- Original Poster
- #1
Hi all,
I’m the claimant in a small-claims case that was originally listed in my town. Last week I received a court order saying:
Key facts:
Questions
All advice welcome. Thanks!
I’m the claimant in a small-claims case that was originally listed in my town. Last week I received a court order saying:
- the defendant (a limited company) asked for the venue to be reconsidered;
- the judge has transferred the claim to their local court 200 miles away from me, reason being they have dependents in their local town and their company can't burden the cost of travelling 200 miles away
- the hearing date at my local town is vacated;
- I can apply to set aside, vary or stay the order, but I only have a few days to do this and need to pay a £313 fee to do so!
Key facts:
- Defendant is a business, not an individual (so the automatic “home-court” transfer rule in CPR 26.3 shouldn’t apply).
- They seem to have written a letter rather than filed Form N244 – so it looks like the judge acted on their own initiative under CPR 3.3 and no fee was paid.
- I have two young children (aged 3 and 5) who are wholly dependent on me; travelling 200 miles would mean childcare costs, time off work and possibly an overnight stay.
- The claim value is under £2 k and everything (documents, witnesses, me!) is based in my local town.
Questions
- Has anyone successfully persuaded a judge to keep (or move back) a small-claims hearing without paying the £123/£313 N244 fee?
- If I draft a letter under CPR 3.3(5) setting out my objections (consumer claimant, extra costs, kids, proportionality, remote-hearing option) will the court treat it, or will they insist on the N244 + fee anyway?
- Worst-case: if I do file an N244 and lose, what “reasonable costs” could the company claim against me on the small-claims track?
All advice welcome. Thanks!
