Small claims court

[Evansabove]

I am the defendant and counter claimant in a case. The claimant has consistently missed deadlines and has failed to pay his fee so subsequently his claim has been struck out. This weekend I received a “notice of hearing” application from the court and an attached document that the claimant is asking for his case to be reinstated. How can this be?

[atticus]

How can this be? Because the claimant is asking the court to permit it. At the end of the day, courts have to deal with cases justly, and that is often best done by hearing the case and deciding it on its merits.

In order to get there, the claimant will need to apply for "relief from sanctions".

You can ask the court to order this claimant to pay your costs of the application and any costs/expenses that you incurred in connection with the fact that the hearing will have to be rearranged. You should provide a costed list of those costs/expenses.

In my experience this is a fairly common occurrence, and courts generally allow the cases to be reinstated.

EDIT TO ADD:

Having just read your earlier threads, make sure the court is aware of this claimant's history of delay and non-compliance. This may just persuade the court not to allow the case back in. This is a long shot, but worth trying.

[Evansabove]

Thank you atticus. I have just put a file together to take to court and this shows all the missed deadlines.