Small claims defence

The first point to note is that the claimant should have dealt with the matter by way of the pre-action protocol. He should have given you full details of the claim so that you fully understood the issues. He should also have suggested means whereby the dispute could be settled without the need for proceedings eg mediation.

On the assumption that the claimant did not do this then the court can suspend the proceedings until the proper steps have been taken. The court can also order the claimant to pay your costs.

As to the substantive issue I agree that if you pay cash and have no receipt then you are in difficulty. I have been involved in cases where this was conclusive. However the claimant has taken 2 years to decide that he has not been paid. If he did not pursue you until now then this might raise a doubt. Do you have any evidence as to where the cash came from ? - a bank account from which the money was withdrawn. This would of course show that the money was available at the time you say it was paid.

Did anyone witness the payment?

Did the claimant ever write to you for the money?

At this stage you should ask the court to stay the matter and at the same time file a defence saying that the money was paid on day you paid it. You should gather as much evidence as you can as to the payment. In due course you will have to file all your evidence and provide a statement of your case. The court will give you a date on which a judge will the evidence from both sides and make a decision.

Hi Ian,

Thank you very much for your reply.

There was no letter or correspondence before i received the court papers.

I have returned the Acknowledgement of service. How do i get the court to suspend the proceedings and get the claimant to pay my costs?

Regards

Paul

Hi Ian,

And also, my partner was present when payment was made, will my partner count as a witness?

Regards

Paul

Make an application for suspension (a stay) on the grounds that the claimant did not follow the protocol using form N244.

Include in that application a request that the claimant pays your costs under rule 27.14(2)(g) because the claimant has acted unreasonably. These costs will not be great since you will be acting in person without a solicitor.

You should still file your defence - this will deny that you owe the claimant anything because you paid him on whatever date.

Your partner will be able to give evidence of payment.

Hi Ian,

I sent all forms back as you said, the claimant did not file his allocation on time so they gave him an extra month! had a letter today standard order for stay of settlement with consent of all parties-it states that one party has requested mediation-well thats not me because i stated that it had been paid so what is there to mediate-i have to contact the mediator and say what?

what do i do now?

regards

paul 

Clearly there is a dispute here and the District Judge has, therefore, decided that it might be better for the parties to mediate. 

Judges are very keen on mediation as a means of settling disputes since it saves Court time and can save costs if the parties settle their problems. 

Presumably you have been told the identity of the mediator.  He should contact you with details of what documents he wants from you but before coming on to that I will tell you the procedure that is normally adopted in these mediations. 

The mediator will have an office and will allocate this mediation for a certain date and time.  Usually three hours would be set aside for the mediation. 

The mediator will have one office, you and your opponent should each have a separate office in the same building in which to wait.

The mediation will start with both sides setting their case to the mediator, in your case you will simply describe what has happened and you will state that you have already paid the money to the claimant.  You will also state that you had witnesses to prove this.

There would then be a series of meetings between the mediator and each party to see if agreement can be reached. 

In this case of course I am not sure mediation is appropriate because there are two entrenched positions in that the claimant claims his money and you say he has been paid.  Normally in disputes there is an area where compromise can be reached. However, you will have to go through the mediation if that is what the Court has ordered. 

You should get in touch with the mediator yourself to see what documents he requires. In your case you would simply write a statement setting out your case and including any documents which would go with that.