Fast Track - Standard Disclosure of Documents

[Debbie1608]

Case Summary - can anyone help?

How do I draft up a Case Summary for Court? Are there any specific headings (within the body of the Case Summary) that I need to use?

What do I need to include - I understand it should only be about 250 words?

Thanks

[atticus]

Something to read: https://www.civillitigationbrief.com...%20good%20time.

[Debbie1608]

Guidance please

The defendant has failed to exchange his witness statement (3rd failure to comply with Order).

I have written to him giving him 7 days to respond and provide explanation failing which I'll revert to Court for directions.

If he doesn't produce his Witness Statement during this time do I

(a) notify Court and seek Judgment in Default (I'll have to pay N244 Application fee) or;
(b) will Judgment be granted at the hearing (chances are defendant won't show up to that)

Just saves paying out for application fee

Note: The Court have not been responding to any communications since November 2024 due to backlog. How can I ensure they get the information?

Thanks in advance

[atticus]

See CPR 32.10: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...s/part32#32.10

[Debbie1608]

Part 36 Offer - wording help please

Can anyone please advise as to wording of Part 36 offer using Form N242A. I'm just getting a little confused by what I've read on Google etc (in relation to costs/interest).

Do I need to take these into account on this form or merely state the offer amount I am putting forward to settle?

Do I send a copy of the form to the Court at the same time as sending to Defendant?

Can the completed form be emailed to the Defendant? Or is it best by post with proof of receipt?

Thanks in advance

[atticus]

Your Part 36 offer should offer to settle the claim including interest. It should not cover costs: the costs consequences of acceptance are set out in Part 36 of the CPR.

Just serve the defendant - do not file at court.

If you communicate with this defendant by email, it may be appropriate to use this means, but post may be safer.

[Debbie1608]

[QUOTE=atticus;n1701712]Your Part 36 offer should offer to settle the claim including interest. It should not cover costs: the costs consequences of acceptance are set out in Part 36 of the CPR.

Thank you for your quick response

Do I need to detail the offer eg

Principal Sum £10,000
Interest £

I can work out the daily interest using the calculation on gov.uk BUT I am a little confused as:

(a) gov.uk says "Work out the total amount of interest: multiply the daily interest from step 2 by the number of days the debt has been overdue."

but

(b) others say I can only claim interest "up to the date when claim was issued"

which is the correct one?

[atticus]

You can claim (a) interest to date of issue of claim and (b) further interest from that date until judgement or date of payment if earlier.

[Debbie1608]

How do I word this in the N252a form? Or do I work out the calculations - are your points (a) and (b) above @ 8%?

Thank you so much for your help

[atticus]

If there is a contractual rate, then that is what you should claim.

While the court rate appears still to be 8% (I thought it had changed recently) do bear in mind that judges rarely award as much, recognising that in the real world out there rates are lower.

Word it as an offer to accept (or pay) £X in full settlement of the claim including interest.

[Debbie1608]

I want to avoid any potential misunderstanding of my "settlement offer" so wish to break it down so it shows the amount of interest being £x amount, calculated from (day of service of N242a) upto and including expiry date of "relevant period". Using £10,000 as an example would I work out yearly interest @ 0.08, divide by 365 (daily rate) then multiply by 21 (relevant period) which would then equate to "settlement figure inclusive of interest" or have I got that completely wrong. Want to avoid pitfall of invalid Part 36 and am certain defendant will seek clarification.

I am also including provision for accrual interest if offer accepted late as per CPR rules.

Ideally I want to post this today to avoid "deemed service" being after the weekend.

Thanks in advance

[Debbie1608]

Application to strike out defence - what's the correct process,?

The defendant has failed to comply with Court Order/Practice Directions (4 failures up to now)

Do I

(a) seek further Directions and if so which form - fast track in County Court

(b) Do I draft an Order to strike out his Defence to accompany the DQ?

OR

(c) make Application to strike out. Again, which form?

I know there's no fee on DQ so it seems to make sense to complete DQ with a drafted Order seeking to strike out

I have emailed the Court on each aspect of non compliance but realise I may not have followed the appropriate process hence my question above.

Thank you in advance

[Pezza54]

My advice is to wait for the time being
On the fast track the court is strict regarding deadlines for filing documents
The court will lose patience with the defendant and serve an order stating the defence will be struck out if the defendant fails to comply with the order
The defendant will then have a short time to make an application to set aside the order and have the defence reinstated.

[Debbie1608]

Given the above guidance, imminent hearing on 27th March and Part 36 served on 28th Feb - is there enough time for the strike out by Court etc. Obviously the Court are not aware of Part 36 at this stage so do I need to inform Court of anything about this if there is a potential for automatic strike out. I've updated Court on each occasion of non compliance which started on 30th December and continued up to week ago. Incidentally default judgment would be more than Part 36 but understand defendant can accept the offer once they become aware of this so then avoid paying full amount of claim. I put forward Part 36 after serving my Witness statement - defendant has not exchanged his. As it stands his defence comprises of 2 pages of evidence. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thank you

[Pezza54]

As the trial is now less than 4 weeks away it is more than likely it will go ahead
The defendant has failed to file and serve his witness statement by the deadline, so the judge should refuse to let the defendant present his WS in court
Make a note of this and pass it to the judge in case he or she is unaware about the defendant's late or non filing of their WS