Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

[Amethyst]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

I've spoken to the court and they advised me that we need to just follow the instructions given by the judge on the day as the court order may not arrive straight away. Payments need to be made directly to EON for the fees.

Did they have the order in front of them or were they just guessing ? Which court were you in? I'm just concerned you may have misheard/understood something in court. Any idea what the sanction was for? Had you served the application to set aside on EON? If not that could be sanctionable I guess, if you didn't notify EON that you would be applying to set aside etc.

Just batty as that is basically more than the cost of your EON bill so once you've paid that, and the £255 you may as well have paid EON in the first place. Actually I may be muddling you up with another case - how much are these costs ? (I've got £500 in my head but that's a different case I think)

[charlii]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

I didn't serve the set aside application to EON, I didnt clock that I had too until I had already sent it to the court. It was all a bit confusing as i had enforcement agents trying to take my goods etc at the time. It was very distressing!

The judge took the figure from the costs form that eon had included in their file. It was for the prep of the case file and the hourly rate of an agent ???

The total judgment was for £1055, the revised amount was for £667... so we will already have paid £710 by the time the judge hears the defence.. it doesn't make sense to me at all.... but either way i just assumed the judge would order EON to reimburse us for the fees should we win! :/

Now i'm confused.........

[Amethyst]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

Indeed, which is why I was questioning it. It may well be the court imposed a sanction for not serving the application but it would still normally be reserved for the end of the case. Did the court yesterday give you any idea when the order would be sent out ? I'd much prefer you to have that in hand so you know exactly what the order is - it is easy to misunderstand during the hearing. Do you recall what the judge said when he ordered the judgment be set aside - what reason he gave for agreeing with you etc ? I'm just trying to get you to think back and write down pretty much word for word what he said really. I'm honestly not trying to confuse you, just working out what actually happened and what you need to do.

"The total judgment was for £1055, the revised amount was for £667...." Did the judge agree with that on the day and change the judgment to that amount if EON agreed ? or did he actually setaside the entire judgment?

Did Eon send to you their defence to your application before the hearing? ( and do you have a copy)

[charlii]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

It's ok, your not your fault! The whole process is confusing me lol

He said he had no choice but set aside the judgment to allow the defendant a chance to defend, He looked at the revised costs of £667 and stated that had we been billed for our usage minus their charges for interest and debt collection that would not be the actual figure. He said it was set aside on the grounds that the amount could not currently be agreed and the defence needed to be heard. Also as we had said we felt there may be a possibility to file for humiliation distress and damage of character, he would set it aside also under that statement at 13.3 a and b.

He advised that he was not sure if the defendant had a real prospect of defending the claim and this couldnt be determined without allowing him to file a defence. Also that as we had originally wished to go through the ombudsman and this was not a possibility due to the claimant raising the judgment, setting it aside was his only option to allow the defendant some relief that his case may be assessed appropriately.


Cases where the court may set aside or vary judgment entered under Part 12

13.3
(1) In any other case, the court may set aside^(GL) or vary a judgment entered under Part 12 if –
(a) the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim; or
(b) it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why –
(i) the judgment should be set aside or varied; or
(ii) the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim.


To summarize
- He disagreed with the revised amount EON requested of £667
- He thought there was some other good reason as to why the set aside should be granted, as the defendant had no other opportunity to raise the issues mentioned in the set aside application.
- He mentioned that the notes that EON were using to try and argue that we hadn't made contact and they weren't aware that we were domestic were only notes made by an EON representative and was not necessarily an accurate reflection of what took place in those conversations.
- He accepted that EON had advised we were unable to switch thus forcing us to stay with them and be billed incorrectly.

He then advised that EON's costs of £454 would be payable by us due to us not responding to the claim form promptly, as a penalty so to speak. and the defence would need to be filed. both within 14 days.

He requested that he be allowed to give us 21 days and the claimants representative refused. so 14 days was agreed

(As i mentioned earlier... we didn't respond straight away as were in dispute with EON at the time of them raising the judgment)


I hope this info helps!!

[charlii]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

yes, they sent me their file and i have a copy of their defence. i will try get it over to you this evening

[charlii]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

just found this in relation to the order to pay costs?

Court’s discretion as to costs

44.2
(1) The court has discretion as to –
(a) whether costs are payable by one party to another;
(b) the amount of those costs; and
(c) when they are to be paid.
(2) If the court decides to make an order about costs –
(a) the general rule is that the unsuccessful party will be ordered to pay the costs of the successful party; but
(b) the court may make a different order.
(3) The general rule does not apply to the following proceedings –
(a) proceedings in the Court of Appeal on an application or appeal made in connection with proceedings in the Family Division; or
(b) proceedings in the Court of Appeal from a judgment, direction, decision or order given or made in probate proceedings or family proceedings.
(4) In deciding what order (if any) to make about costs, the court will have regard to all the circumstances, including –
(a) the conduct of all the parties;
(b) whether a party has succeeded on part of its case, even if that party has not been wholly successful; and
(c) any admissible offer to settle made by a party which is drawn to the court’s attention, and which is not an offer to which costs consequences under Part 36 apply.
(5) The conduct of the parties includes –
(a) conduct before, as well as during, the proceedings and in particular the extent to which the parties followed the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct or any relevant pre-action protocol;
(b) whether it was reasonable for a party to raise, pursue or contest a particular allegation or issue;
(c) the manner in which a party has pursued or defended its case or a particular allegation or issue; and
(d) whether a claimant who has succeeded in the claim, in whole or in part, exaggerated its claim.
(6) The orders which the court may make under this rule include an order that a party must pay –
(a) a proportion of another party’s costs;
(b) a stated amount in respect of another party’s costs;
(c) costs from or until a certain date only;
(d) costs incurred before proceedings have begun;
(e) costs relating to particular steps taken in the proceedings;
(f) costs relating only to a distinct part of the proceedings; and
(g) interest on costs from or until a certain date, including a date before judgment.
(7) Before the court considers making an order under paragraph (6)(f), it will consider whether it is practicable to make an order under paragraph (6)(a) or (c) instead.
(8) Where the court orders a party to pay costs subject to detailed assessment, it will order that party to pay a reasonable sum on account of costs, unless there is good reason not to do so.

[charlii]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

Sorry I haven't managed to scan on a copy of their defence to the set aside.

- It was basically just that they informed us of litigation and we didn't respond to the claim.
-We made insufficient payments.
-They did not know i was a domestic customer.

[charlii]

Re: Judgment set aside... Defence to be filed in the next 4 days. Help!

any further advice please? im running out of time!! thank you in advance