Questions re small claims court

[car1sberg]

Hello,

Just about to start the small claims court process. If somebody could help me with a couple of questions that would be amazing, one legal and one not (the queue to speak to the help-desk on the phone is insane!)

To try and keep it brief (I do have a previous thread about this) - I am taking the breeder of our puppy to court as he has ignored my previous letters and offers of mediation. He failed to insure my puppy despite advertising them as coming with 5 weeks insurance. My puppy was very poorly within days of coming to us, caused by neglect whilst in his care. I have plenty of evidence of this now. The breeder did offer to pay for vet fees but as I say is now ignoring us.

The litter was actually advertised on a website by someone else, who made out that she would be breeding the litter and looking after them etc. It wasn't until later that she said it was actually her family member who was breeding the puppies. 90% communication was done through her though, in a large chat group with all of the owners. Her family member simply uploaded photos of the puppies and brief updates. She was absolutely the organiser of the whole thing, any questions we had she would answer, she acknowledged receipt of the deposit despite us sending it to him. It was all done in such a way that she knew exactly what to do and all was fine & under control from her end. All money was paid to her family member though and we collected the puppy from him.

My question is - can I take them both to court? I am taking the breeder due to breach of contract, but I gather that she too has breached a contract?

My second question is - am I able to upload voice notes to my application? I have many from the above person that would be helpful.

Thank you!

Who is the counter party to the contract? That is who you should go after. Going after another party will be much harder.

Yes you can name them both as parties.

You could claim for breach of contract and misrepresentation.

I don't know about voice notes. You would need to speak to the court or maybe use transcriptions of them ie written in text form. Were they aware they had been recorded?

Thank you both.

@ElderMillennial absolutely - they were sent to me directly by them over WhatsApp.

@eurochick @ElderMillennial

Sorry meant to say, I've just submitted the claim. I named them both as the transaction would never have taken place without both of their inputs. I obviously haven't uploaded anything document wise, just wrote the short statement.

What happens next? If they dispute it we go to court, and then do I get all of my documents etc ready?

If they dispute it they will put in a defence. With the caveat that I don't deal with the small claims court, the usual next step would be for the court to set directions (essentially a timetable) for submitting witness statements, documents (which can include text messages and voice notes) and a date for a hearing.

@eurochick great thanks

If they don't respond then you can request judgment for the whole amount of your claim.

If they put in a defence you will then get directions which would usually be for a hearing and for your witness statements and any documents on which you intend to rely to be filed in court and sent to the other party.

You should put together a witness statement which should set out everything you say happened and attach any relevant documents.

You may also be invited to use the small claims mediation service and generally it is better to agree to use it.

@eurochick @ElderMillennial

Hello, I have another question if that's okay, thank you so much! I filed the claim around 10 days ago and got a letter in the post yesterday from the two breeders, I say letter, it's the court paperwork which they've filled out stating they will be defending my false accusations. I'm not sure why they've sent it to me? Shouldn't it have gone back to the court? Both forms have filled out by the same person (same writing) despite them being two separate people living 30 miles apart. Weird!

They have served on you and should also have filed at Court.

Any time an Order / Direction tells you to file and serve it means send to Court and the other party/ies.

Not a lawyer, but was reading an article about dog-napping and came across “Lucy’s Law” which came into force last year, to stop third parties selling on puppies.

I’m guessing neither of these two are licensed breeders.

@ThewaterlilliesofGiverny no, it transpires not!

Hi there, it's been a week since I heard that the breeders are defending the claim, but I've had nothing from the court with a date or request for additional info etc, does anybody know the general time frame for this?

Thank you!

A lot longer than one week! It is currently taking almost a year between a claim being issued and it going to trial. Even in normal times it usually takes around 6 months.

@prh47bridge oh really? I was speaking to someone who had been through the process recently and it was really quick, so was wondering if that was the norm.

Really hope it's not months we're so out of pocket.

Thanks for the reply.

If it is undefended, it can be quick - just a few weeks. Unfortunately, your case is defended so I'm afraid it will be months if it needs to go to a hearing. There is a huge backlog of cases waiting for hearings.

You may be able to get a quicker result if you use the small claims mediation service when it is offered to you. This normally takes only a few weeks. It is cheaper and much quicker than going to court. You won't be forced to settle with the defendants, but it may allow you to reach an agreement (provided they also accept mediation). I would strongly recommend accepting mediation. The court may consider a refusal to be unreasonable, which won't help your case.

@prh47bridge I wouldn't be against using the mediation option, but I've been trying for weeks to communicate with these people and they either ignore, threaten to report for harassment or simply don't discuss the actual issues. They have our bank details and haven't sent any payment despite saying they would many times. Would accepting mediation delay a hearing date?

No, mediation doesn't delay the court process. That will continue on the assumption that a hearing will be required. You should comply with any directions from the court that are issued while the mediation is in progress.

Of course, it is possible they will refuse mediation, in which case the whole thing becomes academic.