Cowboy builder taking legal action against me.

[Willis]

Anyone?

[des8]

Have some patience please!

It means you have won your counterclaim, but cannot enforce the judgement until the original claim has been dealt with.

[Anna1972]

And you got your interest, i didn't get any - so congrats and hopefully you are going to get some of the monies back

[Willis]

Have some patience please!

It means you have won your counterclaim, but cannot enforce the judgement until the original claim has been dealt with.

Sorry if I appear impatient. With the post being so long I thought it would be overlooked as it is a long read to the bottom. And I needed to understand.

Am I correct in thinking that although I have won my counterclaim, if the Claimant wins I still get my counterclaim which will offset what he has claimed, and if he loses, I walk away with my counterclaim and he gets nothing.

Also, it appears that he can apply to have the judgement set aside. Would he not need a good reason to do this?

I find it rather odd that he has a solicitor acting for him and yet no response to my counterclaim was made.

Thanks for all the help. I really do appreciate it.

[des8]

Your understanding is correct.

Regarding set aside he could apply, but unlikely.

Are you sure the solicitor is still instructed by him?

[Willis]

I'm not at all sure. All I know is that the paperwork for the hearing went to the solicitor. Maybe the solicitor is sending the documents onto the claimant.

I also find it rather odd that the claimant refused mediation, and I would assume that his solicitor advised him otherwise knowing that to refuse would not be in his best interests particularly in relation to costs.

The claimant has to lodge the hearing fee by tomorrow if he wants the trial to go ahead.

I know it was me, I would be trying anyway to settle rather than court. But that is me.

Thanks again for your help.

[Willis]

Oh dear. Claimants solicitor has now applied for set aside of my judgment award 3 months after claimant should have responded to my Counterclaim . I won my counterclaim.

The hearing is imminent and the order states the judge will, if there is time, hear the Claimants application to set aside if there is time before the
hearing.

Now he is also trying to get the judge to extend the hearing to a full day instead of half a day so that the judge can hear this application.

His solicitor did not send me the Claimants witness statement on time, instead the solicitor himself came round to my home well after the time and put it through my letter box --CCTV captured this.

I was asked to agree the bundle for the hearing and I objected to several documents being submitted as I have not seen them. Solicitor said tough, I am submitting them anyway.

Now, this solicitor has once again been round to my home and put a further bundle of papers through the door instead of either posting them or having a courier deliver.

I feel intimidated and bullied. I don't feel he should be coming to my home.

Any advice please.

Does the Claimant have any chance of having my judgement against him overturned.?

[des8]

Was the claim allocated to the small claims track?
Did the court order submission of a "bundle"/

If the claimant['s solicitor] has included irrelevant documents just to pad out the claim he could face an adverse costs sanction for unreasonable behaviour.
You could write to the court advising that you did not agree the bundle and service of the WS was late.
Probably won't change matters, but it will be noted.

You could resist the set aside application. ..

[Willis]

I did write to the court to object to documents I had not seen.

I have put in an application for set aside of the claimants application to set aside the judgement against him.

Clearly his witness statement was late. Reading through it, he has provided an email that he sent in desperation at 20 minutes to 4pm. There was no way this witness statement was finished by the cut of time which means the court did not get it in time either.

Question: Documents that are attached to the witness statement do NOT include the claimants invoice which he expected to be paid. Nor do they include the piece of paper which he gave me with the price of the work on.

So how does he prove to the court that I have not paid the invoice if he does not provide the same to the court? Can he still rely upon it or am I clutching at straws?

[des8]

In the small claims track lateness of documents is not generally fatal, judges tend to be lenient because most litigants are lay persons.
I wonder if his solicitor will actually appear in court for him anyway, as his costs will likely exceed any award if he should win.

He certainly seems to be making life difficult for himself.

Just ensure that you are up to speed with all the details prior to the hearing.

[Willis]

The hearing is being held via Microsoft Teams as I am still shielding. I am assuming that his solicitor will be acting for him as he refused (solicitor) to allow the hearing to be held by phone BT MeetMe. He was advised I don’t have any equipment with camera or speakers.

Now, my daughters company is allowing me to hold it via her company,s Team set up and allowing her to work from home and set it up there. Solicitor really is a nasty piece of work.

The court have accepted my health status and agreed for me not to attend, but his solicitor is trying to get me to give up my medical information as to why I cannot go into court.

[Willis]

Meant to add I am so worried that his solicitor is going to ask for all his clients legal costs.

[des8]

If this is allocated to small claims track claimable costs are limited to court fees & court costs and travelling expenses.
Other costs will only be awarded if the other party has been unreasonable
CPR 27.14 applies

[Willis]

Thanks DES8.

Just got a copy of the Application to set aside my counterclaim judgement. Not much time to take it in. (hearing tomorrow)

The solicitor has written 5 pages as to why it should be set aside but the overriding reason seems to be that he (solicitor) admits liability for the error - several times, of not replying to my counterclaim and is worried that the Claimant will sue him if it stands, which is unfair.....

The response to my counterclaim has lots of contradictions to the original claim. Claimant keeps changing his story.

Do the Judges actually read the Witness Statements of both parties either before or during the hearing, because if not and the solicitor is allowed to now start spouting another load of contradictory rubbish then I am afraid, having no representation, that I won't be properly heard.

[des8]

Solicitor admits making a mistake !!!!!!!!!

Judge should listen to what you say, but may allow the set aside anyway, in which case the counterclaim will be heard.

Good luck for tomorrow