Small Claims

Blimey, not looking good then :frown:

Reply 3

bullyfish

Well the court fee/lawyer is normally payed by the other party, and not out of the money you get from the settlement :smile:

It just takes an annoyingly long time, and you probally wont get the money until your 18

Reply 4

Tis alright, I'm early twenties and it's a guarantee win.
Its the time factor that I don't like.

I hate the formality of everything and the time that is consumed in trying to get things right. I could earn more in the time I dedicate to a stupid case liek this. Thanks Bullyfish :biggrin:

Reply 5

5K max for small claims court, 1K if its a personal injury claim.

You don't need a solicitor but if you do use one, you won't be able to claim your costs back from your opponent if you win (other than in limited circumstances). Alternatively, you can use someone else to represent you if you don't feel confident of doing it yourself. I'd avoid using a solicitor for a case this small - the costs aren't worth it and you can't recover them.

Court fees range from 30 to 120 quid depending on the amount you claim. If you win, you can also claim those fees from your opponent.

Legal aid or public funding is not usually available.

9 months seems excessive to me - I would normally expect a small claims court case to take between 3 and 6 months.

There are various leaflets etc available on the Courts Service website. Alternatively - pop into your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Chalks

Reply 6

Cheers bud. Much appreciated.

The claim at its lowest will be £1000 and at highest £5000.

Very difficult claim to make taking into consideration the investigations work due to someone else negligence, but I'm pretty confident they are just that.
I was pondering a solicitor, but felt that I could give just as good a case as them with much minute taking and records already having been taken. :smile:

Oh - CAB not possible. In hands of Consumer Direct coupled with Trading Standards although they can't protect me, so it looks like its me all on my own as a student :smile:

Reply 7

No problem - am happy to provide some more specific advice if you can give me particulars of the dispute.

I'll even waive my ridiculously high charge-out rate...

Reply 8

I'll let you know in a few days time. Posting formal letter today which gives them one last chance, and I'll be awaitiing a dreaded response. If that goes nowhere, which I think it will, a case will be summonsed in respect to negligence and the supply and good service act 1982.

I can just see this whole case costing me in excess of £3k before anything is sloved. Even then, the defendant has no forced action to pay straight away!

Thanks anyway, much appreciated.

Reply 9

I'm currently taking my landlord to court over return of a collective bond of 750 pounds. (sorry the "pound sign" button on my keyboard isn't working for some reason!)

It cost me 80 pounds to file the claim, and Im representing myself in court. The hearing date is set for April, I first initiated court action in October.

The issue is because he is witholding our bonds on the grounds that we damaged furniture and a worksurface - his claims are complete fabrications, and I have witness statements from the new tenants (the furniture was still there, undamaged when they moved in after we moved out!! :eek:

) plus photographic evidence that some replacements claimed have not been made ie the worksurface and a bin.
Its so tedious and frustrating because the landlord simply will not co-operate / provide relevant information, and I wouldnt mind if we had actually done something wrong but the flat was in better condition when we moved out then when we moved in, and he is just keeping my money for his own pockets, its basically theft!!!!!!

Does anyone (Chalks in particular :wink:

) have any advice on how best the present this in the hearing, or what to focus on?
And what are the chances of me actually getting my money back, even with a ruling in my favour? A criminal laywer friend reckons my landlord can just ignore me and the court order and its basically unenforceable - surely this cant be right?!

And if I get a ruling and he doesn't pay up, and so has been ruled by the court that he is keeping my money under false pretences, can I report him to the police for theft...? Surely this fulfils the "dishonest appropriation of property belonging to someone else with the intention to permanantly deprive" test??

Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but Im thinking any advice would be relevant to the OP as well in some way!!!! :p:

Reply 10

Its cool by me - any additional news on any style small claims is welcomed. I then know what to expect myself.
Problem between me and you, elleswood, is that the person who has damaged my property is the garage, and they still have my property as we speak!!!

£750 is out of pocket, and it can be quite difficult to get it back. I know they can just ignore cases and make it hard on you, but if you consistently pursue, it will work in you're favour :smile:

I don't care how much my court costs and inspections are going to cost, I just want to see a right and justifiable outcome. I'm prepared to wait until the dying day. Lot of people don't have this time, thats why the law is an ass sometimes.

Reply 11

walshie

I just want to see a right and justifiable outcome. I'm prepared to wait until the dying day. Lot of people don't have this time, thats why the law is an ass sometimes.

Hm to be honest I just wish I'd never started it now - only 250 of it is actually mine, and the other 2 who are owed the money are doing nothing towards the case except getting a few witness statements together, so its all down to me.

However Im not letting my lying, cheating landlord keep my money without a fight!!! Fingers crossed. :rolleyes:

Reply 12

OK, here goes.

I'm going to do this slightly back to front and look at enforcement of a judgement etc first and then come back to how you run a case.

This is a contractual matter, not a criminal matter (hence you commencing proceedings in the small claims court not reporting him to the police). His failure to repay the bond is no different to a purchaser of goods refusing to pay the purchase price. So ignore any possibility of going to the police if he fails to pay a judgment in your favour.

There are various methods of enforcing a judgment - you can obtain court orders requiring a bailiff to attend his house and remove property to the value of the judgment, a "garnishee" order which essentially requires his bank (or anyone else that owes the landlord money) to pay their debt direct to you or even a charging order over his property. Clearly all of those are time consuming and a royal pain in the a*se.

Alternatively, you could serve him with a statutory demand (following receipt of your Court judgment). If he fails to comply with that you can threaten to bankrupt him - that tends to get the attention of non-paying defendants VERY fast.

Returning to the case itself. Small claims court matters are very informal. Have there been any orders as to the way in which evidence is to be exchanged etc? Are you due to go before the court before the trial itself?

Whether or not there have been any such orders you will need to serve your evidence. That will be a witness statement from each of the claimants (you and your flatmates) in which you explain the following:

- you entered into a contract
- you fulfilled the terms of the contract
- the landlord has failed to repay the bond
- he has no basis for failing to repay.

Attached to the witness statement should be copies of the relevant rental agreement, relevant photographs etc. I would also obtain a witness statement from the new tenants who would give evidence as to the state of the house when they moved in.

The hearing will be very informal. We can discuss that separately, Essentially, though you would do the following:

- introduce yourself. Explain that you represent yourself and your fellow flatmates.
- outline the case i.e. you had a rental agreement with the defendant, you paid the rent, you moved out, he failed to repay the bond. His allegations of damage are unsubstantiated.
- Defendant will have a chance to outline his position.
- You introduce your evidence by taking the judge through the paragraphs of the various witness statements.
- Defendant will have a chance to ask questions of those witnesses. Its not really cross-examination in the small claims court - far more informal.
- Defendant will then take the Court through his evidence and you have a chance to ask questions of those witnesses.
- both sides have a chance to summarise their position and the judge will (usually) make an instant decision.

Anything else?

Reply 13

chalks

Anything else?

I don't think so, that's great thanks!! :smile:

I have witness statements detailing everything you covered from myself, my other flatmates, the flatmates that lived there in the first half of the contract, (they then sub-let, all done properly with the landlord, admin charges paid etc) the new tenants, plus the people that helped us move out at the end of the tenancy ie Dad's, boyfriends, to verify nothing was damaged when we ultimately locked the door and left.

I also have character references from churches, employers, etc., in respect of me and my flatmates who are owed money which state how our word is trustworthy etc., - will the court look at these at all?? Long shot I know... :rolleyes:

I'm not too worried about the hearing itself, Iv done lots of mooting and lots of work experience in the courts, so Im not intimidated by the whole scenario. Its really the enforcement Im concerned about. How do I threaten to bankrupt him??

Also one more quick question, the court directions which came with the hearing date state that we are to exchange all documents etc at the least 2 weeks before the hearing. Iv sent an information request of all the things I want to see, and while I appreciate its longer than 2 weeks before, he is not co-operating at all. Would you continue to send letters asking for information and "reminding" him that he is obliged to do so at some point, or just leave him to it and then use it against him in the hearing ie, he wont co-operate, i have had no access to information, etc. Obviously I have sent him everything to do with my case, copies of photos, witness statements, everything.

Ok so maybe I did still have questions!!!! :p:

Sorry to everyone if his thread is getting long and specific to my case, but I really do think this is informative to anyone looking to bring a small claim to court. :smile:

Reply 14

Joker

Further to the above, once you have been successful in your case, the District Judge will give a Judgment. If he does not specify otherwise, request a direction that payment is to be made within 14 days.

Off on a tangent now, but also seek your costs. The CPR (Civil Procedure Rules) allows litigants in persons to recover costs at an hourly rate of £9.25 for work reasonably done, Practice Direction 52.4 supplementing CPR Part 48.6. Have a breakdown of the time spent by yourself on the case from inception, typically this should be on Form N260 accompanied by a breakdown of the document time. The CPR and Forms are available at the DCA website, www.dca.gov.uk.

Once you have judgment, the Defendant will have 14 days to comply. If he has not satisfied the judgment within 14 days, i.e. paid his debt and your costs (if awarded) you will be able to enforce, form N322.

He does have a get out clause however in that he is able to vary the Order. He could show financially that he cannot afford to pay this in one lump sum and apply to give weekly/ monthly payments. This is usually in some nominal sum, e.g £10 per month with no accumulating interest. However, he will have a CCJ (County Court Judgment) against his name.

With respect to exchange, I note that you have disclosed all documentation. Tactically this is not good as you have shown your hand, however, but it will be favourable to your case in when presented in Court. The alternative would have been to sent these over in a sealed enveloped with a covering letter stating that the sealed enveloped (sealing wax, or clear sticky tape with you name across it is usual) is not to opened until you have his documents due on the deadline. If you do not receive those documents you can ask for the return of the unopened, sealed envelope. Obviously if he has opened it would be very bad conduct on his part.

You should persist in chasing his documents; no more frequently than every 7 days, no less than every 14. This shows the Court that you have done everything in your power and acted reasonably. If you are to sling mud at the opposition, your own conduct must be exemplary.

Best of luck!!

Reply 15

I'll respond to both posts above.

First, disclosure of documents. I disagree with Joker's suggestion that you shouldn't have disclosed your own documents until you received your opponent's. That is the usual way to do things in larger litigation but I'm far less concerned about it here. You have nothing to hide, your case seems strong and tactically it looks best if you are seen to be proactive and squeaky clean conduct-wise.

Continue to chase for his documents. Always write and keep a copy of your correspondence. Shortly before the hearing, if you still haven't received any docs, do another quick witness statement attaching copies of all that correspondence.

Tactically, it doesn't bother me at all that he hasn't given you any documents. If he produces them late - he looks shoddy. If he doesn't come up with anything at all then it demonstrates that his case is weak. His arguments will be hamstrung if he doesn't have documentary evidence to support, for example, allegations that you had damaged the property.

Witness statements giving character references aren't strictly admissible but given that its a small claims court case I'm not concerned either way.

Enforcement is the tricky part. I would be amazed if the defendant were able to vary any order made against him in order to pay by small instalments. This is a case of an individual's business - I just don't think he has good grounds to request payment by instalments.

If he doesn't pay immediately following judgment, then you will have to consider one of the options I mentioned previously.

Option 1: Apply for a garnishee order (I don't know what they're called in the UK anymore - possibly an attachment order). That is an order over a debt owed by a third party to the judgment debtor. The most common such third party is a bank. If you know the defendant's bank account details (which you might have from when you used to pay rent) then you may be able to get an order for the judgment amount over monies in his bank account.

Option 2: Serve the judgment debtor with a statutory demand. This is a formal request for payment, based on your judgment. If the debtor fails to comply within (I think) 21 days, you can commence bankruptcy proceedings. The threat of those proceedings is usually sufficient to make the individual pay up.

As for an order for costs: I simply don't recall the relevant provisions of the CPR in relation to small claims court matters. Its worth trawling through the rules and make a submission at the end of the hearing (supposing you win of course!).

If you have any more Qs then fire away. Alternatively, if you'd like me to cast my eye over anything you've prepared then drop me a line.

Chalks

Reply 16

As I thought - you have a very limited right to claim costs on small claims track matters: see CPR Part 27.14 http://www.dca.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/parts/part27.htm#rule27_14

See also para 7.1 of the Practice Direction accompanying that Part of the rules. In my view, it is those sections that apply and not Part 48 as referred to by Joker above.

Reply 17

Thanks Chalks, sterling advice as always :smile:

I don't think he could claim he doesn't have the funds to pay it, as Im pretty sure by Landlord/Tenant law that he cannot use our bonds in his cash flow, they have to sit unused in a seperate account. However he has already shown himself to not exactly be an honest fellow so my money probably paid for his Christmas presents or something :rolleyes:

I have also been told by the new tenants that his agency isn't just the landlord, he personally owns the property, the implication being that our bond money has been retained to personally benefit himself. If I can get access to the deeds, through the Land Registry or something, to prove he is the legal owner, would this be good as supportive evidence / show a motive??

xx

Reply 18