DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Won

[mystery1]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability

Pity as some issues could have been good enough to win without Beavis.

M1

[sammax11]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability

Hi

Have received a couple of pieces of paper today from Bath County Court. The first refers to the enclosed Notice of discontinuance and the other to the Notice itself. They are attached.

Anything else I need to do?

[mystery1]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability

Well it appears that they have sent a notice of discontinuance to the court but not to you. I would make a quick call to the court to confirm and then try a letter for costs.

It does appear as though you've won though.

M1

[sammax11]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Thanks M1.

Does the fact it was allocated to Small Clams prevent me from claiming costs?

Liability for costs

38.6
(1) Unless the court orders otherwise, a claimant who discontinues is liable for the costs which a defendant against whom the claimant discontinues incurred on or before the date on which notice of discontinuance was served on the defendant.
(2) If proceedings are only partly discontinued –
(a) the claimant is liable under paragraph (1) for costs relating only to the part of the proceedings which he is discontinuing; and
(b) unless the court orders otherwise, the costs which the claimant is liable to pay must not be assessed until the conclusion of the rest of the proceedings.
(3) This rule does not apply to claims allocated to the small claims track.

[mystery1]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Thanks M1.

Does the fact it was allocated to Small Clams prevent me from claiming costs?

Liability for costs

38.6
(1) Unless the court orders otherwise, a claimant who discontinues is liable for the costs which a defendant against whom the claimant discontinues incurred on or before the date on which notice of discontinuance was served on the defendant.
(2) If proceedings are only partly discontinued –
(a) the claimant is liable under paragraph (1) for costs relating only to the part of the proceedings which he is discontinuing; and
(b) unless the court orders otherwise, the costs which the claimant is liable to pay must not be assessed until the conclusion of the rest of the proceedings.
(3) This rule does not apply to claims allocated to the small claims track.

Technically it should be an application but i'm not convince the odds of spending cash to ask are worth it. A letter MIGHT prevail but costs little. Normally small claims track costs are not allowed in these cases but 27.14 2 g can help with the right court/judge. It's worth asking.

"In the County Court at xxx

~~ To be put before procedural judge ~~

In the matter of

Deal v XYZ
Claim Number XXX

Dear Sir or Madam,

I have been advised by the court on xxxxx that the listed hearing for this claim was vacated and I understand that this is due to the Claimant's discontinuance.

CPR r.38.6 states that the claimant is liable for the defendant's costs after discontinuance (r.38.6(1)) but that this does not apply to claims allocated to the small claims track (r.38.6(3)). However, the white book states (annotation 38.6.1): "Note that the normal rule as to costs does not apply if a claimant in a case allocated to the small claims track serves a notice of discontinuance although it might be contended that costs should be awarded if a party has behaved unreasonably (r.27.14(2)(d))." I believe it should actually refer to r.27.14(2)(g) as that is the rule which allows the court to award costs for unreasonable behaviour.

On this basis I would like to request a costs order to be made against the Claimant given that DEAL has behaved unreasonably by discontinuing this claim, and also by not submitting any evidence/witness statement in support of their claim other than their claim form, and by not serving me with a copy of their Directions Questionnaire contrary to the court order.

The Defendant had significant costs to prepare the Defence and prepare attendance of the hearing and the costs claimed are as follows:

(explain any expenses here).

Yours faithfully,

XYZ
Defendant"

This won't guarantee you anything but it is worth a shot, and as long as you're not taking the p##s with what you're claiming you may have a friendly judge who gives you a costs order.

£18 per hour is the litigant in person. £190 was awarded to 1 person. http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/prankster-runs-out-of-deal-headlines.html

M1

[MIKE770]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Llp rate now £19.00?

[mystery1]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Llp rate now £19.00?

Correct. Next time i copy and paste it you'll probably need to correct it again

M1

[sammax11]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Is this the sort of final paragraph that you mean?

The Defendant had significant costs to prepare the Defence and prepare attendance of the hearing and the costs claimed are as follows:

Completing and Filing Defence and Directions Questionnaire
Total of 10 hours by litigant in person at £19.00 per hour £190.00
Stationery, printing and postage costs £10.00
Total claimed £200.00

[mystery1]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

:okay:

M1

[sammax]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Thank you M1. I will advise how this progresses.

[sammax11]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Hi M1

Received a General Form of Judgment or Order from the County Court today in respect of the application for costs against DEAL.

On the court not be9ing satisfied that the actions of the Claimant amount to unreasonable behaviour (as set out in r27.14)
IT IS ORDERED THAT
The Defendants requests for costs is denied.

So this concludes this matter but at least I was able to have ago back thanks to the support given here. Thank you very muck for your time and effort.

[mystery1]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Pretty crappy order but it was worth a shot.

M1

[sammax11]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Indeed, but once again thanks for your help.

[sammax]

Re: DEAL and Coop at Shepton Mallet - 18th February 2012 before Keeper liability - Wo

Regarding Michael Schwartz I have received a letter from the Solicitors' Regulatory Authority confirming that they are still looking into this.