Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Good advice there :tu: and getting flustered aside some judges don't like it if you are reading your notes and documents whilst the case is being heard, although it's fine to make notes on things you want to challenge later.

Good luck, I hope justice prevails for you :tu:

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Make sure you have a time line of the events that occurred that is easily understood at a glance. Also make sure that each event has some documentation to support it and number them the same. I.E. event 1 paperwork bundle 1.

That way if he states that X happened on Y date then you can counter it with the correct date/info and easily pass paperwork to the magistrate to corroberate your claim.

Also, don't panic, the magistrates come up against idiots like your land lord day in, day out. If you're honest and sincere (and have paper work/photos to back you up) then you'll do fine I'm sure Tez. :)

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Sorry Shaun don't mean to be picky, just to clarify, there are no Magistrates in the County Court. Magistrates are in Magistrates Courts (criminal). District Judges, Circuit Judges etc., are County Court (Civil).

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Don't try to impress anyone with words like 'aforementioned' and 'herewithto' .And don't drop in legal jargon you don't understand but have heard on CSI Doncaster.

Never say 'with respect' ;)

Just speaka da Inglisha.

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Pedant :p:

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

There will be a duty solicitor at the court and you may use him, his fees come from the courts.
Be there an hour (or more) before you are due to appear and go find his office.

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Thanks, Chris, I may take you up on that :)





Handy links, thanks :)


Ta :)

We're leaving quite a bit earlier than we need to, to make sure we still get there early even if there's bad traffic.

I've got a big black ring binder with every letter, document etc. in it, in chronological order. I also have 160 photos of the state of the house throughout the last two hellish months (major building works, disrepair, lack of facilities, & more...).




Cheers :)





Thanks :)


I have a long, detailed timeline (which has already been submitted), plus various other bits.


LOL, OK.



Handy info, thanks :)

---------- Post added at 01:50 ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 ----------

Oh, a few questions, in case anyone knows & can help:


We (& they) had a deadline of "no later than 14 days before the hearing" to submit any further documents, evidence, etc., which we wish to rely on in Court.

We submitted a few things we hadn't yet submitted back in the summer with the original claim form & particulars of claim - the photos, my timeline, & another witness statement from one of us. All in time.

The landlord & his wife then submitted "responses" to our submissions.

The response to my signed timeline did come in time, but is a string of fabrications. Is that something I can challenge?

The response to my housemate's statement came 1 day late, & is more BS. Would it still be allowed, & if so can it be challenged?

Is there any way to submit late evidence? I obtained a signed statement from a former housemate (not one a party to the claim, he lived there before the tenancy-ending problems began), supporting some things I'd mentioned as backstory, & also rebutting some of the new BS claims (& continuing BS claims) from the landlord in his recent & only-just-in-time response to my submissions. But, I didn't get it 'till last weekend, so it's too late to send off.


Oh. Crap. More questions:


Anyone actually been in a small claims hearing (or other) in a County Court? What's it actually like? Is it really daunting? What's the general sort of procedure for things?


Sorry.


Jittery.


:disturbd:

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Notwithstanding..... lol, Matt try to stay calm it is not as scary as you might imagine, the only people in the Court will be the Judge and his Clerk, the Usher, and the other side and their Solicitor, if they have one. It will all be over and done with before you know it.:tu: Good luck I wish you all the best and will be interested to hear the outcome. Which County Court is it by the way?

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

My sister was a Clark at the County Court, it's not daunting, in fact it's pretty relaxed, certainly in the questioning of witnesses, bare in mind though if you win the defendant has up to 21 day's to appeal, so you might end up having to go back at a later date

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

I have gone to small claims court once. It is a relaxed process, not your criminal crown court style thing. The SCC I went to had a large conference room table and the judges desk in it. It was more of a meeting room than a court room. I sat on one long side of the desk, they sat on the other. The judge behind his desk.

He will want to know why this has come to court and why this could not be rectified beforehand. Here is where you should hopefully be seen to be the more reasonable party.

You get to present why he owes you the money back, he gets to tell the judge why he does not. The judge should have read the case file and the timline is the important part of that.

Late evidence may well be accepted, it is a more informal hearing than other courts and you can explain why this was recieved late and that it indicates a pattern of behaviour from the defendant.

Don't get flustered, if the other guy is acting all arsey and intimidating it will not help how he looks to the judge, the judge is just a guy or gal like you or I doing his job and realises that you are not legally trained.

Where he has said crazy things in his response just work through them methodically, I guess say this is my version of events, Sir have you read them, I will now go through and deal with the differences in his version of events and show where I believe his version is incorrect and where I have evidence.

I was nervous going into the case, but as others have said it is a bit like your first interview, you always have some jitters in latter interviews, but as you know the drill it is easier.

You and your mates should sit around a dining table, put one at the top, you on your side and he on his. You should present you story, you need to start with the 'lift conversation', how would you present this to the judge if you had 10 stories or 60 seconds to get him up to speed standing next to him in a lift, get to the punchline. Then elucidate. There will be minimal interuptions, he should not interupt you, the judge may stop you to seek clarification.

Since then running a small business I have used MCOL to issue a few more small claims, I have a couple more to do this week actually (non paying customers).

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

When it's a case of one word against another, it can come down simply to who sounds most convincing. If you truly believe you're in the right you should be ok, and you won't need to embellish or distort the truth to bolster your case. Just tell it how it is, quietly and politely insist on the facts and that ought to give you the best chance. I had a friend who won her case in this way after an RTA some years ago, despite the complete lack of any independent witnesses. The fact is, the other driver was in the wrong and full of BS, and she was able to simply state the truth. Judges are trained professionals, they ought to be able to spot who's really the injured party here.

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

similarly my partner won an rta case, as she should have, only last week by being brutally honest. if she couldn't remember something she said so rather than bs around it. seems to have done the trick which means £400 excess recovered (yes i know, what kind of policy is that) plus refund due on premiums loaded since.

good luck with it matt. the landlord scenario sounds pretty familiar which means will be very familar to a judge. dont think i can add any advice beyond whats already been offered - lets hope the fella drops himself in it, leaving you with not much work to do :) fingers crossed for you mate.

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Thanks all for the advice & support :)

Cheers.

I'm trying to stay calm, not doing a very good job at the moment though, lol.

We all met up again tonight, to go over stuff.

I'm glad it should only be both sides & the Judge etc. I think I'd be even more nervous if it was fully open to the public.


It's in High Wycombe, tomorrow. Would've been so much easier for us if it stayed in Cambridge, but apparently claims get transferred to the Defendant's local County Court if they intend to defend.




They can appeal? Damn :( . One of the things i read online said there was no automatic right of appeal, & the losing side could only appeal if there'd be an error in law or procedure.




Cheers. From what you & everyone else has said, it sounds like it hopefully shouldn't be too daunting.


I hope he does act arsey & intimidating - it wouldn't surprise me if he did, & he can get quite argumentative & angry.


Cheers.

We know we're in the right, plus the CAB, the Council's Tenancy Relations Office, & a solicitor have all previously told us we're in the right.

Some of it will simply be our word against theirs, & they seem quite happy to blatantly lie, going by their previous signed submissions.


I hope the Judge will have read everything beforehand - there's an awful lot of paperwork for him/her to go through :disturbd:




Thanks. Hopefully the Judge will have common sense, and hopefully will be able to see through the other side's BS.



Anyway. Tomorrow morning, let Justice prevail...


I'll be back with the verdict... :erm:

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A1183448#5

Hope it all works out for you ;)

Re: County Court (Small Claims track)
 

Hmm.


But

http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/law/smallclaimscourt.shtml

and

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/...ms.htm#Appeals



:confused: