Received a Notice of Intent to Apply for Adjudication

[Donny462]

Thank you des8 , I had a feeling you wouldn't be able to recommend a Solicitor, but it was worth an ask lol. I haven't asked the other Solicitor yet, as I was just so taken aback that he'd renagued on his agreement, but I will ask him tomorrow.

I did as you suggested last week and asked the Claimants Solicitor what terms they would be prepared to settle on, three times now she has written and said she is still discussing the matter with her client, then yesterday, she said she is still discussing it with her client, and she really does think it can be settled without need for a hearing, and suggested I might like to put an offer forward first "...given that electronic bundles have to be submitted on Wednesday which will incur significantly more costs..." surely ten days is enough time for the Claimant to have indicated what he would be prepared to settle at, and I shouldn't be penalised financially because he can't make his mind up? What are your thoughts please?

[des8]

regarding the request you put an offer in.... who knows what they are playing at?

The courts do want litigants to attempt settlement outside of the court as it is generally better for all parties concerned.
However it is a process bounded by rules (CPR36) and possible cost consequences and needs to be followed carefully so you don't inadvertently admit liability. Always made "without prejudice save as to costs"

Offers to settle can be made at anytime, and it seems to me that they are trying to pressure you into making the offer by making that statement " ...given that electronic bundles have to be submitted on Wednesday which will incur significantly more costs..."
If the bundle is due tomorrow* surely it is ready for dispatch already so what extra costs? and also they don't have time really to receive your possible offer, read & digest it, pass it to their client who then has to read and digest and then make a decision to accept or decline before that bundle is due in!

*Just realised as today is Wednesday you must mean in a weeks time

[Donny462]

Hi des8

Thank you for your help, as always.

You are quite right, the bundles were to be submitted Wednesday, i.e TODAY!

The Claimants Solicitor has filed the electronic bundle this afternoon, (it's actually the first part of the order that she's abided by!), but still no sign of any figure that the Claimant would be prepared to settle at!

I am at a total loss as to what game they are playing but skeleton arguments have to be filed by a week today.

Do you think there's any likelihood that I could get the hearing date put back?

[des8]

well you could make a formal application (cost £255 I think) to the court to vary the order and hope!

[Donny462]

Thank you des8 , what form do I need to complete please?

[des8]

Here's the form, altho' the address of your court might be different
https://assets.publishing.service.go...ngham_-eng.pdf

You need to obtain other party agreement

[Donny462]

Thank you des8, so do I need to write and ask for their agreement to ask for a change in the hearing date, and do I need to copy the court in that correspondence? Also, would it be better for a solicitor to complete the form on my behalf, or would I be OK to do it?
Sorry for all of the questions.

[des8]

Thank goodness you came back ... i linked you to the wrong form!

Realise you haven't got time to obtain other party consent so use N244 https://assets.publishing.service.go...7/n244-eng.pdf
guidance on completing the form
https://assets.publishing.service.go...-notes-eng.pdf

[Donny462]

Thank you so much des8 lol, oh I will always come back and check before I do anything, just in case I've misunderstood something.

Do you think I will be OK completing the form? Or should I get a solicitor to do it?

[des8]

Should be able to do it yourself

[Donny462]

Thank you des8

If I fill the form in but block out the names, will you please cast your eye over it for me please to see if I have done OK?

On another note, today the Claimants Solicitor has written to the Court detailing who will be present for the Hearing, without even asking me if I have any witnesses to put forward? I'm flabbergasted! Still no mention of what her client would be prepared to settle at either ! I've never known anything like it !

[des8]

Post up or use PM

If the solicitor has forwarded an inadequate bundle you are entitled to file and serve additional papers

Re settlement they obviously want to see what you are prepared to offer before they put their
starting counter offer on the table.
Didn't they make an offer earlier?

[Donny462]

Post up or use PM

If the solicitor has forwarded an inadequate bundle you are entitled to file and serve additional papers

Re settlement they obviously want to see what you are prepared to offer before they put their
starting counter offer on the table.
Didn't they make an offer earlier?

Thank you des8

No, they haven`t made an offer to settle as yet, they just keep promising they will do so shortly?

With regards to my completing and sending in the N244 Form, thank you, I will PM you .

[Donny462]

Hi Everyone

Well some time has passed since I last posted about this matter, in the meantime, the Claimant filed for a Summary Judgement and despite all of the evidence to the contrary, the Judge found in the Claimants favour in agreeing with everything that the Adjudicator had said, despite me having evidential proof to the opposite! At Court, the Judge refused me permission to Appeal, so I had to take that to Court to get permission to appeal.

I employed the services of a Solicitor and Barrister to submit my application for permission to appeal. The Barrister charged me £4000.00 and told me that he believed us to have an excellent chance of success, so of course I was very hopeful.

It has taken a year for the application to come before the Court, and the Judge has basically said that the reasons that my Barrister gave for my appeal stood absolutely no chance of success, and he should have known that, and so they have refused me permission to appeal as they are going by the Adjudicators decision! I am absolutely devastated!

The Barrister who prepared my paperwork for Court has now left the country and is practising in the Cayman Islands, (honestly, you couldn`t make it up!), and my Solicitor realising that an almighty cockup has been made, has basically said that I should now throw in the towel and pay up, as the only option now is to make an Oral something or other, which isn`t guaranteed, and which is costly and he will need 5 to 7k upfront to start it! I cannot believe that in this day and age, someone can lie and cheat the way the Claimant has done, and even when I have provided good, solid proof of his lies and cheating, it was totally discounted and ignored by the Adjudicator!.

For those who don`t know, to give a very brief background, my home and land has suffered badly from Coal Mining Subsidence, the Claimant was engaged to act as my Expert in the case against the CA. He informed me right from the beginning that the CA would have to pay his professional costs under the Coal Mining Act, I had his assurance this was the case in writing, as I knew I couldn`t afford to pay him, but he came with a wonderful record of having taken on the CA 25 times and only lost once, (according to him!), as it turned out, he lost the arbitration for me due to making monumental errors, he then walked off the job leaving me with my home still falling down and my land flooding catastrophically! The CA refused to pay him, so he came after me, stating that I`d had a contract with him , and it was always to be me who paid him, this is not true and I provided evidence of that, he in turn couldn`t provide a copy of a contract signed by me (because there was never any contract!), yet still the Adjudicator found in his favour!

The Claimant then applied for a Summary Judgement to claim the monies he claimed I owed him, the Judge totally disregarded all of my evidence and went with the Adjudicators decision as she said I`d agreed to abide by Adjudication under the terms of the contract, (the contract I never had and never saw!), therefore I had to abide by the Adjudicators findings, she then refused me the right to appeal, so we had to apply to the Court for permission to Appeal.

The Court has now refused me permission to appeal as the Judge stated the reasons my Barrister gave for appeal stood no chance of success!

My Solicitor has now said the only opening to me now is to submit an Oral something or other, but it is costly and not guaranteed to succeed and he wants 5 to 7 k to get it started, and quite simply, I just don`t have it, but nor have I got the money to pay what the Claimant is claiming. Please ,can anyone tell me if there is anything else I can do? Surely, I cannot be expected to pay the amount on a Summary Judgement when the Claimant had lied through his teeth from beginning to end and I have proof of that fact? I just don`t get how this Adjudicators decision is Gospel, when it is based on lies and very little true evidence? There must be something I can do? Am I able to apply to set the Summary Judgement aside, or is there anything else I can do please? I can post the Court Order with details blocked out should anyone wish to see it.

Please, can anyone help me? I`m desperate.

[Donny462]

Please can anyone help me?