Lunatic's money claim and Practise direction 3.a striking out a claim

[HeadacheEarthquake]

Being pursued for compensation by the owner of a venue I hired.

The signed contract between him and myself contains no references of damage, the person being taken to SCC isn't the hirer, I am, and the claimant has no proof of the damages either.

(It's over a stained tablecloth)

He obviously hasn't replaced them and shown us a receipt, he's sent an invoice that we're of course not obliged to pay.

How can I speed up this case being struck off, can I do something to apply for it to be thrown out under section 3.4

(3) those which contain a coherent set of facts but those facts, even if true, do not disclose any legally recognisable claim against the defendant.
Do I write to the court office?

There doesn't need to be any reference to damage in the contract. If a tablecloth was damaged, you are liable. You won't get the case struck out just because the contract didn't mention damage.

Yes but if he's unable to provide any evidence (he's been given the opportunity) then nobody is liable surely?

We need a LOT more information here. Could you provide an exact breakdown of exactly what happened, who the players here are, when things happened, what stage you're at etc? Dates would be useful too.

Regardless- (there are many many reasons this case could be struck out)

Do you know anything about actually applying for it? Because that is my question.

To cover a few parts raised from your OP (but in no way a definitive answer because there's insufficient information to answer your actual question).

• He'll be making a claim under tort, not contract. So, it doesn't need to say in the contract that you're liable for damage you've caused, you just are liable for damage you've caused. Like how if I hit you with my car, I'd be liable for that even though I never signed a contract agreeing not to hit you with my car.
• He doesn't need to replace the tablecloth. Before he had a tablecloth worth (say) £50 and afterwards he'll have no tablecloth and £50. As long as both sides tally up, they don't actually have to match.

Yes - I can pm it to you if you're able to help

what is the role of teh person he has taken to SCC?

You need to tell all of us here some basic details if you have started a thread asking for our help

My actual question is how to apply for the strike off, which makes sense as its likely to fail as he is pursuing the wrong person and he hasn't provided any evidence.

He was asked to provide photos of the damage details of the costs and refused!

I was advised not to accept liability from citizens advice after they looked at the contract.

A family friend who was there to help with decorating the venue. He returned the next day to collect the decorations as agreed with the owner and the guy had actually taken the decorations and put them outside the venue, so we didn't even get to see any purported tablecloth stain.

My question is how you apply for the strike off, not whether we're liable for unproven damages, I've already declined liability because he didn't give us any proof of obligation

First things first, Citizens' Advice are not lawyers and are not allowed to give legal advice. This is a really common misconception. Their advice will ALWAYS be to not accept liability because that is standard form professional advice for any law suit. They should have made clear to you that they weren't qualified to give legal advice and that the advice they were given should not be taken as such.

Regardless, as above, this isn't a case of contract law, it's a case of tort law. The contract will tell you whether they can make a claim under contract - that's all.

In order to know the process, I need to know the stage you're actually at now. Has anything been filed or served against anyone? What letters have gone from whom to whom and how long ago? Have deadlines been missed? Has anyone hired a solicitor (sounds very unlikely).

When you say "the wrong person", what do you mean? Is it a completely uninvolved person who happens to have the same name? Or someone who didn't cause the damage but the claimant thinks they did? What was the actual circumstance behind the damage?

When you say he was "asked" and "refused", asked by who? Refused to who? When? At what stage of the process? By what method did the request and refusal take place?

And, just to be clear, is this an actual case happening in the real world or is this an exam question you've been given? Theoretical advice on what should happen won't be much help in real life and the real life answer won't get you top marks in an assessment.

If this goes to a full hearing, the court will decide whether, on the balance of probabilities, the tablecloth was damaged and the amount being claimed is reasonable.

The question the courts would consider on a strike out claim is whether the claimant's case, taken at its highest (i.e. assuming the claimant can advance sufficient evidence to support their allegations) gives reasonable grounds for their claim. Their case is that you have damaged a tablecloth and they want compensation for that. Assuming they can advance sufficient evidence to support these allegations, they have a valid claim. A strike out claim does not look at the strength (or otherwise) of the evidence. That is for a full hearing of the case.

I would strongly recommend against trying to have the claim struck out. You would still have to go to a hearing to determine the application. If you lost, which I think you would on the information you have given here, you would not be able to recover the costs of the application. Better to let the claim proceed to a hearing. If they don't have evidence to support their claim, you will win there.

Where are you procedurally? Have you filed a defence?
You would need to make an application to the court for the claim to be struck out, you would have to pay the application fee and there's a reasonable chance the application will fail. If I were I'd just defend the claim.

The stage I'm at now is it's been referred after failed telephone mediation.

The wrong person meaning someone who was there helping out with the decor and who volunteered to collect it the next day, and the guys got it into his head that our friend damaged the tablecloth a d sent him an invoice.

We asked him via phone and email to show us pictures of the damage or to provide any proof of our liability and he became very aggressive and made the money claim, quite vaguely, which we have responded to in very deep detail.

If he has issued proceedings against the wrong person then yes, that person should file an application to strike that claim out. He should send a witness statement with the application explaining why he is the wrong person. He will need to pay the fee.

Unfortunately it is real, the man is unhinged.

Just to add, even if you did succeed in getting the case struck out, the claimant may be able to bring the case again, provided they comply with any orders made by the court in the strike out hearing. However, if this goes to a full hearing and you win, that is definitely the end (barring appeals). The claimant cannot bring the case again.

How much money is this guy claiming? Because on a practical basis if it is small I would just pay it and move on with your life. Allowing your time, energy and headspace to be taken over by small amounts is not “winning”. Even if claimant is a jerk.

are you actually being taken to court or are they just threatening to? I can't imagine it's worth taking anyone to the SCC for the price of a tablecloth, there are still fees involved to start a claim.

They've filed a money claim which we have disputed in full so it should go to a hearing, but I was told by the MCOL rep that I spoke to when their website was down that if the claim is against the wrong person the county judge is likely to bin it off - we have extensively shown how it is with the wrong person in the defense we filed.

I find this a little confusing. Your initial post says you are the hirer and talks about not paying in the first person, so I assumed they were taking action against you. Are you saying they are taking action against someone else rather than you? If so, where does this other person fit in? Did they damage the tablecloth? Did you hire the venue on their behalf?

He started by demanding we send him £60 with no details evidence provided (as we just had paid him around £7000 for his venue) then he changed his mind and upped it to another price of £120 when we asked for some proof and sent an invoice.

He phoned us screaming and shouting when we queried it which made me absolutely not want to give him any money.

No, I hired it for myself, the defendant was a family friend who came to help me decorate - they didn't damage anything and neither did I. I say it in first person as I've been representing them and will continue to do so.