Wrong date on Small Claim

[taxattack]

A friend had a tiny vehicle to vehicle bump in a car park two years ago. The other party (whose fault it actually was, but there are no independent witnesses) has decided to try to make some money out of this, and has finally issued a Claim (c £1,200).

However, they have included the incorrect date on the Claim Form, stating 2008 instead of 2007.

Would it be reasonable to assume that it is sufficient for my friend, the defendant, to state, with evidence, that he (and his car) were elsewhere on said date in 2008? Or could the Court say, Ok, obviously the claimant really meant 2007, and allow the case to proceed?

Your views appreciated.

Chris

 

[Mister B]

Is the claim being brought privately or through an insurance company?

That aside, I would be inclined to play a straight bat and bring the wrong date to the atttention of the court.

Again though, speaking without any legal qualifications, surely it;s your friends word against the claimants and as such, it will be very hard to prove liability on either side?

Mister B

 

[taxattack]

Is the claim being brought privately or through an insurance company? Privately, which is slightly curious itself, as the insurers still seem to be debating it.

That aside, I would be inclined to play a straight bat and bring the wrong date to the atttention of the court.

Again though, speaking without any legal qualifications, surely it;s your friends word against the claimants and as such, it will be very hard to prove liability on either side?

Very true

Mister B

Thanks, Chris

 

[david8765]

if it is a private claim you could try writing back saying to bring it on and you have witnesses that will say you were with them. it might be enough to scare them off.

 

[Lime One]

It is likely that on receipt of your defence of I was not there, they will simply make an application to amend the proceedings to reflect the correct date. Most judges would allow this to be amended without a blink. This sort of date error is rarely an end to the process as it happens so often with dates and years and certainly is not going to be an end to the claim.

 

[taxattack]

It is likely that on receipt of your defence of I was not there, they will simply make an application to amend the proceedings to reflect the correct date. Most judges would allow this to be amended without a blink. This sort of date error is rarely an end to the process as it happens so often with dates and years and certainly is not going to be an end to the claim.

Thanks Lime One

That being the case, would the case be adjourned, with an opportunity for a fresh defence to be put in, or would it be necessary to submit the "real" defence in the first place?

Chris

 

[Lime One]

If their application is on notice, you get an opportunity to ask the judge to allow you to submit a full defence. However much will depend on what else has been done before the issue of proceedings. So if there is correspondance which shows the friend has tackled the claim before court issue then it makes no sense normally to enter in a brief 'not on this date' defence. This is because it is already evidenced there has been a dispute over events but not the actual date or being present.

This is a small claims court so the whole process is dealt with as quickly as possible. There is a risk in taking this very literal stance and putting in a brief defence that the court would see it as time wasting by the defendant due to what else will be shown to the court.

As it is the small claims court and if there is evidence as above which will be shown I would point it out as another example of the poor handling of the case and another example of sloppy errors to date and defend it on that basis in full. Your pal then gets to look like the party with the golden halo rather than trying to exploit a loop hole which they clearly can see as a mistake.

 

[Anthony Reeves]

I agree that you should not put in Defence on the basis that the date was wrong. If there was an incident and you knew that is what the claim relates to, but decide to take advantage of a mistake/typing error, the Judge may regard such behaviour as misleading the court and will take a dim view of it.

Anthony Reeves
Pinniger Finch & Co, Solicitors

 

[taxattack]

Thanks for all contributions.

Chris

 

[Herdens]

I think everyone is missing the big issue here. Since the court proceedings will ultimately lead to a claim on one or both motor insurance policies, your friend should be informing their insurers about the issue of the claim form as a matter of urgency. This will be a condition of the policy, which continues even though the actual period of insurance has probably now expired.

More than likely, you friend’s insurers will want to get involved and will take over the defence and handling of the claim to protect their position. They will probably appoint solicitors to act on your friend’s behalf.

If your friend wants to make a counter claim for damage to their vehicle or other losses, then they should make sure that the insurers / solicitors appointed are aware of this so that they can issue a counterclaim.

 

[taxattack]

I think everyone is missing the big issue here. Since the court proceedings will ultimately lead to a claim on one or both motor insurance policies, your friend should be informing their insurers about the issue of the claim form as a matter of urgency. This will be a condition of the policy, which continues even though the actual period of insurance has probably now expired.

More than likely, you friend’s insurers will want to get involved and will take over the defence and handling of the claim to protect their position. They will probably appoint solicitors to act on your friend’s behalf.

If your friend wants to make a counter claim for damage to their vehicle or other losses, then they should make sure that the insurers / solicitors appointed are aware of this so that they can issue a counterclaim.

Thanks Herdens

You've brought up another curious feature, which for the sake of focus, I hadn't mentioned, but is actually extremely important, and which we're trying to clarify. The insurers have been talking about this for two years, are "our" side are ready to settle, saying this will finalise everything. (NCB is protected, although a "life" will be lost. You might say - well just settle it - but we're reluctant, because the claim is entirely spurious, and a cynical attempt to exploit a nothing).

However, the court claim is not from the other side's insurers, but from the individual whose vehicle it was.

We may enter a form of acknowledgement in order to buy some time for clarification.

Chris

 

[Herdens]

You've brought up another curious feature, which for the sake of focus, I hadn't mentioned, but is actually extremely important, and which we're trying to clarify. The insurers have been talking about this for two years, are "our" side are ready to settle, saying this will finalise everything. (NCB is protected, although a "life" will be lost. You might say - well just settle it - but we're reluctant, because the claim is entirely spurious, and a cynical attempt to exploit a nothing).

However, the court claim is not from the other side's insurers, but from the individual whose vehicle it was.

It’s not unusual for one of the parties to issue proceedings personally instead of through their insurers. This often occurs when they are not comprehensively insured and as such their insurer has no interest in the damage to their vehicle.

The other option is that they have simply got sick and tired of waiting for their insurer to sort the claim out and have decided to do it themselves. This is a tactic I have personally used in the past to speed things up and in my case ensure that my no claims bonus was reinstated swiftly.

In all cases, whether the one issuing the claim or receiving the claim, I reiterate, that you should always keep your insurer aware in case the claim goes against you. If you have not informed them of the court proceedings, they may well not pay up. Even if you do win, they may not reinstate your no claims bonus, if you haven’t informed them, as the insurer may have incurred losses which they wish to reclaim and as such should have been included in the action.

If you think you have a good case which is worth defending, then I would agree that with the support of your insurers, you should press ahead and counterclaim. This may involve you gathering evidence first to present to your insurers (this is a service we offer!) to support your case and encourage them to assist your defence of the action.