Enforcing judgement - again!

[car1sberg]

Hello,

To give a brief background (I don't want to be too outing in case they are on MN) I filed a money claim against two individuals just under a year ago, for misrepresentation and breach of contact relating to something I bought from them. The claim was for £5k. In short, neither responded to the claim so I was able to enter judgement which I did, this was granted, and I was looking to enforce this using HCEO, but the defendants then applied to have the judgement set aside. We had a hearing and the judge was annoyingly lenient despite them having no valid excuse for not responding, and agreed to set it aside so long as they submitted a defence. They did, I had to respond to it which I did, then there was more backwards and forwards with directions questionnaires etc. They declined the offer of mediation, which I would have been happy to pursue, so we had a hearing date set. Documents needed to be filed a month beforehand, I did this and they did not. They were given another deadline to do this 2 weeks later, but again, did not submit anything. Their defence has now been struck out, the hearing will not be going ahead and I am free to request judgement - again. I have immediately done this; writing to the court as advised. When I spoke to the court they told me that one of the defendants had called them earlier, very upset at receiving the letter saying the hearing would not be going ahead etc, and that they plan to reinstate their defence? Surely this cannot happen, given the above history? I am new to all of this and learning as I go. The system seems to be so lenient towards the defendants in my experience, so I am wondering if it is likely to be again now? Also, how often is 'breathing space' granted, and is this easy to get? I expect they'll use that too to delay things. I'm fed up, it's been going on for a year now and I just want it over! Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

They will need to again apply to have the judgment set aside. Whether this is granted or not will depend on how the judge feels on the day, it could honestly go either way. The fact that they have done this once already will definitely go against them.
What I would do is file a rebuttal statement. Clearly set out a chronology of what has happened, don't assume that the judge who hears it knows anything about the claim. Say that the Defendant is simply seeking to delay the proceedings. The judgment will only be set aside if there is a realistic prospect of defending the claim so give a concise explanation of why their defence won't succeed.
Good luck!

@Oysterbabe thank you for your reply. I just requested judgement yesterday, should I see if that goes ahead first before filing anything else? Do I need to pay to file a rebuttal statement? Or can I simply email the court as I have done with with my previous documents and ask for it to be sent to a judge?
I'm honestly tired of throwing money at this and it dragging on and on with no end in sight. I'm not giving up by any means, but it's so draining. Thanks again.

Yes, wait see.
Was it the pre-trial checklist they failed to file?
They will need to apply to reinstate their defence. If the judgment is entered they will need to apply to set it aside. You can file a rebuttal statement in response to whichever application they make and you don't need to pay anything.

*wait and see

@Oysterbabe yes, we were all ordered to submit our documents in time for the hearing, and they failed to do it when I sent mine and then again failed a second time when they were given an extension! How they can be 'upset' now I have no idea! Ugh!

That's very frustrating.
I'm biased as a Claimant solicitor, but it definitely feels like Defendants can get away with behaviour that would see our claims struck out in a flash if we did the same.

The defence is struck out so they will have to take action to get it back in, them being upset is not enough. If your judgment request gets in first then hopefully they won't be able to set it aside a second time.

@Oysterbabe thank you. Yes absolutely, I did hear that the system is very lenient towards litigants in person but that's me too, and I do feel that when I speak with the court staff, they see me as some money grabber. If only they knew the details of my claim!
I sent my request for judgement in on the same day I got the letter advising that I could apply, so I'm hopeful it will be in before they attempt to get their defence reinstated. Is it a case of if I get in first then judgement is entered and they then can't get their defence reinstated? They could be refused anyway though couldn't they? Would it cost them much? Thank you!

If the judgment is entered they will need to apply to set it aside before they can get the defence reinstated. They can do it as one application. The application fee is £275.

@Oysterbabe this is outing but never mind.. I received an email from the defendants earlier (they'd sent it to the court and copied me in) with an attachment showing their completed N244 form, applying to have the case reinstated. Their reason being that they had already submitted any evidence they have to the court previously, and had nothing else to add to it, hence not sending any documents.

Why on earth did they ignore two deadlines then, when they could have just resubmitted their documents? To me it's simple, they failed to comply with an order twice, and now the hearing has been vacated and I've requested d judgement, but nothing would surprise me to be honest. Do you think, despite me requesting judgement on Friday and the court not receiving this email of theirs until tomorrow, my judgement request will still go through, or will this halt things?
Yet more delaying tactics by them, its so bloody annoying. I wonder whether I should write to the court giving a history of their failures to comply and second chances, or still wait and see?

@Oysterbabe also, the £346 court hearing fee I paid for last month still gets added onto the amount I'm claiming for I gather, even though the hearing didn't actually go ahead. It seems unfair that through no fault of my own there will now be no hearing (or maybe there will if the defendants get their way) yet I'll have to wait god knows how long to get it back from the defendants? Ugh the system is so frustrating!

You can still claim back the hearing fee you paid even though the hearing was vacated. Also you only have to pay that once, so if your hearing is relisted in the future you won't need to pay it again.

Their defence is struck out and they've made a shoddy, half-arsed application to reinstate it. Whether the court will action your judgment request first I can't really say for sure, depends on how the judge is feeling! The court may well list the application for a hearing where they will decide whether to allow it. If they don't allow it the court will enter judgment in your favour then if not already done.

I would prepare and file and the rebuttal statement I mentioned. You need to make it really clear to the court that you dispute their application and that the defence should remain struck out. Emphasise their poor behaviour through the course of proceedings and outline why they have no realistic prospect of defending the claim.

@Oysterbabe Hello, I did as you suggested and filed an objection to the defence being reinstated, explaining how the defendants have been delaying things since I first filed the claim. I rang up this morning to check it had been received and filed and was told yes, but that a hearing is listed for next month to decide whether their defence will be reinstated or not. For gods sake!!! Yet more delaying!

Ah that's annoying. You'll need to go to the hearing and put your objections to the judge in person in that case.

@Oysterbabe I will be. The system is so flawed. They ignored 2 deadlines that I managed to adhere to, yet my judgement request is now paused for 3 weeks as thru fancy having the hearing after all, just delaying it a bit first! Meanwhile they'll had had my documents for weeks to look through. It's ridiculous!