County court claim- 3rd time posting/ unsure if Im doing it correctly 🫣

[Kanga86]

Thank you. Is that something I should put on the N180?

[echat11]

Thank you. Is that something I should put on the N180?

You need to get this right.

Don't send the N180 off yet.

You need to ring the Court first.

Then fill in the DQ and you must do a Witness Statement that we can advise on, as what should be included.

Don't send the N180 off yet.

You need to ring the Court first.

Then fill in the DQ and you must do a Witness Statement that we can advise on.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...uestionnaire//

[Kanga86]

In my panic I hadn't actually read the 'transfer of proceedings' letter... The claimant is a Dr and the defendant is NHS BSA!!!! I am trying to get through to the civil national business centre but it keeps sending me around in circles and trying to ring the local court (that is on the transfer of proceedings letter) just takes me to automated channels.

I am trying all different 'press xx' options so will update when I get to speak to a human but I think there has been a massive ball drop somewhere!!

[Kanga86]

So I managed to get the little and the response was “Oh dear. I am awfully sorry, that absolutely shouldn’t have happened”… they have asked that I return the “N271 transfer of proceedings” back to them. Obviously there is a huge data protection concern for this Dr., but is it a case of “not my circus?”

She also said they are working about 10 weeks behind so to return the questionnaire but to “bear with them”…

So I guess I just complete the questionnaire, send copies to the court/ claimant and wait?

[echat11]

So I managed to get the little and the response was “Oh dear. I am awfully sorry, that absolutely shouldn’t have happened”… they have asked that I return the “N271 transfer of proceedings” back to them. Obviously there is a huge data protection concern for this Dr., but is it a case of “not my circus?”

She also said they are working about 10 weeks behind so to return the questionnaire but to “bear with them”…

So I guess I just complete the questionnaire, send copies to the court/ claimant and wait?

a) So send the N271 transfer of proceedings form back as requested, write a covering letter as to why it's being sent back, that the Court has instructed you to do that. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

If they have said the following 'She also said they are working about 10 weeks behind so to return the questionnaire but to “bear with them”…' then you don't need to fill in the Directions Questionnaire, surely they will correct what needs to be corrected, then send the Directions Questionnaire again.

When they do, you will need to send the DQ back with your Witness Statement.

[Kanga86]

Hi echat11 thank you for this. The transfer of proceedings was stapled to the Directions Questionnnaire. I am assuming human error when stapling together to post out...? But the N149A (Notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track), the N24 (General Directions order) and N180 (Directions Questionnaire) are all addressed to myself with the correct claim number on.

[echat11]

Hi echat11 thank you for this. The transfer of proceedings was stapled to the Directions Questionnnaire. I am assuming human error when stapling together to post out...? But the N149A (Notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track), the N24 (General Directions order) and N180 (Directions Questionnaire) are all addressed to myself with the correct claim number on.

No, it's not 'human error', you can double check with the Court.

Your Witness Statement must accompany the DQ when it is sent to the Court.

[Kanga86]

Ok, thanks so much. Is the Witness Statement written separately? Do you have a template or guide to this at all? I am so sorry, as you know I am totally out of my depth with all of this! When I called the court she said that she is unsure how it has happened but was very apologetic about it.

[echat11]

Ok, thanks so much. Is the Witness Statement written separately? Do you have a template or guide to this at all? I am so sorry, as you know I am totally out of my depth with all of this! When I called the court she said that she is unsure how it has happened but was very apologetic about it.

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...ess-statement/

https://hallellis.co.uk/preparing-witness-statements/

The following thread may help you -

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...ps-help-please

[Pezza54]

If this witness statement is to oppose the lifting of a stay then there is an example of a WS on post 32 under the thread "Lifting a Stay" started by DINKY201 on 28 February 2025

It is important that the respondent to the application points out that they also have a strong defence such as the claim is statute barred under the Limitations Act (when there has been no correspondence/payment or acknowledgement of the debt for a minimum period of 6 years since the default)

[Kanga86]

echat11 Pezza54 thanks so much for your help. I am not opposing the lifting of the stay, as such, but will absolutely if that would strengthen the case? In that it has taken the claimant 6 months (application dated 15/2/25) to apply for the stay to be lifted.

But the last correspondence (on the paperwork they provided) is 2014 so I am certain it is statute barred

[Pezza54]

IMO you should oppose the stay being lifted. There's a good chance the court refuses to lift the stay and calls a permanent halt to proceedings

[Kanga86]

Thank you. Would you mention the statute barred also?

[echat11]

Thank you. Would you mention the statute barred also?

When you've done your Witness Statement post it on this thread without personal details.

Yes, Statute Barred needs to be in there back's up your argument / defence that the stay shouldn't be lified.

[Kanga86]

So sorry to bother you again. I am just composing my WS now (thank you for the links and directions to the thread). I never actually got a letter from the court stating that the claim was stayed or the reason why. I received a defence receipt in July 2024 stating that the claimant must contact the court within 28 days otherwise the claim will be stayed and the only knowledge I have of the stay is when I rang the court on 16th December 2024 and was told there had been no activity from the claimant and the claim would remain stayed until they got in touch. Therefore, on the WS template from the thread by DINKY201,

1. Background 2.1 The claim was stayed on [Date] due to [reason for the stay, e.g., procedural issues, failure to comply with court directions, agreement of the parties, etc.]. 2.2 Since that time, the Claimant has made no substantive efforts to progress the claim until now, approximately [Number] years later.

What would I fill in? I don't know the exact date it was stayed (it was never updated on MCOL and I didn't receive any letters etc) and would it be 'due to failure to comply with court directions

I sent the claimants the CPR 31.14, SAR and CCA request (dated 05/07/2024) and the documents were sent to me (dated 09.09.2024) after, as far as the defence receipt stated, the claim was already stayed. It was within these documents that I saw the final 'statement of account' was 15/08/2024 (and even then there was no activity, just the balance).