Small Claims Court Procedure - Question

[peterguk V6 KWK]

I'm about to sue a customer, invoice around £500. We carried out work on his car as requested. He collected car on a Saturday, and stopped cheque on the Monday, citing we had not carried out repairs properly. (Used a bolt, two washers and Nyloc instead of clevis pin and split pin).

Two of my peer group / competitors are willing to stand up and state that our repair was perfectly acceptable.

Am i allowed to submit 3rd party expert witness statements? Better still, can i take an expert witness with me - who can be directly questioned by the Judge if he so wishes?

[TuscNick]

peterguk V6 KWK said:

I'm about to sue a customer, invoice around £500. We carried out work on his car as requested. He collected car on a Saturday, and stopped cheque on the Monday, citing we had not carried out repairs properly. (Used a bolt, two washers and Nyloc instead of clevis pin and split pin).

Two of my peer group / competitors are willing to stand up and state that our repair was perfectly acceptable.

Am i allowed to submit 3rd party expert witness statements? Better still, can i take an expert witness with me - who can be directly questioned by the Judge if he so wishes?

Better still make the claim as one of a dishounored cheque, very little by way defence to that

[peterguk V6 KWK]

TuscNick said:

peterguk V6 KWK said:

I'm about to sue a customer, invoice around £500. We carried out work on his car as requested. He collected car on a Saturday, and stopped cheque on the Monday, citing we had not carried out repairs properly. (Used a bolt, two washers and Nyloc instead of clevis pin and split pin).

Two of my peer group / competitors are willing to stand up and state that our repair was perfectly acceptable.

Am i allowed to submit 3rd party expert witness statements? Better still, can i take an expert witness with me - who can be directly questioned by the Judge if he so wishes?

Better still make the claim as one of a dishounored cheque, very little by way defence to that

Hi Nick

Thanks for reply. So my claim is for something like "dishonoured cheque in relation to invoice xxx dated xxx for £xxx".

[Mr POD]

I was sued by the insurance company of someone that drove into me.

The basic concept is the plantif (You) write a letter asking for payment within 28 Days or you will sue.
They ignore.
You Sue, citing none payment.
They counter sue for cost to put right
You put foward a submission that includes witness statement to the effect that your fix was an acceptable bodge.
He puts forward a submission from a witness statement saying the exact opposite.
You all attend court, which is a large office and speak when spoken to.

[jamesuk28]

peterguk V6 KWK said:

I'm about to sue a customer, invoice around £500. We carried out work on his car as requested. He collected car on a Saturday, and stopped cheque on the Monday, citing we had not carried out repairs properly. (Used a bolt, two washers and Nyloc instead of clevis pin and split pin).

Two of my peer group / competitors are willing to stand up and state that our repair was perfectly acceptable.

Am i allowed to submit 3rd party expert witness statements? Better still, can i take an expert witness with me - who can be directly questioned by the Judge if he so wishes?

YES you can submit witness statements
YES you can take a witness(s) with you to court

When you issue your county court claim, the defendant will elect to defend it. The court will then send out packs to both parties. DO IT BY THE BOOK. Read everything very very carefully

You need to produce 3 sets of everything, including witness statements, one sent to the court, one sent to the defendant and one retained by you. Stick to deadlines, check if you need to pay any additional fees. The court paperwork can be a bit vague sometimes so dont be scared to ask questions. Send everything recorded delivery.

Be prepared for a potentially very long winded and frustrating process. If you get judgement dont excpect to just get paid, you may have to take enforcement action. PM me if you need any free advice, and good luck.

[Timja]

And remember many county court admin departments are terrible, so as mentioned send everything recorded and if close to a deadline phone them to make sure they have actually bothered to open it....

[Lurking Lawyer]

jamesuk28 said:

YES you can submit witness statements
YES you can take a witness(s) with you to court

True - but there's no automatic entitlement to adduce expert evidence, and if the District Judge takes the view that that is what the evidence to be given by the witnesses amounts to, s/he may not allow it.

Probably worth flagging up to the other side before the final hearing that you intend to rely on this evidence and serve them with the substance of what the witnesses will say, so there's no question of them claiming they've been ambushed.

It's a bit of a lottery whether you're allowed to rely on expert evidence in small claims matters, in my experience - it's not always treated in the same way as it is in fast track and multi track litigation.

[JustinP1]

From experience I would suggest another solution first.

Speak to the guy and tell him to ask whoever the experts would be in court about the repair. That may put his mind at rest?

Failing that, put him his bloody split pin in!

He may just be a finickety old sod who thinks he in in the right. If so, he will also be the type to take it all the way to trial. It will involve you so much time you could have made the £500 five times over.

Only if he doesn't want it refixed the way he wants and resubmit payment should you then consider going down this route. Then you can show you have acted more than reasonably, and you won't even need any experts as it will be clear to see he is witholding payment unreasonably.

[peterguk V6 KWK]

Thanks for your help guys. I fear it will have to go to court.

To avoid being accused of being anti-regional etc, the guy is from a North West city known for its docks, and has refused to discuss the matter. What really pigs me off is i supplied brake calipers, discs etc, and the bill only had a couple of hours labour. So basically, he robbed me of my parts! Typical Scou**r

[Mr POD]

peterguk V6 KWK said:

Thanks for your help guys. I fear it will have to go to court.

To avoid being accused of being anti-regional etc, the guy is from a North West city known for its docks, and has refused to discuss the matter. What really pigs me off is i supplied brake calipers, discs etc, and the bill only had a couple of hours labour. So basically, he robbed me of my parts! Typical Scou**r

We scousers have a reputation, and some of THEM deserve it.

Not all theives, but enough to make a stereotype stick.

[JustinP1]

peterguk V6 KWK said:

Thanks for your help guys. I fear it will have to go to court.

To avoid being accused of being anti-regional etc, the guy is from a North West city known for its docks, and has refused to discuss the matter. What really pigs me off is i supplied brake calipers, discs etc, and the bill only had a couple of hours labour. So basically, he robbed me of my parts! Typical Scou**r

Then it sounds like this is an excuse to rob you.

To get your costs covered later you need to give him fair warning that you intend legal action. Put that you believe the repair is correct in writing, and this has been confirmed by other mechanics, however if it is unhappy you are willing to put it how he wants it.

Either way, you need payment and a plan in place in seven days or you will take immediate legal action.

That way, when it goes to court you can also lawfully collect your court costs if it is ignored. That said, small claims only get to court 3% of the time or something like that.