Hi,
I am the Claimant on a small claims case and was granted default judgement a few months back as the Defendant's defence and counterclaim were struck out due to ongoing non-compliance with Court orders.
Months after the default judgement order was made I started to receive payments via the Bailiffs (although I didn't authorise a monthly payment plan and the Court order stated payment was required immediately - what can I do about this?).
I have just received a N244 application from the Defendant that the Court forwarded to me, requesting a hearing in order to present their defence/counterclaim, stating that the Court lost the case file. An order from a different Judge (Deputy) has been issued for an urgent hearing per the N244 application request.
The N244 Statement of Truth under Section 10 has not been signed and the content of the document is clearly intended to mislead the Court into providing the Defendant with a hearing to present their defence/counterclaim. The truth of the matter is that the defence/counterclaim has been struck out. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Court lost the file. The Defendant has attached an Acknowledgement of Service which has no relevance other than to mislead and support the point about the defence/counterclaim not having been seen by Court due to the case file loss.
No reason has been given to justify the delay in N244 form submission.
The defence/counterclaim has no legal grounds or prospect of success and I have already provided a detailed breakdown of the reasons for this in my response particulars of claim, which formed the basis of the default judgement in my favour.
How do I get the N244 application struck out for an abuse of Court procedure on the part of the Defendant by misleading the Court into thinking that the defence/counterclaim has not been seen because the Court lost the file? It has been struck out. Also, is the N244 invalid due to the Statement of Truth not having been signed? Is an email to the Court Manager sufficient? Or is there a specific application form/fee that I need to submit to the Court?
I'd be grateful for your prompt assistance.
I am the Claimant on a small claims case and was granted default judgement a few months back as the Defendant's defence and counterclaim were struck out due to ongoing non-compliance with Court orders.
Months after the default judgement order was made I started to receive payments via the Bailiffs (although I didn't authorise a monthly payment plan and the Court order stated payment was required immediately - what can I do about this?).
I have just received a N244 application from the Defendant that the Court forwarded to me, requesting a hearing in order to present their defence/counterclaim, stating that the Court lost the case file. An order from a different Judge (Deputy) has been issued for an urgent hearing per the N244 application request.
The N244 Statement of Truth under Section 10 has not been signed and the content of the document is clearly intended to mislead the Court into providing the Defendant with a hearing to present their defence/counterclaim. The truth of the matter is that the defence/counterclaim has been struck out. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Court lost the file. The Defendant has attached an Acknowledgement of Service which has no relevance other than to mislead and support the point about the defence/counterclaim not having been seen by Court due to the case file loss.
No reason has been given to justify the delay in N244 form submission.
The defence/counterclaim has no legal grounds or prospect of success and I have already provided a detailed breakdown of the reasons for this in my response particulars of claim, which formed the basis of the default judgement in my favour.
How do I get the N244 application struck out for an abuse of Court procedure on the part of the Defendant by misleading the Court into thinking that the defence/counterclaim has not been seen because the Court lost the file? It has been struck out. Also, is the N244 invalid due to the Statement of Truth not having been signed? Is an email to the Court Manager sufficient? Or is there a specific application form/fee that I need to submit to the Court?
I'd be grateful for your prompt assistance.