Fast Track Court Case Question

[mondeoman]

We've become a defendant in a fast-track court case, and the date for disclosure of documents was yesterday at 4:00pm

We're doing this ourselves and so far everything has been fine - I've followed the court guides and hit every deadline with the correct paperwork and so on. Yesterdays deadline came and went and we have had no notification from the Claimant of their disclosure list .....

Question is, what can I do - does this give us some form of automatic default on their part, or does it simply delay matters until (if) they ever get round to actually giving us a disclosure list of their own?

Cheers

[JustinP1]

It most likely means that they were bluffing you, and you called their bluff.

The only thing you can do is to arrive at court and at the start of the case inform the court that you have not received your documents so you could not perform a defence.
I would also send a letter *now* to the court to inform them that you have not received the documents, and this will stand you in good stead in court.

At best, the case will be thrown out. At worst, if they have a very good reason the case will be rescheduled - at their cost.

[Lurking Lawyer]

mondeoman said:

Question is, what can I do - does this give us some form of automatic default on their part, or does it simply delay matters until (if) they ever get round to actually giving us a disclosure list of their own?

Apply for an order requiring them to serve their List of Docs or their claim be struck out if they fail to so within the specified time (14 days should suffice).

Use Form N244 off the Court Service website and send it to the court with a cheque for £35 in respect of the application fee.

The reality is though that as long as they serve it within a reasonable period after the deadline, very little is likely to come of it. May be easier just to sit tight for a while and see whether they serve it once they receive yours and their memory is jogged....

[h4rvy]

Word of advice make sure all your paperwork is clear and numbered , the judge likes nothing more than someone who has all the facts clearly in front of them and easy to follow , been to court myself a couple of times to claim money owed and always won with costs and interest.