Claim against landlord/me for unpaid tenant bills by DCA of Insolvent Orbit Energy

[masterchij]

The Order seems 'fine' as far as putting an end to their claim against you.

'The Claimant fully reimburses the Defendant's costs in bringing this set aside application'.

I have asked them to amend it to include reimbursement of the fee. I am awaiting there reply

[echat11]

IMO you should not worry about the drafting and signing of a Consent Order before the hearing
The claimant's solicitor is attending the hearing to present the CO to the judge (hoping he will have your signature on it)
You could explain to the judge you are not happy with the wording re
the repayment of your court fee by the claimant is not mentioned
You believe you have a strong defence and are not liable for any part of the claim
You believe "stay" is a temporary halt to proceedings. Can the claimant restart proceedings?
You have been presented with this CO at the last minute and have not had time to seek legal advice

See what the judge says. He or she will hopefully agree with you

They probably could, but would be 'foolhardy' to do so, they would be wasting Court time and all the facts in the case support the Defendants Defence. That would be a abuse of the Courts.

'You believe "stay" is a temporary halt to proceedings. Can the claimant restart proceedings?'

[Pezza54]

I don't think the court will consider a LIP who has paid £303 for a hearing is wasting court's time.
Why has the claimant imposed a deadline of 4pm today?
If the claimant's solicitor changes the wording that OP agrees to, the CO can be signed in person before the hearing

Courts are concerned about LIPs agreeing to COs. A court officer cannot enter and seal a CO where one or both parties are LIPs cpr 40.6 (2)(b)

[masterchij]

IMO you should not worry about the drafting and signing of a Consent Order before the hearing
The claimant's solicitor is attending the hearing to present the CO to the judge (hoping he will have your signature on it)
You could explain to the judge you are not happy with the wording re
the repayment of your court fee by the claimant is not mentioned
You believe you have a strong defence and are not liable for any part of the claim
You believe "stay" is a temporary halt to proceedings. Can the claimant restart proceedings?
You have been presented with this CO at the last minute and have not had time to seek legal advice

See what the judge says. He or she will hopefully agree with you

Thanks

That's an interesting take.

Thinking about it now, they probably set the deadline as they expect I am not aware that the CO can be signed at the hearing and I can request for it to be amended.

I actually thought 'stay' means putting an end to current and future proceedings that might be brought to court for same matter

[echat11]

I don't think the court will consider a LIP who has paid £303 for a hearing is wasting court's time.
Why has the claimant imposed a deadline of 4pm today?
If the claimant's solicitor changes the wording that OP agrees to, the CO can be signed in person before the hearing

Courts are concerned about LIPs agreeing to COs. A court officer cannot enter and seal a CO where one or both parties are LIPs cpr 40.6 (2)(b)

O.K. they are happy to put an end to the matter with their 'Consent Order', but they don't want the Defendant to attempt to Claim his 'Court Costs' back. Thus sign their Consent Order before 3.00pm.

You've already for warned them in your Witness Statement that if the matter went to a Hearing, you would 'petition' the Judge for your costs, they are trying to 'head' that off with their Consent Order and 3.00pm deadline.

[Pezza54]

Please read the article "What does it mean when a case is disposed in court?" at www.legalclarity.org
A disposal can be voluntary (by the claimant) or involuntary (by the court)
Disposition brings an end to the claim.

Disposal by the claimant is called discontinuance in cpr

[masterchij]

Hi Experts,

There has been another new development.

following my request that they reimburse my court fees as part of the consent order, the claimant has now emailed the court copying me in, see below,

"We act on behalf of the Claimant.

We write with regards to the above matter and ahead of the hearing due to take place on 15 January 2025 at 2:45pm.

Having corresponded with the Defendant following his application to set aside the Judgment being submitted, documentation in the form of Tenancy Agreements have been supplied which shows that Defendant was not liable for the entire period Claimed.

However, we have concluded that there were tenants occupying the property for the supply period with the exception of the dates 01 June 2019 to 30 June 2019, 04 November 2020 to 21 January 2021 and 22 March 2021 to 07 August 2021. We note that the Defendant has informed us that he switched to a new supplier from 01 July 2021, however, there is no evidence to support this.

Whilst we appreciate the property was unoccupied for these period, Standing Charges are applicable for these periods and given that there were no tenants responsible, the Defendant, as the Landlord, was liable for the Standing Charges for the dates above. The Standing Charges for these periods have been calculated and shows that there is £126.70 owed for these charges.

We have previously informed the Defendant of these findings, however, he is now alleging that Orbit Energy Limited did not supply energy to the property. Given there is no evidence to support this allegation, the Claimant believes that £126.70 is owed for the charges accrued.

In light of this, the Claimant does not propose to contest the Defendant’s application for the Judgment to be set aside. Please find enclosed a copy of a Draft Order in triplicate that the Claimant wishes the Court to consider and seal at the hearing on 15 January 2025.

The Claimant respectfully asks that Court to excuse their attendance and kindly ask the Court to accept this email as written notice of non-attendance.

No disrespect is intended by our non-attendance, but we wish to save costs given the small balance that has been recalculated as owed by the Defendant post Judgment and the fact that the Claimant and their legal representatives are based in XXXXXXX, and the hearing is scheduled to take place, in person, at XXXXXXX County Court.

Thank you for your kind assistance."

What am I to do at this point? Can I still attend the hearing and request the court ask the claimant to reimburse the fees?

[Pezza54]

Yes definitely attend
Did the claimant's solicitor amend the draft CO before sending it to the court?

[PallasAthena]

Please read the article "What does it mean when a case is disposed in court?" at www.legalclarity.org

Is there a UK website offering an explanation of 'disposal' in English law? That one is an American site discussing US jurisdictions. Although I imagine the principles are much the same.

[Pezza54]

CPR 40.6 (3)(b)(i) states dismissal of any proceedings, while (3)(b)(ii) states "the stay of proceedings on agreed terms, disposing of the proceedings, ....."

If there is a difference in court terms between "dismissal of proceedings" and "disposing of the proceedings" I'm not aware of it

[Pezza54]

I googled the question and got the answer:
dismissal occurs when a case is terminated without a judgement
disposal refers to the final resolution of a case after the court has made a decision or order

[Pezza54]

Hi Experts,

There has been another new development.

following my request that they reimburse my court fees as part of the consent order, the claimant has now emailed the court copying me in, see below,

"We act on behalf of the Claimant.

We write with regards to the above matter and ahead of the hearing due to take place on 15 January 2025 at 2:45pm.

Having corresponded with the Defendant following his application to set aside the Judgment being submitted, documentation in the form of Tenancy Agreements have been supplied which shows that Defendant was not liable for the entire period Claimed.

However, we have concluded that there were tenants occupying the property for the supply period with the exception of the dates 01 June 2019 to 30 June 2019, 04 November 2020 to 21 January 2021 and 22 March 2021 to 07 August 2021. We note that the Defendant has informed us that he switched to a new supplier from 01 July 2021, however, there is no evidence to support this.

Whilst we appreciate the property was unoccupied for these period, Standing Charges are applicable for these periods and given that there were no tenants responsible, the Defendant, as the Landlord, was liable for the Standing Charges for the dates above. The Standing Charges for these periods have been calculated and shows that there is £126.70 owed for these charges.

We have previously informed the Defendant of these findings, however, he is now alleging that Orbit Energy Limited did not supply energy to the property. Given there is no evidence to support this allegation, the Claimant believes that £126.70 is owed for the charges accrued.

In light of this, the Claimant does not propose to contest the Defendant’s application for the Judgment to be set aside. Please find enclosed a copy of a Draft Order in triplicate that the Claimant wishes the Court to consider and seal at the hearing on 15 January 2025.

The Claimant respectfully asks that Court to excuse their attendance and kindly ask the Court to accept this email as written notice of non-attendance.

No disrespect is intended by our non-attendance, but we wish to save costs given the small balance that has been recalculated as owed by the Defendant post Judgment and the fact that the Claimant and their legal representatives are based in XXXXXXX, and the hearing is scheduled to take place, in person, at XXXXXXX County Court.

Thank you for your kind assistance."

What am I to do at this point? Can I still attend the hearing and request the court ask the claimant to reimburse the fees?

Is the claimant's solicitor correct about the dates? Was there a time gap between end of a tenancy agreement and start of a new one?

[echat11]

'What am I to do at this point? Can I still attend the hearing and request the court ask the claimant to reimburse the fees?'

Make sure you attend and make your case regards the £126.70.

Request that the Judge orders the Claimant to reimburse the set aside fee, as this could have been sorted a long time ago, but your communications fell on 'deaf ears'. Instead they 'harrassed' you for money that clearly wasn't owed.

The following isn't correct, you've always challenged the whole claim, although I might be wrong on that.

'We have previously informed the Defendant of these findings, however, he is now alleging that Orbit Energy Limited did not supply energy to the property. Given there is no evidence to support this allegation, the Claimant believes that £126.70 is owed for the charges accrued.'

[masterchij]

Yes definitely attend
Did the claimant's solicitor amend the draft CO before sending it to the court?

No they did not amend it. Same as they first version they sent, just did not have the section where we both sign it

[masterchij]

Is the claimant's solicitor correct about the dates? Was there a time gap between end of a tenancy agreement and start of a new one?

Yes they are correct about the dates, there was two tenancies in that time period.

What they are not correct about is the bit they said I am disputing that Orbit Energy never supplied the property. The Tenants are responsible for the bills, so its clear the first Tenant switched it to Orbit.