A little help

[JGWA]

Good evening,

I have a court appearance at the Small Claims Court on Wednesday this week. The court called me today to advise that the claimant will not be there, it is only me, the defendant. I didn't receive any letter from the claimant with regards to this, my understanding is I should have 7 days before the court case?

On a separate note, I sent some further evidence I wished to use on Saturday. I have subsequently found out that evidence must be at the court and with the other party within 7 days of the court case. Is that correct? If so, can the judge decide to use the evidence or would it be disregarded?

Thank you for any assistance.

[Amethyst]

Re: A little help

Usually witness statements and documents you intend to rely on should be at court 14 days before but 7 days is fine, and it really depends on the Judge and any previous court orders whether things submitted within 7 days of the hearing will be disregarded or not. The Claimant might have made submissions in writing and may be not attending to save costs etc.

Do you want to give a bit more info/background on the claim as it's tricky without any info to help much xx

[nemesis45]

Re: A little help

Yes 7 days prior to a hearing.
A judge is unlikely to allow extra evidence unseen by the other party.
The claimant has informed the court properly of no attendance and
is presumably going to rely on the details of the claim and witness statement (s).

What does the claim involve?

[JGWA]

Re: A little help

Thank you for your reply Amethyst.

A general overview of the case is as follows:

I speculated with a restaurant for a date, time and head count for a table. They advised that they had a table available and I thanked them. They subsequently sent me an email a couple of days before the alleged booking asking if I would be coming. Thy received an out of office response. They made no other attempt to communicate with me to confirm the booking was agreed and that I was planning on arriving.

My party did not arrive.

After the alleged booking I received a N1 Claim form through the post. No call from the claimant, no letter, no email, just the claim form so no Pre-Action protocol was conducted at all.

I sent it back and got a court date.

The claimant is using my email speculating as evidence of booking.

I was on honeymoon and got back 7 weeks ago. Since them I have been away for my work and as a result, didn't send my evidence until Saturday.

My evidence is that I speculated with a number of locations before agreeing on one with my party. We paid a deposit, of which I have evidence, and I have an email from the venue confirming the number, time and date and my deposit as being paid.

I'm worried the evidence won't be allowed as its would only get there today. I have sent for it to be signed for by both the court and claimant.

What would your initial thoughts be?

[Amethyst]

Re: A little help

How much is their claim for?

It doesn't sound like you entered into any contract with the restaurant from what you have said.

Presumably your defence covers the relevant points about no contractual relationship etc and you should be fine. Do you know if the restaurant have sent in any witness statement or documents ? ( they should have served them on you also )

The restaurant probably aren't attending simply because it is a speculative claim. Don't forget to ask for your costs if you win - day off work, travel and parking.

[JGWA]

Re: A little help

Sorry I meant to say. The restaurant says that I owe them money for not turning up to the table. They have demanded £450 from me for not turning up. I didn't book the table, but still find it surprising that a claim of this nature can be made against a potential customer.

Any help would be great, thank you.

[JGWA]

Re: A little help

Thank you Amethyst. I did say in my initial response that no contract was made. The claimant says the email is evidence of a contract. My extra evidence i.e. The booking with deposit at another location would have been useful for me.

Have you heard of a restaurant filing a claim for somebody not showing up to a table? Surely, they should have a deposit system?

Am I right in saying that my expenses are £90 maximum?

[Amethyst]

Re: A little help

Yes I guessed that bit. Do you have the restuarants website addy or anything - see if they have terms etc

What's their particulars of claim ?

I could understand it if you had actually made a booking for christmas day/party etc and they'd been unable to fill the places - but that is why you have deposits for such things.

Was your booking for a wedding party ? (congrats by the way )

I'd guess they have lost your custom for ever, and probably anyone you happen to speak to.

There isn't a 'maximum' as such but yes about £90 is most you could expect ( though someone managed to get £300 last week in small claims court)

''The claimant says the email is evidence of a contract'' would need to see email ( fwd me it if you like - admin@legalbeagles.info )


Take copies of your other evidence with you anyway, it's small claims so a bit less strict - and with the other side not attending you have the Judge all to yourself to make your case

[JGWA]

Re: A little help

Yeah, they claimed to have turned away a booking as a result of me not turning up. The table I had allegedly booked was for 4pm, the other party requested a table at 7pm. 3 hours later, hardly a strong reason for turning another party away. 'We can't take you tonight, we have a party in three hours before and we're expecting them to be hungry!'.

It was actually for my stag do. We ended up booking a bar which had the football on. Thank you, I could have done without all this though I have to say. I'm just glad my stag do was a couple of weeks before my wedding, otherwise I would have got the claim form while I was away and not responded at all.

I suppose I'll just need to wait an see what mood the judge is in

If I win, I considered telling people about it on TripAdviser. But that may be more trouble than its worth!

[Amethyst]

Re: A little help

lol, yes watch out for terms saying they'll charge you £100 for leaving a bad review !

[JGWA]

Re: A little help

Noted.... sound legal advice there