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Non travel related but I presume same principles apply, looking to tap into the knowledge on this site.
Had an issue with a company, took them to MCOL. They never responded so MCOL decision made in my favour. At which point they woke up! They petitioned for the claim to be “set aside” and filed a response accordingly.
MCOL passed to the local county court, who have now set a face to face hearing date for them to plead their “set aside” case.
Do I need to attend as claimant? Quite honestly I can’t be faffed to attend in person. Wondering if it’s worth me at least putting my response to their set aside claim in writing to the court? Or is this really between the court and the defendant as it’s their request to “set aside” that is in discussion?
Why are they asking for it to be set aside when they didn’t respond. What excuse / grounds for their request have they come up with?
It sounds like they should be given short shrift. But JDB may know better.
Btw what is the size of the claim, and for what sort of product
If JDB doesn’t respond I’d call the Clerk of the Court to find out my options.
The Court normally allow the defendant to set aside judgment if they have a compelling excuse.
You would have to attend Court to resist them setting side judgment as otherwise they would then be allowed to defend the claim.
If you don’t want to attend the only way out would be agree to set aside judgment by consent order but I wouldn’t recommend it
If the claim is sizable I would recommend seeking professional advice
Thanks all, set aside was based on them stating my claim was for too large an amount, thus erroneous.
LL – Back story, purchased services not up to snuff, asked for full refund, they went radio silent. Raised MCOL for full refund, still silent, judgement raised in my favour. They THEN issued partial refund, retaining remainder for works they say are complete (they did do some work, but my claim is the contract was for all, not some).
I’m being belligerent and it’s just over £500 still left on the table, I’m not inclined to just drop it. They ignored me til I raised the MCOL, their request to set aside is all based on the claim being erroneous in the first place, I.e. I should never have claimed the whole amount as only a partial refund was due.
Freddy – I agree that not turning up will leave them free reign in their defence. But for £500 I won’t carve out the day for it!
LL – problem with this court is there is no one on the other end of the phone, they redirect to an email and last time I emailed them I got no reply. Could resort to writing in?
They will roll up and from the sounds of it explain they didn’t respond as the amount is erroneous. That’s not a valid excuse.
Normal excuses are, was on my death bed, only recieved papers late, was waiting to hear from a solicitor. That kind of thing.
Setting aside application will take around 30 mins
That being said, if they’ve refunded you for the work not completed it sounds like there isn’t a claim left to pursue except for court fees
Agree Freddy, that’s the thing if they’d responded to the MCOL and said only a partial refund was due I’d have taken it. But they ignored it and judgement was passed.
There is some bogus, oh the wrong person picked it up and it didn’t make it to the right dept in time element to their set aside claim, so may that is what their set aside will focus on. It’s all muddled as they’ve mixed their excuse for ignoring the MCOL with their defence of the MCOL in one response.
I’m hoping the set aside hearing is just to hear their excuse, judge chucks it out, and MCOL initial judgement is reinstated.
I’m not sure if I understand the whole story, but unfortunately they have put you in a difficult position! If you resist the set aside application and are unsuccessful, you may be at risk of costs. If the judge agrees that your initial application was wrong, that is another risk. You also don’t want them to win by virtue of you not defending their application. You can make written submissions and respectfully apologise to the court for being unable to attend or ask for the hearing to be by telephone. With written submissions, you will need to follow up to make sure the court office has placed those submissions on the file/before the judge.
Ultimately, you would be better/safer to try and resolve this directly with the retailer. They probably don’t want the cost or hassle of the set aside hearing any more than you do, so there must be a scope to settle and the court will expect the parties to try this. It may be better initially to try this on a ‘without prejudice’ basis so your negotiations cannot be put before the court, but ultimately you really need to show an open position.
Cheers JDB, will absorb everything everyone’s said and concoct a plan!
Does the partial work they did have any value?
(This is not about their costs although they will try to claim this.)Is the work valueless unless completed?
In order to get complete work are you going to have to spend extra money, on top of paying for a new contract with someone else, remediating or undoing what they have done?What does their contract say about payment for partially completed work?
They’re playing games. They were perfectly aware of your MCOL and the fact that it was for the full amount they are just dragging it out.
Judgment has been given and I’m taking a bet they’ve figured you’ll pass on it sooner than go to court.
I’d be inclined to appear and seek an order for my costs as this should not have been necessary. Likw Freddy I don’t think “I can’t read” (your claim amount that was perfectly clear on the MCOL) is a defence.
JDB can he get an order for costs if he’s virtuslly being forced to appear for a judgment that’s already been made? Could this include loss of pay for that day for other work? If so then mentioning this in trying to get it sorted ahead of new court day might motivate them to realise they’re now risking a chunk more than the value of the contract.
@LL it doesn’t seem to make sense for either party to push this to a hearing; from the little information we have and reading between the lines, neither party has acted ideally so both sides are at risk. @SteveJ has, by issuing the MCOL, and getting a default judgment (which is different from a decision in his favour as described) brought the other side to the table, so given the small sums involved and the risks of costs, an agreement needs to be reached.
I don’t think getting costs for a day off work is likely, but you might get travel costs. I think you should bear in mind a) that if the firm is successful in getting the judgment set aside, you are back to square one, with a further hearing to determine your original claim, b) that since they sound slippery, you might have difficulty and costs in enforcing any judgment and c) if they turn up with some cheap but smart lawyer you are going to struggle and with the best will in the world the judge can only help you so far as a LIP. There appear to be quite a few unpredictables here!
You need to decide how to proceed for yourself, but you might want to consider a tempting without prejudice save as to costs offer
Has the hearing been listed in person? (Most seem to be remote at the moment)
The courts are completely overrun currently, caused a lot in part to legal aid being slashed and the increase of litigants in person, add huge cuts to back office staff and a reduction in calibre of sitting judges due to cuts in pay and pension then it is not difficult to see why HMCTS is a mess.
There is a lot of advice given out on these boards to take companies to court but it is never straight forward, or without stress, unless you do it for a living. Advising people is not the same as making a claim for yourself as there is no stress involved. Going to court is stressful.
Many litigants in person have no idea on the law or the necessary procedures. Why take the risk!
The fact you are asking for advice on here, sums it up. You shouldn’t be going to court, unless you are prepared to take legal advice. Your legal costs will amount to. Ore than your claim and you won’t get those costs back
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