (no change)

2. Legislation (Removed the 2020 regulations, don't think they are needed). If there are any missing documents on the legislation that isn't referred to already then you should download and include them.

3. Case summary. The case summary is intended to be a one page document to outline each party's position to a judge who may not have time to read all of the material (quite often the case in small claims hearings as they are back to back). I would have concerns with the case summary proposed by VWFS because it doesn't properly explain or capture the arguments you want to make - if you agree to that summary, the judge may only formulate an opinion based on that agreed summary.

There is no harm in proposing an alternative case summary to VWFS, and even if they refuse, you can submit the case summary separately to the court yourself, but making sure to include VWFS legal representative in the email to the court. I understand it is too long, but the guidance in the CPR says for multi track cases i.e. more complex disputes, a case summary should not normally exceed 500 words. This dispute relies heavily on the legislation so it is not unreasonable to point the judge to the pertinent sections outlined in the case summary in advance of the hearing, it will mean more time to make arguments and put forward submissions. The decision is entirely yours to make as to what you think is best so do not feel like you have to follow all of my suggestions.

4. List of issues crib sheet. I put together this crib sheet that you might find useful when making your arguments for each of the issues in the dispute. This isn't the only way to do it and everyone has their own way of making their notes but I feel that this template could be a good starting point to be able to easily refer to something without getting confused or lost in the paperwork of the bundle. Trust me, it is very easy to get flummoxed if the judge asks you a question and you are rifling through papers to try to find the answer and then end up not being able to find what you need! Preparation is key. I have added some user notes if you do feel like using it but any questions about it feel free to ask.

Note: I spent some time squinting at the crib sheet adding and removing things, so it is possible that I may have omitted certain things you feel like you should include or add to the document. I would suggest you go back through your defence and counterclaim and look at the arguments you are making and make sure they tally up and there are no gaps - if there are any, cover them off in the appropriate sections.

5. Supplementary bundle index. I've included this on the assumption that VWFS will not agree to your additional bundle of documents. The argument in your favour is that the judge should be able to easily find the relevant legislation and case law wtihin the bundle. As I mentioned before, hiding it in the witness statements is not a good idea and some judges really hate that so you might find the judge having a bit of a grumble about that. Other judges may accept that you are a litigant in person so some allowance may be given.

Again, I have added some user notes to help you complete the document. If you need to submit the supplementary bundle, then you will need to put all of those documents underneath the index paginated in sequential order. You can submit this electronically to the court email address that is going to be hearing the case, so don't feel like you have to spend money printing a physical copy for the court, the court staff will do that for the judge. You will need a physical copy yourself unless you plan on taking a laptop or electronic device to work from like an ipad, which is allowed.

Hopefully all this makes sense, take some time to digest, work out what you want to use, or not use, do or say and prepare as much as you can. Happy to answer any questions you have in the meantime between now and the hearing if I am around.

[Unknown2023]

I've received the trial bundle today, so I'm going to have to submit mine separately to the Court whether they like it or not as the other side have ignored my response that I would update them with the changes to be made or added.

I also had a question on the crib sheet, is that to be added to the bundle also or is that for me to use personally at the hearing?

And with regards to my partner giving evidence on the day, will she be allowed to be in the hearing with me to read out her witness statement?

[R0b]

I also had a question on the crib sheet, is that to be added to the bundle also or is that for me to use personally at the hearing?

Not it is to help you with your arguments on the day, unless you want to give that away to the other side which would be very foolish so make sure that doesn't get added.

And with regards to my partner giving evidence on the day, will she be allowed to be in the hearing with me to read out her witness statement?

Yes, hearings are public, anyone can attend. She may also be cross-examined by the other side though it is not necessary to read out her statement. It's up to the other side if they want to ask her questions, or if you want to ask her questions to help clarify her statement.

[Unknown2023]

Okay, thanks I was just unsure as I know that anything I don't send to the Court cannot be used.

Excellent news about my partner attending the Court. I'm just reading through the trial bundle, there are documents in it which the Claimant has included that have not been shown previously is this allowed? Including case notes which state that the car was marked stolen! Seems like a foolish move on their behalf.

Shall I now send the amended case summary and index to the Court? And also to the Claimant? Although there is no way it can be included in the bundle now as it has been produced and printed

[R0b]

They can do, if it is described or mentioned in their witness statement. Otherwise you can argue it shouldn't be relied on because it didn't form part of their evidence. However, if you feel there is evidence included that shouldn't be but assists you with your defence and counterclaim, then you may want to consider saying nothing - works both ways if you have done the same.

Once you have completed it and are happy, then send it to the court email address copy in the other side by email also. Make sure to put in the subject line:

<Claimant> v <Defendant> (Claim No. XXXXX) - Defendant Supplementary Trial Bundle for Hearing on XX/XX/XXXX at XX.XXam/pm

A simple sentence or two to confirm what is being attached to the email and you request the bundle be added to the court file. Claimant has been copied in for notice purposes.

You may also want to take the opportunity to explain a little more why this is being filed though it is not necessary.

For example, you may want to say something like: the Defendant's trial bundle which supplements the trial bundle submitted by the Claimant. The defendant wishes to express his dissatisfaction that the Claimant provided a draft version of the trial bundle, which the Defendant informed the Claimant that he would need time to add his documents to the bundle. Despite this the Claimant failed to acknowledge the Defendant's email and/or ignored it by submitting the bundle without amendments, causing unnecessary cost and expense ... please could the court add this email to the court file for the purposes of costs to be determined at the hearing.

[Unknown2023]

That's great, thanks I will get this done and make sure that my case summary and the legislation is at least considered to be added. Worst case I do have the relevant sections covered in my witness statement as I feared this may happen.

If anything else pops to mind in the meantime I will post up again, one week to go now until the big day

[R0b]

Good luck, let us know how you get on either way

[Unknown2023]

One last one. Silly question but I want to be 100% sure. I'm sending all the relevant documents with the supplementary index in the hope that the Court will print them out? So each section of the Cca1974 etc that I am relying on

[R0b]

Yes, it should be bundled up in a single PDF format.

Index on the top followed by the documents according to their page numbers on the index.

[Unknown2023]

Excellent, that is all submitted. Nothing more I can do now other than fight a good battle at Court next week

[Unknown2023]

Apparently the Courts don't print anything that is filed anymore and I have to submit it all by hard copy!

[R0b]

Well, that's a new one to me and one I know can't be true as I filed something the other day with a court that will print off the documents. Courts accept and allow electronic documents so if you have filed it electronically then you should be fine. I suspect it may be more down to lazy court staff than anything else.

Should also point out that Practice Direction 5.5 under paragraph 4.1 says:

Further provisions

4.1 Where a party sends an e-mail to the court they must not send a hard copy of that e-mail or any attachment to the court.

Anyway, you may want to file a hard copy just to make sure the court puts it in front of a judge. I'd be inclined to make a complaint to the court manager about that and ask them to provide the evidence / circular that says no court in in England and Wales is printing out electronically filed documents and all documents must now be submitted hard copy, which is contrary to the CPR as above.

[Unknown2023]

Interesting. I was told to send hard copies and to refer to this link:

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/em...ance%23canfile

I've also just received the claimants statement of costs. Going to cost me in excess of 5k if I lose on Tuesday on top of the judgment.

I was under the impression you can't claim solicitors fees in small claims court?

[R0b]

Fair enough, if you are exceeding the amount then it will have to be paper copy.

Not sure why they have sent you a statement of costs, the claim has been allocated to the small claims track so costs are extremely limited. What costs are they claiming for?