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?

That is EXACTLY what he is claiming.

CL should definitely be paying any listing fee. I’ve tried to see who commented re the £181 but can’t find it now, apologies if I’ve made that up - maybe it was on a different thread in legal as I’m reading a few whilst waiting for school to finish. Ring the court the day after it is due to see if it’s been paid, especially if it’s an unless order resulting in an immediate strike out? Perhaps you can post a screen shot if the order/s with identifying details redacted? If he pays it though and wins, your friend will be liable for this too. Also make sure all documents are correctly served by your friend on the due date (check how to file/serve correctly) and if CL doesn’t do this raise it with the Court as well. If your friend succeeds on the incorrect defendant point I doubt the court will consider liability. That will be for round 2 if CL issues against you.

@1Wanda1 yes, on the basis that not having to deal with the madness for a prolonged period would be worth it. Plus in some cases you can claim the fee back if you win, plus some of your own costs. I did say in my last post that paying him off is also totally legitimate, but if as a point of principle the OP isn’t going to, better to bring things to a head sooner. Plus the OP might be able to threaten to do this and the claimant may withdraw their claim, or they (the OP) might be entitled to help with court fees. Plus the OP can make this decision, I’m just saying how to do it.

And yes, if it’s been referred for directions you may well want to wait to see what directions they give- if there’s a fairly soon direction for witness statements/ evidence you might want to wait until after that to issue an application for SJ. But you don’t have to wait (e.g if the court takes ages).

@Heronwatcher

"Yes, on the basis that not having to deal with the madness for a prolonged period would be worth it. Plus in some cases you can claim the fee back if you win, plus some of your own costs. I did say in my last post that paying him off is also totally legitimate, but if as a point of principle the OP isn’t going to, better to bring things to a head sooner. Plus the OP might be able to threaten to do this and the claimant may withdraw their claim, or they (the OP) might be entitled to help with court fees. Plus the OP can make this decision, I’m just saying how to do it."

A summary judgment application would not bring the claim to an early conclusion, because it would fail. The court does not test the evidence at a SJ hearing. It simply has to determine whether the claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim and whether there is no other compelling reason why the case should be disposed of at trial. Where the position at the hearing is that there is evidence which has not yet been disclosed, never mind heard, the application must fail, because evidence has to be tested at trial.

(I'm Head of Commercial Disputes at a law firm in London).

😂at your ( ) at the end of your post. Completely agree. I partially won one once. I issued on the basis CL’s particulars simply pleaded D hit CL’s car. No allegations of what D had done wrong, no circs. No accident location! I was awarded costs but CL had 7 days to file amended particulars that I could actually respond to, to some meaningful degree. The didn’t bother and the claim was then struck out.

@1Wanda1 but the court is entitled to work out whether the claimant will be able to produce this evidence or not- that’s one of the things the court will look at, and the fact that it’s been requested and it’s such simple evidence will not look good. So it’s not absolutely going to fail- depends what his excuse is (and based on what’s been said I can’t imagine what the excuse would be- that’s why I would suggest writing to him first to flush this out). I’m also a commercial litigator, but not going to get into a law-off with you, just trying to help the OP!

In 12 years of practice as a litigator I've never seen or heard of a summary judgment or strike out application succeeding on the basis that evidence which could have been provided (albeit before the procedural stage for doing so) has not been. The court may make an order that it should be provided, though even that seems unlikely on the basis that the court does not make orders unless necessary, and an order to do something (disclose evidence) which a party will have to do anyway at a later stage (disclosure) is not necessary.

I just don't think it's worth wasting £275 on against a £120 claim.

@Heronwatcher If CL only has to produce it 14 days prior to a SCT trial why would a DJ determine earlier than this Cl can’t do it? Would you honestly advise a client to spend £275, that they won’t get back, to defend a £120.00 claim? I wouldn’t even advise a professional client to do this to prove a point. It’s up to them, but really? That’s what you would advise? You haven’t read any of the pleadings to see what CL is alleging, or what D had responded with. How do you know the prospects of success of either? All
i can see is you telling OP to spend £275.00 to save £120.00. That’s not responsible advice from a commercial litigator.

@1Wanda1 I agree with you again.

OP are you able to tell us which venue you used so any posters in your area can make a properly informed choice when hiring a venue.
If they decide to use the venue they can then warn their guests to be careful in their use of the napery!

Of course - highdown vineyard. Even without the tablecloth issue I wouldn't recommend it due to his attitude throughout and during the lead-up

@HeadacheEarthquake, if you haven't already come across it, you might find the court's guide for Litigants in Person a useful resource: www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/handbook-litigants-person-civil-221013/

SUrely this will be thrown out - water marks or food stains on table clothes is surely normal wear and tear, and thats covered by the venue fees you paid!

Absolutely!!!

Apparently you can have a "Lay Representative" in small claims hearings with the judge's permission, who can be a friend but not a witness

Excellent thankyou I will read this in case the whole stupid thing makes it to a hearing.

UPDATE

Thankyou everyone who took the time to reply. I stuck to my guns, and we had the preliminary hearing today. It was struck off as the claimant did not have a cause of action, and no contract with the defendant. He didn't understand what he was being asked, and kicked off. He had a go at the judge because the mediator "didn't warn him that this might be the reason his case is struck off"

(I warned him, but obviously he didn't believe me)

The judge informed him that he cannot randomly sue a member of the public.

It resulted in him standing up and shouting that we'd wasted his time, before unpacking his dirty table cloth and waving it at us to "make his point"

He was ushered from the court.

Myself and my friend were in there for no longer than seven minutes, and did not say a single word as this unfolded.

He may well come after me now, rather than my friend - but hopefully he's embarrassed himself enough for this wedding.

Thanks for the update, what a fanny-baws!

If he comes after you for the damage then your defence is pretty clearly that table clothes are there to protect the tables, and so water 'damage' is to be considered normal wear and tear, covered by the fee you paid to hire them.

If you'd lobbed paint on them or cut them up, he might have a case but water damage cannot possibly be reasonable grounds here!

That’s why nobody can get any legal work over the line these days! All our lawyers are on Mumsnet at 15:30 in the afternoon.

This is great result, well done.
Hopefully he has the sense not to throw more down the drain coming after you.