Small claim placed again after previously being struck out

[lovetemple]

Hi, I have a dispute with a contractor over work at my home. He invoiced far too much for work that he didn't do in November 2018. He placed a small claim in February last year, which I defended. I supplied a fully indexed bundle with a strong case against him and the hearing should have been in August. The bundle he supplied to me did not even include the required witness statement, but was just a printout of emails and text messages. After receiving my bundle he did not pay the court fee and the case was struck out.
He continued to email me and call at my house after this but I ignored his messages. I am a woman living alone and I feel that he has been trying to intimidate me all along.*
Today I have received another small claim from him, one year after the first claim, which was struck out. It is identical to the first claim and he has not followed any procedure to get the strike out removed. He has had my full defence for this case for the past 7 months and gave no reason for not paying the court fee the first time...although in one of his subsequent emails he says that he "was not properly prepared" even though he had five months to put his case together. I would like to get this case struck out again. I believe it is an abuse of process. How should I respond to the claim form? Many thanks for your help.

[pt2537]

Hi, I have a dispute with a contractor over work at my home. He invoiced far too much for work that he didn't do in November 2018. He placed a small claim in February last year, which I defended. I supplied a fully indexed bundle with a strong case against him and the hearing should have been in August. The bundle he supplied to me did not even include the required witness statement, but was just a printout of emails and text messages. After receiving my bundle he did not pay the court fee and the case was struck out.
He continued to email me and call at my house after this but I ignored his messages. I am a woman living alone and I feel that he has been trying to intimidate me all along.
Today I have received another small claim from him, one year after the first claim, which was struck out. It is identical to the first claim and he has not followed any procedure to get the strike out removed. He has had my full defence for this case for the past 7 months and gave no reason for not paying the court fee the first time...although in one of his subsequent emails he says that he "was not properly prepared" even though he had five months to put his case together. I would like to get this case struck out again. I believe it is an abuse of process. How should I respond to the claim form? Many thanks for your help.

If you think the case is an abuse of process, then you will need to make an application using an N244 application notice. The Court charges £255 for the application unless you are entitled to fee remission.


It seems to me that there may be a compelling argument for abuse, if the first claim was struck out he should have applied for relief from sanctions.

[lovetemple]

Thanks for your reply. I don't want to pay £255 for an application though! Is there an action I can take which will avoid me having to pay fees? The disputed amount is less than £1000.....If the case has been struck out once surely he can't just place it again without applying to restore it?*

[lovetemple]

If I write details of what has happened in the defence part of the claim form which arrived today...will the court take any notice of this? Will they perhaps strike the case out again?