CCJ help!

[butterbeer]

I am a manager of a pub in Bristol, I left my staff in charge and went to bed. During my absence a customer went home and left her coat on her chair, later on my chief barman caught a women stealing from a charity box he removed it from her and called a taxi and got rid of the woman, as she left she took the coat from the chair. My bar manager did not notice that the coat had been left behind by someone else, as the bar was busy. The next day the woman came to pub for coat which was gone, I advised her to report it to police which she did, they came and I gave them the cctv footage, hence I saw what happened. I got a letter saying I was liable for the loss of coat, she demanded some hundreds of pounds by disgruntled woman which I will not pay. I have now got county court papers saying that as I let a thief into pub I am liable for theft of coat! Can anyone help, I cannot have a CCJ against me!

[R0b]

Re: CCJ help!

It should get chucked out, there was no contract between you and the woman for the coat, she acknowledges she left it there and it is her responsibility not yours.

You can't be responsible for knowing whether someone is a thief and that would mean vetting everyone who comes into your pub, and you know that is just ridiculous.

Have you acknowledged the claim online, presumably she has done it through MCOL?

Can you also post up the particulars of claim or write it up word for word please.

I would be minded to counterclaim for wasted time and hours, that might persuade her to drop the claim.

[butterbeer]

Re: CCJ help!

It should get chucked out, there was no contract between you and the woman for the coat, she acknowledges she left it there and it is her responsibility not yours.

You can't be responsible for knowing whether someone is a thief and that would mean vetting everyone who comes into your pub, and you know that is just ridiculous.

Have you acknowledged the claim online, presumably she has done it through MCOL?

Can you also post up the particulars of claim or write it up word for word please.

I would be minded to counterclaim for wasted time and hours, that might persuade her to drop the claim.

Thanks for the reply I am away on a course for the weekend but will be back Monday and will post it up word for word then. Yes I was thinking of a counterclaim. She had written a letter to me before proceeding with this ccj demanding money and costs for stress etc, she also claims a phone was in the pocket of her coat as well, she is asking for over a thousand pounds. I paid money to a solicitor to write a letter to her saying I wasn't responsible and she has still decided to do this. Thanks for the reply I am worried sick as have never dealt with any thing like this before, she is a regular in the pub as well!

[R0b]

Re: CCJ help!

The simple fact is that there was no contractual agreement between you and the customer. I am presuming she didn't ask anyone of the staff to look after it, or pay anyone to keep an eye on it and that could be evidenced by the CCTV I'm guessing. She left her coat at the pub by her own admission and she cannot expect the pub to be liable just because someone had taken her coat - It was her act that caused the loss and she can't pass the buck onto someone else as it was her own responsibility.

If you do counter claim then you should look to claim loss of time investigating, seeking advice, responding and defending the claim all of which has diverted your time (and possibly other staff) in dealing with a matter that is more than likely considered vexatious.

You will also need to acknowledge the claim online within 14 days of the claim being deemed served, do this as soon as possible so you have time to enter your defence. The date of service for claims made online is 5 calendar days after it has been issued. You have 28 days from the date of deemed service to file a defence provided you acknowledge online, otherwise you only have 14 days to file it.