Letter Before Action

[jannijan]

Can someone please advise as I'm a bit lost with this. I'm being taken to court and have already followed the court directions and submitted documents to the court and the other party. The other party did not comply and sent me nothing. Now, more than a month later I have received pre-action letter from a solicitor - seeking money, of course - and warning me about paragraph 15 of practice-direction? I've tried googling and can't make head nor tail of it. Surely, it's all a matter for the court as I've complied with the court directions?

[atticus]

Is this new correspondence about the same subject matter as the court case? If so, have you asked this solicitor if he is aware of the existing court proceedings?

[jannijan]

Thanks for responding Atticus. The letter states that if I do not pay or follow practice-directions protocol, particularly paragraph 15 on the MOJ website then he has been instructed to proceed with the formal court case. I've looked at the MOJ website and there are hundreds of items in the searches, none of which seem applicable. The only thing I can think of doing is sending a letter acknowledging his letter and nothing more. The letter is about the same subject matter.

[atticus]

Ask them why they have written that letter when their client has already started a court claim.

[jannijan]

Thank you Atticus. I will do and I will post on here what the response is as I appreciate you taking the time and effort to advise me.

[jannijan]

I received a response from the claimant's lawyers this morning in response to my email of last night. They were unaware that their client had started any legal action and have put my account "on hold". I also asked why their client failed to comply with the court direction to let me have their evidence by mid August. I complied. They have now contacted their client seeking a response and will let me know when they hear anything. I will post the next response.

[atticus]

That is a good start. Do come back if you need.

[jannijan]

Thank you Atticus. I'll keep posting as it may well help someone else who finds themself in the same situation.

[jannijan]

I've heard nothing from anyone and have still not received the bundle of evidence the other party were directed to send me by the court. Any advice on what I should do now? Should I contact the court or just turn up at court on the appointed day of the case?

[jannijan]

Update: I eventually phoned to court only to find that the other party had "discontinued" the case a month ago. Apparently, they were supposed to tell me but they didn't bother.

[MIKE770]

court should of sent discontinuance letter

[atticus]

The claimant should have served Notice of Discontinuance.

[jannijan]

The woman I spoke to at the court, on the phone, said that the claimant should have sent me a notice of discontinuance. It's worrying that I haven't had anything in writing from the court but they seemed to think that the claimant had sent me notice. Nothing seems to work as it should these days. Thank you Atticus for guiding me through this and thank you too Mike770 for your input.