Reinstate claim or start a fresh claim after court fee debacle?

Reinstate claim or start a fresh claim after court fee debacle?

8:39 AM, 22nd September 2017, About 7 years ago 6

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I was wondering if there are any solicitors on here who could advise me on the following. I have taken a guarantor to court for rent arrears from a previous tenant of mine.

After sending in all the documents I intend to rely on in court along with my witness statement and cheque for £170 for the trial fee that needed to be paid before the 8th Septemeber 2017 I noticed that the cheque had not been cashed by the court.

After calling them up on 8th September I asked them why the cheque had not been cashed and they said they didn’t receive the cheque (it was clearly stapled to my witness statement). I was advised by the court to cancel the cheque with my bank and to pay the court fee over the phone by card.

I phoned my bank and cancelled the cheque then called back the court to make the payment. I was told the bailiffs was using the card machine so they was unable to take the payment. I phoned back a further two times to make the payment to be told that the card machine was still in use. I then called back again a fourth time and the card machine was available this time, but it was past the 2.30pm cut off period to take the payment for the day and I was told to call back in the morning to make the payment.

I explained to the court that I was going away for a week and I needed to make the payment urgently and they told me to send in an email to explain this to the court. So I did just that I sent an email asking for an extension for the payment as I was away for a week and I would make the payment on my return I also explained that I had sent in a cheque and tried to make the payment four times that day.

Anyway cut along story short on my return I called up the court to be told that the claim had been struck out and I have to pay a £255 fee to have it reinstated which am not best pleased about.

The advice I am after is do I have to pay the £255 to have the claim reinstated or could I just start the claim from scratch all over again which only cost me £105 and this time I could add on the interest to the claim which should cover this amount.

So my question please to anyone that could give advice would be: Do I have to pay to reinstate the claim a fee of £255 or could I start a fresh claim which would only cost me £105.

Many thanks

Stephen


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Comments

Milton Firman

12:19 PM, 22nd September 2017, About 7 years ago

I would start afresh. I would also seek a claim for return of my fees from the County Court as I believe they are liable and are known to pay "compensation." I hope this helps. Kind Regards Milton Firman - The Legal Company

Stephen Smith

12:49 PM, 22nd September 2017, About 7 years ago

Hi,

Make a formal complaint through their process, if no progress involve your MP. Usually rattles the cage!

Steve

Michael Holmes

13:10 PM, 22nd September 2017, About 7 years ago

I suggest you start again, most of the systems associated with government run departments are useless when it comes to rectifying cock-ups. Nobody want to own up and they are too busy watching their backs all the time. Don't waste a minute of your time on it.

Dylan Morris

20:05 PM, 22nd September 2017, About 7 years ago

It's easy to be a little naive and believe the Court is just incompetent. However I suspect they lost your cheque on purpose and along with their inability to take your debit card payment, it looks pretty obvious they don't want your case to go through. Likely explanation, they are too busy and have to stall some cases.

The Property Man

11:01 AM, 23rd September 2017, About 7 years ago

Thank you all for your comments. I think what I need to find out is if I am able to start over again or I have to follow the reinstatement process. I am not sure if am able to start fresh because I have already made a claim in the past on this case (even though it has been struck out) I was advised that I must reinstate the claim costing £255 instead of the original £105 it cost me to start the claim in the first place.

Gary Dully

23:00 PM, 25th September 2017, About 7 years ago

Nearly 2 weeks ago I obtained a repossession order from Mold County Court. The order still hasn't been sent out, as they have a 'backlog'.

The bailiffs aren't available after 10am in the morning.

The court admin staff for Mold are based in Wrexham and they finish at 2pm each weekday.

The website says they are open till 6.30pm but the security guard says it's now only 5pm, but the sign on their door days 5.30pm.

The whole civil court system is an absolute shambles.

The lead time for a hearing booked this morning via PCOL is for mid November.

In the meantime, nobody seems to know the diary for the bailiffs and I'm told to contact them again after this Wednesday for an update.

The administration for the Civil Courts needs selling off to a company that can handle admin and appointments.

I suggest British Gas, they couldn't be much worse.

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