What happens if you drop a small claim after the defendant has made a counter claim?

[gpietersz]

I have taken someone to the small claims court, and they have made a counterclaim.

Due to unforeseen circumstances (mostly that I am divorcing, its a pretty bitter divorce, and consequences of that) I would rather drop it.

In addition I am behind on following the courts instructions to correct mistakes on the original claim form (the main one being the other claimant, my wife, did not sign the statement of truth, which I was supposed to sort out last week), and have not enough time to send evidence to the court because I only got two more days to do that and I only got the documents telling me to do all this on yesterday. I believe I have to apply to the court for extra time, but any advice on this would be appreciated.

The counterclaim is pretty pretty silly (claiming damages for a very minor, and disputable, breach of contract which did not actually cause them any loss), and they refused to disclose the amount they were claiming for until they made the counterclaim - I asked for this information in earlier correspondence with their solicitor and never got an answer.

 

[Gyumri]

If it's not worth pursuing for any reason and the CC is just as pointless then you might be able to agree to discontinue the claim with the other party on a drop hands basis ansmd each side walks away.

That seems the best and most sensible outcome. If the other party wants to continue with the CC then he would be liable for your costs in defending the CC and because it's silly the judge may take a dim view of the matter when it comes to costs.

If you have caused the other party to incur legal costs then he would be entitled to seek to recover some of them - but he won't get any if he's been unreasonable.

So best to try and settle the dispute out of court and move on. The whole costs regime in the UK resembles a dogs dinner and it is best to stay clear of it if you can.

 

[Gyumri]

See also this link:

Stop This Train, I Want Off! Discontinuing A Small Claim

Discontinuing a small claim. Once you have started a claim, you may decide you do not want to pursue it any further. What to do and what are the implications?

www.smallclaimscourtgenie.co.uk

 

[2020Lawyer2020]

I agree. Try to agree with hte other party you will each walk away with no claims. However if the counter claim might succeed and is large they may not drop it and you cannot force them to do so in which case it is more complicated as if you do not defend the counter claim and do not continue with the main action (or for the latter do not withdraw it) then you are stuck. Also they (the other party) may not give up their counterclaim or let you withdraw your claim unless you pay their costs to date (assuming the claims are all over £10k so are not "small claims)

 

[gpietersz]

Thanks for the help.

The claims are both small claims and the court has allocated it to the small claims track.

 

[Michael Loveridge]

The counterclaim may have been lodged purely as a tactical move to get you to drop your claim. However, you must file a defence to it within 14 days of receiving it. If you don't do so the Defendant can obtain default judgment against you, which means you will be ordered by the court to pay them what they're suing you for.

If you really don't want to pursue your claim then as others have said you should suggest a drop hands settlement, whereby you both abandon your claims against the other. As it's small claims there should be no legal costs payable anyway, though you should make this clear. Any correspondence suggesting such a settlement should be headed `without prejudice' so that the Defendant can't use it as evidence.

 

[Gyumri]

Any correspondence suggesting such a settlement should be headed `without prejudice' so that the Defendant can't use it as evidence.

Agreed - but mark it as "without prejudice save as to costs" although as it's a small track claim I think costs are mercifully limited to mundane expenditure.

 

[gpietersz]

However, you must file a defence to it within 14 days of receiving it.

I received it late. The counterclaim is date 17th June, but I only received it on the 9th July, together with other documents from the defendant the last of which was dated 8th July. When does the 14 days start from?

I have sorted out the issues that were causing me to think of walking away, so going to continue.

I have asked the court for extra time for other things such as sending documents I want to rely on in the case because the order with the deadline dates were delivered late.

The counterclaim may have been lodged purely as a tactical move to get you to drop your claim.

It fairly obviously is, and they (their solicitor at that point) did not quantify the two main items in the counterclaim in previous correspondence even after I asked repeatedly which AFAIK is a breach of civil procedures rules.