Advice please - County Court

[vxr8mate]

I was hoping somebody with experience of the County Court system could advise me on one or two issues.

An ex employee of ours has decided to issue proceedings against us regarding unpaid wages he feels he's owed. We contested, but sent the response paperwork back to the court of origin rather than the CCMCC.

We only realised the mistake when a CCJ was awarded against us as we didn't respond.

I called Northampton CCMCC to inquire why they didn't receive the paperwork (considering I had post office proof of signature etc, but for the other Court where the case originated) and after checking they told me the County Court I sent the paper work to managed to enter our response on 'the system,' but failed to forward on the the actual paperwork.

The nice lady at Northampton proceeded to call the Court that failed to send the paperwork on, but couldn't get through. She informed me I had to call them to find out why, but in the meantime I should apply to have it set aside at the cost of another £80!

This I have done and now have a date to attend the Court that never sent my paperwork to Northampton to state why I wish to have the CCJ set aside, which just happens to be a considerable distance away from me.

My questions (if you're still with me) are:

Having tried to call the Court I sent the paperwork to I've had no luck getting hold of anyone there (phone rings out or tells me there's no one to connect to, which I presume was the same issue the lady at Northampton experienced) so how would I go about finding out why they never sent it on?

Can I claim my £80 back if the court simply failed to send the paperwork on to Northampton CCMCC?

Are they likely to reassign the case to another court closer to me (and I believe him)?

Thanks if you're still awake.

[JustinP1]

When you applied to set aside it should have gone to your home court by default.

I've dealt with precisely this issue in the last month by the way...!

It seems they may be having teething issues. In my case they send the claim to what they thought was the Defendant's home court, before they sent it back and it was sent again to the correct court.

In terms of the legalities of the set aside - be aware that in the last year the strictness was changed on making allowances for filing errors. You did the right thing applying straight away, you can be automatically penalised for not acting promptly.

For the set aside hearing - this is important:

You need the evidence to support the reason for the set aside, this being the postal evidence, and all the details from the court. The Judge will have this as well.

The Judge may accept that judgment was incorrectly entered on these facts alone, however, failing that, you need to demonstrate that your Defence has a 'real prospect of success'.

Although the Judge will not conduct a 'mini trial' of the evidence, he needs to see that you have some to back up your Defence.

These arguments really should have been on the application form with the evidence supplied at that point, but if you've not done that, you must file with the court and the other party those documents you wish to use.

[vxr8mate]

Thanks for your reply.

The evidence setting out why he is not owed wages is good (in my opinion) and was sent well in advance of the time limit, but sent in error to Uxbridge (where the claim originated) rather than Northampton CCMCC.

Northampton can see on the system the claimant has lodged their defense, but as Uxbridge failed to send the paper work on automatically found for the claimant.

[JustinP1]

vxr8mate said:

Thanks for your reply.

The evidence setting out why he is not owed wages is good (in my opinion) and was sent well in advance of the time limit, but sent in error to Uxbridge (where the claim originated) rather than Northampton CCMCC.

Northampton can see on the system the claimant has lodged their defense, but as Uxbridge failed to send the paper work on automatically found for the claimant.

So, does the court have your Defence?

You don't want to come to a hearing without that knowledge. Just to make sure, I'd file it again with the Claimant and the Court.

In addition to the Defence, if it relies on any paperwork, or any kind of evidence it would be best to also file this. I don't know the aspects of your case, but for example, if the Defence relies on a timesheet, this would be useful.

These cases seem to be in a state of flux at the moment in how they are dealt with, for a long story reason. Some are being dealt with very strictly, some very informally. You need to ensure that the Judge is satisfied that there are triable issues involved.

Depending on the amount involved, I'd also consider getting a solicitor. Also consider a Part 36 offer - these can sharpen the mind of the other party in considering settlement so you can get back to work!