Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

[ploddingon]

I made a compliant against my district council, a long while back, which they upheld. It involved them taking an incorrect sum of money from my bank account via direct debit, more than they should have, that led to me incurring a bank charge. I was ultimately refunded my bank charge by the district council, they did apologise too, but I wasn't even given a penny in compensation. Now, their incompetence caused me a lot of trouble. I had to go to all the effort of getting evidence of the charge, sending off a letter to them about it and in effect paying the charge until they refunded me several weeks later. Plus, I wasn't best pleased by their treatment of me in relation to a couple of previous incidents either.

I decided to make an official complaint and requested some compensation. They said no and I told them I was considering court action. They then asked me to escalate my complaint through their complaints procedure, rather than take them to court, which I found quite amusing. Anyhow, I didn't see the sense in wasting my time on their complaints procedure,as I only envisaged a similar outcome. At the end of the day, I decided to shelve it for a while and make a decision at a later date. I have initiated court action before, but it is a bit of a drag and I had other things to be getting on with. Well, I was just looking through a whole load of old paperwork, relating to several different matters, and the time has now come where I pretty much have to ditch it or follow through on it.

I have a few questions I would like answered please. Firstly, I am assuming this sort of thing is subject to the 'within six years for court action' rule. Is this correct? Secondly, if so, then is it six years from when the original incident occurred, from when I made my initial complaint or from when they declined my initial complaint? Finally, what are my chances of winning in court? For me, this was purely a matter of principle and I wouldn't care if I was only awarded a very small amount of compensation by the court. I just found their whole attitude very high and mighty, to be honest, and really thought I should have been offered some compensation. Any advice greatly appreciated.

[stevemLS]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I'm sorry but I do not believe you have any cause of action.

I order to award compensation you would have to demonstrate actual financial loss. You haven't said, for example that you incurred bank charges as a direct result.

Paying a bit extra for a few weeks and having to write a letter would be characterised by a court as "one of life's inconveniences which we must all put up with" and which deserves exactly the same amount of compensation as the council offered (i.e. nothing).

Before anyone could say what the appropriate limitation period was, you would have to identify your cause of action. It could be as short as 3 months. But, with no cause of action plainly you have nothing to found proceedings on.

You could complain to the Local Government Ombudsman who is able to make financial awards for maladministration but usually does so only in extreme cases. The time limit for complaint there is 12 months and that would run from the date of the council's decision. Their decisions are, in any event, non-binding although they are usually followed.

[ploddingon]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

It involved them taking an incorrect sum of money from my bank account via direct debit, more than they should have, that led to me incurring a bank charge.

In order to award compensation you would have to demonstrate actual financial loss. You haven't said, for example that you incurred bank charges as a direct result.

Thank you for the reply. I am a bit confused, as I don't think I could have made that bit any more obvious, but I do apologise if I was lacking in clarity. So to recap, as already stated, the council fully accepted what happened and refunded me the bank charge I incurred. A direct debit left my account for more than it should have done and it got returned by my bank due to insufficient funds. I had enough money there to pay the amount that should have gone out, so the district council were clearly liable for the bank charge I incurred.

Paying a bit extra for a few weeks and having to write a letter would be characterised by a court as "one of life's inconveniences which we must all put up with" and which deserves exactly the same amount of compensation as the council offered (i.e. nothing).

First and foremost, it was a £20 bank charge and that was a lot of money for me to be deprived of. I am certainly not well off. Moreover, I certainly didn't experience the whole affair as 'one of life's little inconveniences'. I found dealing with the matter very inconvenient and very irritating. I fail to see how some of the banks at the centre of some of the 'mass failed payment' incidents of recent years have willingly paid out a bit of compensation, on top of refunding charges incurred, while a district council can ride roughshod over any notion of having to pay out some compensation.

Before anyone could say what the appropriate limitation period was, you would have to identify your cause of action. It could be as short as 3 months. But, with no cause of action plainly you have nothing to found proceedings on. You could complain to the Local Government Ombudsman who is able to make financial awards for maladministration but usually does so only in extreme cases. The time limit for complaint there is 12 months and that would run from the date of the council's decision. Their decisions are, in any event, non-binding although they are usually followed.

I already discounted going down the road of the council complaints procedure, as I frankly saw it as a waste of time and effort. On the other hand, over the years, I have personally found the county court system to be a very fair and very worthwhile exercise to follow. No doubt, for various reasons, some will have had different experiences to me though. What I can also say is that the district council didn't at all like the sound of me taking them to court, even if they didn't stand to lose much. I am certainly no expert on legal points, but I thought that a six years rule usually applied to take legal action over such matters. My case, if it goes ahead, would obviously rest on distress caused and inconvenience suffered. Are you absolutely sure that citizens can't take their district council to court over distress caused and inconvenience suffered? If so, then I am totally astounded and never knew anything about that whatsoever.

At the end of the day, I found their whole attitude very high and mighty, plus I would suggest it was a bit patronising. It was like I was made to feel it was my fault for not having more money, in my bank account, to cover their erroneous payment request. If they had initially offered me £10 compensation, or something similar, then I probably would have felt that was good enough as a resolution. I can't deny that I did already have a bit of ill feeling towards my district council, as a result of a council tax dispute and a parking ticket dispute.

The council tax dispute involved me being a little bit behind with my monthly payments and incurring a hefty charge over what appeared to be a purely automated court summons. By and large, I am always up to date at the end of every annual payment cycle and, as I sorted out my arrears with the court summons ultimately being withdrawn, I was amazed that they still tried leaving the said charge on my bill. I did manage to get it removed, in the end, but I found it all very distasteful and akin to banks pumping out automated letters to levy hefty charges against you.

The parking ticket dispute involved me incorrectly setting a time on a cardboard parking disc, I was 76 years old when it happened, and incurring a £30 charge. The thing that irked me most was that I went to the district council office in person, as soon as I got back to my car and found the parking ticket. I still arrived at their office inside the time I would have had if the parking disc had been set correctly. On the basis of common sense, it was very obvious that a genuine mistake had been made. This was because if I was returning to my car anyway, then I could have just driven out of the car park and back in again to reset my parking disc. I really think that my age should have been taken into consideration as well. As you get older, then you tend to make the odd mistake more often than in earlier life. Still, they wouldn't have it and that was that. I didn't know much about parking ticket appeals at the time, so don't know if I could have appealed, but left it at that with yet another bad taste in my mouth.

I know full well that I couldn't have used those two incidents to help back up any compensation claim for distress caused and inconvenience suffered due to the bank charge incident. I am just giving a bit of background to why I perhaps didn't feel happy just letting the bank charge incident go. When thinking about it all, especially in relation to the parking ticket dispute, I really think that district councils should make exceptions now and then. If I hadn't turned up at their office in person, inside the time I would have had if my disc had been correctly set, then fair enough and I would have paid the fine without grumbling. They would only have had my word to go on and, I am not an idiot, I do recognise the integrity of the system is very important. However, the system wasn't designed to catch people out for making an innocent mistake, quite likely due to old age, and as they had clear evidence of what happened I found it ridiculous nothing was done to sort it out.

So, if I had felt that they had treated me fairly in the past, then I would have likely thought fair's fair and left it at that over the bank charge incident. It seems to me that anything you do wrong, innocently or not, incurs you a lot of grief and cost; while anything they do wrong, which is a blatant mistake, still incurs you a lot of grief and cost. In fact, after jumping through hoops, it even leaves you feeling lucky to just get your money back. I am not feeling much balance in this relationship to be honest. Moan over... :violin:

[wales01man]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

What amount of Compensation do you expect from them? would expect that any thing to high would be defendended by the council they would spend a lot more than you would claim in court on defending after all its your and other taxpayers who will pay not the people they employ

[des8]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I understand fully where you're coming from P.
However I suspect, as Steve suggested, you would fail on any court claim for compensation.
On the other hand you should succeed in a claim for the costs you incurred in obtaining the refund.
This would include telephone costs, stationery & postage, interest on the bank charges and anything else you can think of.
If you ever get round to sending the council a LBA, you could add in a bit of compo , and see what they say!
If you then decide to proceed to court "de minimis" might kick in

[stevemLS]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I have also read other threads started by OP and I think I will leave it.

[ploddingon]

Last call.

I have also read other threads started by OP and I think I will leave it.

I am genuinely not quite sure what you mean by that and feel a bit taken aback to be honest. I have only started 8 threads on this forum in nearly 5 years of membership. They are as follows:

1 About a Paypal statute barred debt. The result was the whole debt being written off, with my paypal account being fully reinstated.

2. About High Court Writs and eviction. This wasn't about me, nor anyone I knew of, and I was just making a general observation that I thought it unfair tenants could be evicted like that. I fully accepted that they might have already had a CCJ, but no harm in the High Court sending a letter first too!

3. About a mis-sold mortgage. I think I have a very good case and the FOS will ultimately be making a judgement on this.

4. About when interest should 'ideally' get frozen on an unpaid debt. This wasn't about me, but the result was the person concerned getting a very helpful chunk of their debt written off.

5. About an extremely serious court case, which involved HFO trying to literally double a credit card debt of mine they had bought to £8,000. They ultimately wanted to attain a Charging Order on my property. The result was I won the case, with HFO having to pay out nigh on £20,000 in costs, but it was very admittedly a close call.

6. About an extremely serious medical case where my wife's life was unnecessarily endangered. She is still undecided about whether to make a complaint or not, but I will update the thread in due course. We have been told she has a very strong case though.

7. About some terrible service received from Royal Mail. The result being that my complaint was upheld and compensation awarded.

8. About the issue in this very thread, with a conclusion still not reached.

Separate to that, not related to this forum at all, I have been in the county court system on a few other occasions in my 81 years of life and never lost. What sort of threads are people supposed to start on Legal Beagles then? Do you think I am some sort of vexatious litigant who goes around making frivolous claims all the time? Is that what you are getting at? I would be very sorry to hear that, if it is your perception of me, but each to their own. As you won't be helping me any further, then I will just have to hope that someone else will do. Goodbye then.

What amount of Compensation do you expect from them? would expect that any thing to high would be defended by the council they would spend a lot more than you would claim in court on defending after all its your and other taxpayers who will pay not the people they employ

Hi there and thank you for the reply. I certainly wouldn't be 'expecting' any more than £30, but £10 at the very least. I am well aware that any payment would ultimately be funded by us taxpayers, but like I already said I feel they stole £30 from me during an earlier incident. Furthermore, I don't think people should be too shy about stamping their feet now and then, as it should help our district councils to be more responsible and less complacent. I do fully appreciate the sentiment of what you are saying though.

I understand fully where you're coming from P. However I suspect, as Steve suggested, you would fail on any court claim for compensation. On the other hand you should succeed in a claim for the costs you incurred in obtaining the refund. This would include telephone costs, stationery & postage, interest on the bank charges and anything else you can think of. If you ever get round to sending the council a LBA, you could add in a bit of compo , and see what they say! If you then decide to proceed to court "de minimis" might kick in

Hi there and thank you for the reply. The council offered me nothing extra whatsoever, whether it be for small additional costs or as compensation, so I very much doubt that they would budge now on the compensation front. I wouldn't bother going to court only seeking small additional costs, as I feel it wouldn't be worth it, even if I was sure to win. It would have to purely be for some compensation.

I had to put this issue on the back burner for a couple of months, due to something else that was important coming up, but now want to finish with it one way or the other. Can you please clarify, regardless of what my chances of winning might be, whether I am still within the time allowed to take my district council to county court over a matter such as this? I thought I definitely was, but stevemLS seemed to suggest it wasn't necessarily always the case. I am genuinely curious and would like to know just for the sake of knowing. Much appreciated.

[des8]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I suspect Steve was referring to the Local Government Ombudsman time bar on complaints of maladministration which is 12 Months.
For court action the time limit from cause of action varies (see Statute of Limitations)
I don't think you gave any details about the timescale involved, so difficult to know exactly.

[R0b]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

Hello,

Firstly, let me just say that court action is deemed to be the last resort where everything else has failed. It seems you did not follow the escalated procedures of the council and so you could be penalised in that by the judge in court for skipping a step which may have resolved the issue.

Limitation periods depend on the cause of action you are claiming (breach of contract, negligence, fraud etc.), negligence is 6 years from the date the damage occurred or when you had the requisite knowledge. Breach of contract is 6 years from the date of the breach.

If you have noticed the issue and the council have rectified the problem within a reasonable time then it would be difficult to argue a cause of action. On the other hand if this has been a series of payment problems with regards to your council tax (not other issues councils deal with as they are deemed separate issues) then you might have a reasonable argument. Similarly, if this has had a knock on effect such as finances then you will also need to explain that to show some reasonable inconvenience and distress.

You can't just say that they have taken more money than they should have and they have covered any costs incurred by yourself but yet you still want more money. Banks do it as a gesture of goodwill on occasions but there is certainly no obligation for them to do so. Councils and banks alike would be expected to put you back in the same position as if it never happened - which it seems this is what the council have done.

Hope this makes sense.

[ploddingon]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I suspect Steve was referring to the Local Government Ombudsman time bar on complaints of maladministration which is 12 Months.

Oh, I see.

For court action the time limit from cause of action varies (see Statute of Limitations) I don't think you gave any details about the timescale involved, so difficult to know exactly.

I will have to dig up all the paperwork to attain an exact date, but from memory it will be 6 years come this December.

Hello, Firstly, let me just say that court action is deemed to be the last resort where everything else has failed. It seems you did not follow the escalated procedures of the council and so you could be penalised in that by the judge in court for skipping a step which may have resolved the issue.

Hi there. Well, this does concern me and would put me off initiating court action, but all depending on the chances of the judge penalising me. You say 'could', but would you care to have a stab in the dark at a percentage? If he was to penalise me, then in what way might that happen? He couldn't do much penalsiing in the way of cutting the amount of compensation I was seeking, as that is low to begin with, so are we talking just refusing to hear my case? I hope not.

I always assumed that as long as one had gone through the basic council complaints procedure, then one didn't have to go any higher on that ladder before going to court. If that is the case though, I don't think it's at all fair, then c'est la vie and I will have to accept it. However, it's not as if courts ever throw cases out against a bank, if the plaintiff hasn't gone to the FOS first. Not that I know of anyway.

Limitation periods depend on the cause of action you are claiming (breach of contract, negligence, fraud etc.), negligence is 6 years from the date the damage occurred or when you had the requisite knowledge. Breach of contract is 6 years from the date of the breach.

I think my case would come under negligence and possibly breach of contract too. As I said to des8, I believe I am still within 6 years from when the damage occurred.

If you have noticed the issue and the council have rectified the problem within a reasonable time then it would be difficult to argue a cause of action. On the other hand if this has been a series of payment problems with regards to your council tax (not other issues councils deal with as they are deemed separate issues) then you might have a reasonable argument. Similarly, if this has had a knock on effect such as finances then you will also need to explain that to show some reasonable inconvenience and distress.

This was to do with a direct debit for a service charge payment, not council tax, and it only happened the once.

You can't just say that they have taken more money than they should have and they have covered any costs incurred by yourself but yet you still want more money. Banks do it as a gesture of goodwill on occasions but there is certainly no obligation for them to do so. Councils and banks alike would be expected to put you back in the same position as if it never happened - which it seems this is what the council have done. Hope this makes sense.

If I had the money spare to pay the bank charge and wait for the council to give me it back, then I wouldn't have ever moaned about it. I don't think that anyone really appreciates this. I think it was something like £25 and I honestly didn't have any money spare. I told them that I had a letter from my bank telling me that they were intending to take the money from my bank account, but the council insisted on seeing it on my bank statement after it had gone out of my account. I think that they should have at least paid it up front, then told me that I must still furnish them with a copy of my bank statement for their records when I got it through. I am confident that if I can get before a judge, considering how incompetent they were to begin with, then he will see what I am saying.

So, from what I can gather, it seems I am still within the 6 years allowed to initiate court action against my district council, but I might have problems because I didn't escalate my complaint any further within the local government system. There is of course the matter of whether I can win or not, but I feel quite strongly about this and unless I have very little chance I will give it a go. I now hope someone can tell me something more concrete, as to what the most likely scenario is, on the non-escalation issue. I will then make a final decision on what to do.

[R0b]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I say the word 'could' because it is possible that the judge might think that your issue could have been resolved without the need of court action. That could range from a ticking off to a reduction in compensation - unlikely but every judge is different and never know what can happen. If the council raises the issue by saying well you never went through their full complaints procedure the judge might ask why and you should have a good reason for not doing so. Even if you do initiate court action there will be the offer of free mediation which is probably something I would suggest taking up to show you have at least considered alternatives to court. Regarding your comparison with bank issues, customers must go through the banks complaint procedures (8 weeks to resolve) before they can at least go to the FOS. If the complaint is complex, some may feel that court action is a better option and a legitimate reason where your asking a lay person to interpret the law which could have a complex argument to it.

If you received a letter from the bank saying £25 charge will apply, then that should suffice to say that you have evidence that the bank will be charging you, so yes they have been a little bit unreasonable with saying you have to wait for it to hit your bank. They are entitled to ask for proof before paying you, if every person did that and failed to give proof the council would make quite a hefty loss, as would a business. Where they refund you first is at their discretion.

few questions:

How did you pay the £25 charge in the end?
What would the effect have been if you didn't pay the charge? would that mean further charges incurred?
what is the time gap between the issue and you now looking to take court action?

I am not sure if you have done this already but before intending to put a claim online you should really send a letter before action - this sets out the circumstances of the issue and what you are seeking to claim. It will give the council an opportunity to settle the issue without the need of the court (and possibly save you money). This might just give them the nudge to compensate you as it could be a waste of the councils resources going to go and may not be worth the hassle.

In the end it is ultimately up to you what you want to do and if you want to take it to court be prepared for any questions that may be thrown at you. For example, the last question above, you might be asked why have you taken so long to bring it to court.

You will also have the fees to pay for court action which means for the sake of what you are claiming is it really worth it when there is also a chance you might lose?

[ploddingon]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I say the word 'could' because it is possible that the judge might think that your issue could have been resolved without the need of court action. That could range from a ticking off to a reduction in compensation - unlikely but every judge is different and never know what can happen. If the council raises the issue by saying well you never went through their full complaints procedure the judge might ask why and you should have a good reason for not doing so.

Well, I hold my hands up to this and won't lie about it on this thread or to a judge. I was feeling quite peeved off and just saw it as a waste of time and energy. I didn't envisage getting any success going down that road, but was honestly under the impression that I was fully entitled to go to court after getting my district council's final response. I totally acknowledge that this was just an assumption though and I should have sought definitive clarity from someone at the time.

Even if you do initiate court action there will be the offer of free mediation which is probably something I would suggest taking up to show you have at least considered alternatives to court.

So, I would get my court fee back if I ultimately initiated a claim and then settled via free mediation? I would have no problem whatsoever with discussing this matter further, if someone from the council was open to it.

Regarding your comparison with bank issues, customers must go through the banks complaint procedures (8 weeks to resolve) before they can at least go to the FOS. If the complaint is complex, some may feel that court action is a better option and a legitimate reason where your asking a lay person to interpret the law which could have a complex argument to it.

Yes, that does make sense. However, I am sure some of the people who go straight to court, not an insignificant number, feel they have a strong case and see it as an avenue to a quicker conclusion. Going through the FOS can end up taking several months on occasion.

If you received a letter from the bank saying £25 charge will apply, then that should suffice to say that you have evidence that the bank will be charging you, so yes they have been a little bit unreasonable with saying you have to wait for it to hit your bank. They are entitled to ask for proof before paying you, if every person did that and failed to give proof the council would make quite a hefty loss, as would a business. Where they refund you first is at their discretion.

Yes, I thought they were very unreasonable too. I felt that they could have given me the money on the condition that I must later send them a copy of my bank statement after I got it through. What really got my goat was that one person I spoke to on the phone made me feel like it was all my fault, in the first place, for not having more money available in bank account to pay their direct debit. Yes, really! Well, what they tried to take wasn't much more than they were supposed to take, but it isn't my job to legislate for things like that happening. Furthermore, if someone makes a cock up on a direct debit request, then in my opinion it isn't any more likely to be a few pence than a few pounds or much more.

few questions:

How did you pay the £25 charge in the end?

I paid it out of my own money, but it was very inconvenient for me. I didn't have any credit available and wouldn't have wanted any, even if if I could have got it.

What would the effect have been if you didn't pay the charge? would that mean further charges incurred?

I had a cash account at the time, I still do, and it only meant having £25 less after the next automated credit went in. I wouldn't have incurred any further charges.

what is the time gap between the issue and you now looking to take court action?

It is 6 years come this December.

I am not sure if you have done this already but before intending to put a claim online you should really send a letter before action - this sets out the circumstances of the issue and what you are seeking to claim. It will give the council an opportunity to settle the issue without the need of the court (and possibly save you money). This might just give them the nudge to compensate you as it could be a waste of the councils resources going to court and may not be worth the hassle.

I did send the council a letter before action at the time, as I hoped it might nudge them to do the right thing, but their only response was to insist I escalate my complaint to the next level. I laid everything out thoroughly too, so I don't think sending another one now will do any good. In fact, as I have already sent one, then they might take another one sent at the 11th hour even less seriously. They didn't even attempt to negotiate with me.

In the end it is ultimately up to you what you want to do and if you want to take it to court be prepared for any questions that may be thrown at you. For example, the last question above, you might be asked why have you taken so long to bring it to court.

Well, as to why I didn't fully exhaust the whole complaints procedure, I have already admitted that I can't give any response other than to say I saw it as a waste of time. However, as to why I have taken so long to take it to court, I think I can give a good account of myself.

I was still dealing with the debt hell, which I first seriously fell into around 2003, and I just didn't have the mental energy for it. It wasn't just this matter I shelved by any means. I left a lot of things on the back burner and it is only during this year that I have gone over a lot of old paperwork and put many things to bed one way or the other. It took a great mental effort to do it as well, please believe me, but it had to be done. I was hoping to be fully finished by the end of the year, but it looks like it will be the beginning of next year now. I don't mind at all though, as I am very happy with the progress being made. It will be very nice to have the feeling of total closure, when it comes, for the first time in over a decade.

However, saying all of that, I still had no idea at all that taking so long to go to court might impact upon my chances of winning. I was adamant that as long as you were within the time allowed, then it wouldn't would make any difference if you initiated court action one month, or a day under six years, after an incident occurred. Yet again, I fully admit that this was only an assumption of mine though. Are you sure about this?

You will also have the fees to pay for court action which means for the sake of what you are claiming is it really worth it when there is also a chance you might lose?

Well, this would depend on my percentage chances of winning. If I had a 40% chance minimum, then I would probably still go for it, as I do feel very strongly about this matter. I am of the opinion that they robbed me over that parking incident and treated me like dirt when I had some council tax issues.

I almost feel inclined to take them to court, as I feel they need to be taken to court by Joe Bloggs every once in a while. There would probably be uproar, nowadays, that someone even had the temerity to do it. I know that some of the people who work in district councils are good people, but, generally speaking, I have felt that moral standards have declined over the years. I have found it a bit alarming too, especially when it comes to council tax collection. This certainly doesn't mean that I will arrive at the next council employee I encounter with a chip on my shoulder, but I will definitely not be shy about taking any opportunity that falls my way to get financial even with this 'organisation'. I find it very sad that I can even begin to perceive my district council in an almost adversarial light.

When I first started this thread, it was pretty much a case of me going to court no matter what. However, as you have pointed out that some things may count against me, which I was previously unaware of, then I am also beginning to think that discretion might be the better part of valour where this skirmish is concerned. I don't think I can possibly give you any more information, from what I can think of, and I have now answered all of your questions as well. I will await your next response and make my final decision afterwards then. Thank you very much for trying to help me.

[ploddingon]

Quick update.

I have just had a full read over all of the correspondence again. One of the letters actually listed out, in bullet point style, four reasons why they didn't see fit to offer me any compensation. I can now verify with certainty that it was £30 I was seeking, but they didn't even try to negotiate by offering a lesser sum. The four reasons given were as follows:

1. They made a mistake, but had apologised. (Yes, after being spoken to like an idiot on the phone and with no sincerity whatsoever perceived. I never realised that a council 'apology' was so sacred either.)

2. They gave me a refund in full and final settlement. (This was absolutely ridiculous. They 'had' to refund me, so how could it have been in final and final settlement? Not to mention the fact that the words full and final settlement were never mentioned.)

3. I was not financially disadvantaged in any way. (Yet again, this was totally ridiculous. I had already fully explained to them that I was and how so.)

4. It was not understood how this could have happened due to only a small amount of extra money being requested by them from my bank account. (This was the one that really made my blood temperature increase. The fact was that it did happen and they had evidence that it had happened. Some sort of joke?)

[ploddingon]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

In the end it is ultimately up to you what you want to do and if you want to take it to court be prepared for any questions that may be thrown at you. For example, the last question above, you might be asked why have you taken so long to bring it to court.

Hi there, I really do have to make a final decision now. Can you offer any final bits of advice in light of my last 2 posts? If not, then at the very least, can you please let me know whether you think my reasons for taking so long to bring this to court would be considered acceptable by a judge? I really have been worrying about this, as I never anticipated it might be an issue, after you raised it as a potential stumbling block. Thank you to everyone for all advice offered thus far. I really did feel quite strongly about this.

[des8]

Re: Deadline to initiate court action against district council?

I don't believe the court would ask why you took so long to bring the action.
It would be for the defendant to claim your action was statute barred.
If you are within the time limits, and the claim is then dismissed by the court for an unacceptable delay, you would have grounds for appeal (although not that it would be financially worth it!)