My Small Court Claim Is Struck Out

[ChingWan23]

I have filed a small claim because my previous landlady still held part of my deposit not returning to me. Me and the defendant both given statement of defence and agreed of mediation. Now, I received a notification from the court that my claim is struck out. The reasons is because it does not set out the legal basis of the claim. I don't exactly know what does it mean? After looking at citizen advice websit, I think may be I haven't written a formal letter of warning to the defendant before I filed the claim. Am I right? I have warning her by text message only. I have phone the court to ask what does it mean and what kind of documents they need. They couldn't give me an answer. It would be much appreciated if someone here could give me some advice. Many thanks.

[Buenchico]

See "Objectives of pre-action conduct and protocols" and "Steps before issuing a claim at court" here:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/pd_pre-action_conduct
"Settlement and ADR" is probably also relevant there.

See here if you think that the mediation route might be appropriate:
http://civilmediation.justice.gov.uk/

As you've suggested though (and as my first link makes clear), a court won't accept a case unless a formal written demand has been sent to the debtor. Your letter must be dated and show your name and address and that of your former landlady (or the name and address of her company if she trades as such). It must state the amount you're claiming and the reason for the demand. It must also provide a reasonable time for a response and a clear statement that you will commence legal proceedings if you've not received your money after that time. (e.g. "If I do not receive full payment of the said amount within 21 days I will commence court proceedings to recover this debt and request that the court makes an order requiring you to pay my costs in the matter"). You should retain a copy of the letter and send the original using Royal Mail's 'Signed For' service.

If the matter gets to court you'll need to provide all the relevant paperwork that you can lay your hands on. As well as a copy of the letter of demand you might also need your 'proof of posting' receipt and a screen shot from the Royal Mail website, showing that the letter was delivered. Paperwork showing the amount paid as a rental deposit and how much was paid back to you (together with any correspondence from the landlady, purporting to explain the deduction) might also be required.

[ChingWan23]

Thanks Buenchico, Yeah, I think missing a formal written demand is the reason of my claim being struck out. In fact, I have sent off the formal demand letter today just I didn't used the royal mail 'signed for' service but I have the 'proof of posting' only and hope it's good enough. However, this time I could only give the defendant end of this Sunday to return the money to me, hope its not too short as the court has given me very short time to give response. In fact, I have express my dispute of deposit and demanded it to be returned otherwise a claim will be filed through texts message long before. All those texts were being ignored.

[Barmaid]

What did your claim form actually say? Because the reason given for strike out does not always sit with failure to write s demand.

[ChingWan23]

Hi Barmaid, after she ignored my test messages of not return part of my deposit. I put other issues on my claim as well. my claim summary are: 1) Holding deposit without consent. 2) refund two days rent for no heating provided under zero temperature. 3) claiming for living in unsafe accommodation which not fit for purpose. 4) unprofessional services. 5) compensation for loss of security. In my opinion, at least the first item of claim should be set out the legal basis as not returning part of my deposit is a financial lost.

[Barmaid]

It really depends on the wording you used - I really would be amazed if it was struck out for failure to follow the pre action protocols since at Small Claims stage this stuff is normally not too much of a problem. It might be advisable if you can get help from a local legal charity or just see if you can persuade a lawyer to look it over for you for a few quid. Trouble is, if you keep getting it wrong and keep getting struck out you'll lose money in court fees.

[ChingWan23]

My claim exact wording: Lodger's deposit and other things are not protected by Deposit Protection Scheme currently in UK, so I would like to submit the following money claims here:

claiming for holding my deposit without consent. the reason that was stated for fixing the light in my room back onto the ceiling, however the light had not been fitted securely in the first place. I tried to adjust the angle of one of the little lamp and the whole light just fell off from the ceiling leaving a hole with wires dangling proving it was not fitted securely. I don't believe a light would just fall off by adjusting the angle of a lamp and therefore I shouldn't be held responsible for the cost of fitting it back to the ceiling. Electrical fittings should be fitted by a registered electrican and in this instance I don't believe this happened. It therefore created a risk to the safety of the room. Photos can be provided if required.

Claiming for the refund of two days rent for not providing heating for two days when the temperature had dropped below freezing (as per BBC south west weather) on 29th & 30th April. As a result, I was left suffering with a cold, headache and distress. As agreed and also stated in the landlady's advertisement, all bills were included in the monthly rent and therefore the landlady should have provided reasonable heating. The landlady stated that to keep her rental income at a low price, she had to be economical and keep her bills down which goes against the 'all bills included' policy. This meant I was refused heating upon asking for it to be put on so she could keep the cost of her bill down. Text messages can be provided if required.

[Barmaid]

Your claim form is the reason you were struck out. Ive got visitors atm but if i get chance I'll try to give you some pointers on rewording it.

[Peter Pedant]

thx barmaid for spending time on this

[ChingWan23]

Thank you in advance Barmaid

[ChingWan23]

Buenchico is right, after I present a formal final demand letter. The court re-instated my case, I accept the offer of mediation and will have mediation tomorrow morning. Hope an agreement will be made without going to court hearing. Thanks again for you guys help. X

[ChingWan23]

Hi Guys, I won the case during mediation. The defendant agreed to give me back the full deposit together with the claim cost. The mediation service they offer are very good.