not sure how long but from what I read, I think the court will only take any response into account up to the point your request for judgement is made. As such he's now timed out. the best he could do is to await the judgement and apply to get it set aside. So as soon as you get the judgement be prepared to enforce it quickly
Update: The other person filed an 'acknowledgement Of Service' (AOS), 2 days late. I believe he has 28 days to file his defence.
see the link http://www.civillitigationbrief.com...hen-acknowledgment-of-service-is-served-late/ if you have correctly files for a judgement in default then I think "It would make a nonsense of procedure if a defendant could avoid default judgment by acknowledging service any time before judgment was entered." taken from the link in other words he's too late
And it would, I've had a similar situation where they filed their defence late and was excepted by the court. This just dragged out what was inevitably, that being I won and was awarded my costs as well, but it took 15 months from start to finish as opposed to a few weeks had they not defended it.
Unfortunately I was not successful in my case. I could not refute there story as he continued to deny verbal conversation took place. Judge had no choice but to look at my estimate, which when written was not detailed enough (thought he was honest, big mistake) Another error I made, when I took interim payment I only showed it on a breakdown when in fact I should have shown it on an invoice. The judge saw that. So my claim became overstated! If your suing someone it can only be done on invoices produced Also we agreed verbally I would receive prompt payments, I would submit weekly breakdown on Sunday and he would pay immediately, he paid between 1-6 days late, Judge said that time scale was adequate. I did explain to Judge that payment was agreed verbally, I could not prove the conversation as he denied it. I’m sure the judge saw through it and referred to my witness statement on several occasions but could only work with the paperwork submitted. He told them off several times. He did mention to me, in future make sure you have terms & conditions in place and have everything in writing. Finally if you are to walk of a job, make sure you have in writing by mutual agreement as you could be in breach of some consumer act or something like that. The quickly scarpered after Court as the could not look me in the eye. The whole process was really straight forward but bottom line get everything in writing.
Unlucky but good feedback for others to learn from. Confirm conversations agreements by a follow up email, it will take a minute but worth it.
Stick your mobile in a suitable pocket, set it on voice recorder, & record everything said, it has saved my butt more than one.
That is a tough lesson Doc and a salutory one to the rest of us. I mostly email quotes with agreed works and costs on them and have a terms and conditions included. However, I probably manage to do about a fifth of jobs with only verbal agreements and these will often mean me losing several hundred pounds on any of the jobs not being paid. When these "uncontracted" clients need to be sent a reminder that payment has not been received, then I start to get a wee bit stressed, after promised payment is still not in my account I start to get very worried and know that I was a fool for not putting all the paperwork in place. Thankfully, I have only had one who did not eventually pay up - I managed to get half the money but lost out on over seven hundred pounds, thankfully for labour alone as I had not made any materials outlay. You seem to have taken it on the chin Doc and will have appreciated the learning curve of knowing how to kick the whole court route into operation.
Aristotle, I knew early on in Court I was flunked, when judge said you should have raised an invoice. And that did throw me and he gave me time to sort myself out in one of the conference rooms. That was a shock to the other party also! It was pointless me screaming and shouting as I would not stoop to that level, nor would I ever intend to deceive one. I left that to them and judge told them off several times. (He did observe my behaviour) I knew it would then come to my word against his which he was quite natural at being economical with the truth So all I could do was to try and take as much information on board. I will be extra cautious when working for people of the church again
You are a far, far superior, moral high ground holding, reserved, professional tradesman for keeping yourself in check and taking it on the chin than I am I'm afraid. I would honestly look to punch the guy in the throat as soon as my eyes lay upon him when out and about. At the very least, now the case is over, make sure you tell absolutely everyone you know and who cares that so and so stitched you up, put a post on Facebook, social media, drop into conversation with his local parishioners, the works. I'm very sorry for you that the bstard won in court, but at the very least it's a harsh lesson learned, and it hasn't bankrupted you, but a few sleepless nights. At least God knows the guy for what he is Onwards and upwards.
While I remember. I’d like to say thank you to devils advocate, appreciated the message in regards to preparation before committing to the legal route!
Thanks for the update, Dr Dec, and really sorry to hear it didn't turn out as it should have in this case. However, also pleased that when it didn't work, it was with a person of such calibre that they'd rise above this and not let it fester. It must stick in your craw a bit, but the other party do know they have 'got away' with it only because of lack of physical evidence; they know the judge was casting them a disparaging eye. Foul people - let them swim in their deluded dishonesty. Believe me - they know. They do know. Don't give them a further second of your attention. (Unless the opportunity arises when they are brought up in any conversation... But be 'measured' in everything you say.) I agree with Jord that you are the far far better person, but disagree with him about how to act on this; leave all the bitterness and social-media repercussions out of this. Only bring it up if asked. Learn, move on, be happy. 'Cos they won't. They really will not. I almost wish there were a gawd, 'cos I know where they'd end up (I bet they voted Leave...)
To be fair and correcting myself, I should also have recommended letting go and not letting anger drive you to get one back on them as it'll only bring you down and make you miserable. It's not worth it in the long run. (I am a hypocrite though, as I would personally struggle to let it go, but that's my problem.) Dr Decorator did the right thing and behaved in the best way.
Yup - I think we'd both want to punch first, and 'let go' afterwards It really is a case of - it's happened. It's a fait accompli'. Don't let it eat you for a further second - these foul folk ain't worth it. There is nothing you can do. And to try and do so would only keep you involved. It's a life experience, one to learn from. And move on. Leave it behind. Be happy. Honest to gawd - these sort of folks live in a world of lies and delusion. In their heart of hearts they know. And they know that others know. They are never content or fully happy. However much they try and pretend. Just imagine bumping ion to them again. Two things you can do - one is to show your disgust, say summat, let them know. The other is to smile, knowingly. I promise you which one will 'get' to them.
Lots of really good advice here. Anyway, a few years aback I worked at a company that was mostly heavy duty tough guys, GBH was a requirement for the job, thugging was the norm for the company. I was chatting with the Boss, he was moaning a customer had not paid, something like £20k, in jest I said, "send our boys round" - he smiled as if he'd already tried that on a previous occasion and said "that doesn't work, they just send their boys round in return!"
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