STATEMENTS OF CASE

These a documents which set out in detail the legal and factual basis upon which each party claims or defends the case. A Claimant's statement of case is called Particulars of Claim and a Defendants is called a Defence. Both must be verified by a statement of truth that the parties believe the facts contained in the statement are true to the best of their knowledge. This will then be admissible as evidence . Any person who signs a statement of truth and does so knowing the facts contained in it are false may be in contempt of court and risk a fine and/or imprisonment.

The CPR rules encourage more openness and thus it will be necessary for each party to give full information as to the grounds of their case and not simply state what they claim or dispute. The purpose of this is so that both parties know fully what case they have to meet and this will in turn encourage settlement.

Particulars of Claim

The first step in issuing proceedings is to prepare the claim form and file with the court together with a court fee. A Particulars of Claim is normally lodged with the claim form settings out the precise details of the claim. They are normally filed together at the court but the Particulars of claim may be filed no later than 14 days after the claim form.

The claim form must contain as much detail as possible and set out the allegations you are making together with the precise reasons. Failure to provide sufficient detail may result in cost penalties later in the case.

The claim form will be sent to the defendant by first class post once they have received all necessary documentation. However it may be possible for us to arrange personal service upon the respondent by a process server. This will incur an additional charge and will only be required in certain circumstances.

Defence

If a claim is issued against you it is vital that you respond to it or a judgement may be made against you in your absence.

If you receive a Particulars of Claim with the Claim Form issued against you will have 14 days to respond. If you return the Acknowledgement of Service within 14 days your time to respond with your full defence will be extended to 28 days. This extension of time can be important if you intend to use it to seek specialist legal advice. The Response Pack you will receive from the Court will contain information on how to respond and give you several options on whether you intend to deny the claim, admit the claim, admit or deny part of it etc.

It will not be sufficient for you to just deny the claim but it must be stated why you dispute it and if so what exactly your version of events are. Each and every allegation must be either admitted or denied or neither or required to be proved. The reasons for your reply must also be set out clearly. A full Defence must be submitted or the Claimant may make an application for it to be struck out or the Court may of its own accord strike it out.

You will also have the option to Counterclaim if you believe the claimant owes you money or is liable to your for loss you have incurred. You will have to pay a court fee if the amount of the Counterclaim exceeds the value of the claim against you.