Company denies being served claim form

[LaylaBrown]

They have sent an application to remove a default as they state that they did not receive the original claim form.

But the address on their application is exactly the same as on the claim form.

I already know about CPR, I am trying to find out what the case law or precedent is for strict rule following by courts i.e. when they say the CPR should not apply to them, in particular the rules on service, I want ot point the court to the fact that they cannot make this kind of claim as the court has to be strict about service.

[atticus]

How was the claim form served? Was it sent to the company's registered office?

Read CPR 13 - https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...l/rules/part13 - the rules about setting aside judgement. You will see how the court applies the rules, which may not always be what you would want.

[LaylaBrown]

Thanks. Yes went to their registered address.

I was specifically looking for a previous case where the Judge said courts have be to be strict about things like service?

[R0b]

The Civil Procedure Rules govern all civil proceedings and they are not optional, everyone follows the same rules. You have to follow the CPR otherwise the non-compliant party may be on the receiving end of sanctions, monetary or otherwise.

You haven't mentioned whether you served the claim personally or if the claim form was served by the court, but assuming you complied with the correct address, the CPR determines when the claim form is deemed to have been served on the company and you should assume that service was valid. The court's have acknowledged that for service to be valid, the defendant does not need to have physically received it, although if they want to set aside the judgment, they will need to provide evidence (to the extent they can) that it was never received.

Quite often companies claim it was never received by someone in the business but in fact it was misplaced, put in someone's drawer or thrown in the bin thinking it was a scam letter - none of which are good enough excuses.

Unfortunately, there's not much more we can help with because we don't know what the company has stated on the claim form. Are you able to upload a redacted version with personal information removed so we can see the basis of their application.

[LaylaBrown]

The Civil Procedure Rules govern all civil proceedings and they are not optional, everyone follows the same rules. You have to follow the CPR otherwise the non-compliant party may be on the receiving end of sanctions, monetary or otherwise.

You haven't mentioned whether you served the claim personally or if the claim form was served by the court, but assuming you complied with the correct address, the CPR determines when the claim form is deemed to have been served on the company and you should assume that service was valid. The court's have acknowledged that for service to be valid, the defendant does not need to have physically received it, although if they want to set aside the judgment, they will need to provide evidence (to the extent they can) that it was never received.

Quite often companies claim it was never received by someone in the business but in fact it was misplaced, put in someone's drawer or thrown in the bin thinking it was a scam letter - none of which are good enough excuses.

Unfortunately, there's not much more we can help with because we don't know what the company has stated on the claim form. Are you able to upload a redacted version with personal information removed so we can see the basis of their application.

Hi Rob. Yes was sent by the MCOL service.

States "The Defendant has not received a copy of the claim form referred to in the judgement of claim"

Address in the application identical to the one served, which came from Companies House.

[R0b]

So then what you need to do is wait for the hearing date for the set aside and in the meantime you write a witness statement opposing the set aside on the basis that the claim form was validly served. As I mentioned, they will need to provide evidence as to it not being received and if that's all they have stated on the form, you should have a fairly good chance of opposing it, unless the judge is sympathetic to the company and allows the set aside on some other good reason, but the company would need to explain that other good reason.

Have you written a witness statement before?

[efpom]

I suggest that you email MCOL asking HMCTS to state the date on which the judgment (I assume a default judgment) was sent to the defendant and if that was sent by 1st class post.

[LaylaBrown]

The company has now stated that the entity named is wrong. Yet I have served the entity exactly as written on Companies House. They say it is a slight variation on the actual entity I should have served. Clearly trying to come up with a reason for the judge to reinstate, as I pointed out via email that their not receiving the properly served claim form does not fly.

Also, I have been reaching out to this company ever since they filed their application. They have ignored every email.

I'm submitting that the slip rule should be applied in his case, if necessary, which I do not accept it is.

Thoughts? As they've applied that the case should be against a different entity, how can they do this if they've also had "no sight of the original claim" as they state in their application?

[atticus]

What do they say is the error in the name? What are your reasons for naming the defendant in the way you did?

How did you do this "reaching out"? What did you say?

Presumably they have had some notification of the judgement, which names the defendant, even if they have not seen the claim.

[LaylaBrown]

The name of the defendant is as listed on Companies House and my understanding is that this is the correct defendant. Don't know how they can say it isn't when at the same time stating they haven't seen what the claim is about. In any case, there are only superficial differences between the two names.

I have emailed them on the email in the application they made a half dozen times, asking thee to get in contact. I have almost 30 emails telling me those half dozen emails have been opened, that many times.

They say they received the judgment, just not the claim.

[atticus]

You have not answered the first of my questions. Being selective does not help.

[LaylaBrown]

atticus sorry. They state that the defendant is the incorrect party to the claim and is not the "contracting party with the claimant"

[atticus]

Do they say who was the contracting party?

How does this compare with any documents you have? This would include things like emails.

[LaylaBrown]

Anyone know the specific CPR regarding timeframes for service of mailed documents please?

[atticus]

CPR 6.26: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...es/part06#6.26