SA8 Statements of Case

Question 1

What is required to verify all statements of case?

Answer 1

A statement of truth

Question 2

What does signing a false statement of truth potentially amount to?

Answer 2

Contempt of court.

Question 3

The court will be slow to s/o for failing to give particulars of negligence. Where will the court consider it might be appropriate?

Answer 3

Where C has been given the opportunity to provide those particulars and fails to do so.

Question 4

After the CF is issued, how long do you have to serve it?

Answer 4

4 months.

Must be served before midnight 4 calendar months after the day it was issued.

Question 5

If the CF and POC aren’t served together, how long after the CF is served do you have to serve the POC?

Answer 5

14 days. However, must still be within the 4 months after CF is issued.

Question 6

When must D respond to proceedings.

Answer 6

Within 14 days of receiving POC.

Can serve an acknowledgement of service within 14 days, and then a defence within 28 days of receiving POC.

Question 7

Can D have longer to file the defence?

How much longer?

How can D obtain this extension.

Answer 7

Possible for D to agree with C for a further 28 days.

If they reach that agreement, D must notify the court of it in writing.

Question 8

If the POC isn’t served with the CF, what additional stipulation must the CF include?

Answer 8

That the POC are to follow.

Question 9

What must the CF include?

Answer 9

a) a concise statement of the nature of the claim;
b) specify the remedy which the claimant seeks;
c) contain a statement of value in accordance with rule 16.3, where the claimant is making a claim for money;
d) contain a statement of the interest accrued on that sum, where the only claim is for a specified sum; and
e) contain such other matters as may be set out in a practice direction.

The address at which C lives/carries out business (even if C’s address for service is solicitor’s address).

Where D is an individual, the address at which D lives/carries out business (even if D’s address for service is solicitor’s address).

If CF doesn’t have relevant address, will be retained until C supplies them/court has dispensed with requirement to do so.

Question 10

What happens if the C does not specify a remedy to which he is entitled on the CF?

Answer 10

The court may grant any remedy to which the claimant is entitled, even if that remedy is not specified in the claim form.

Question 11

Where C is making a claim for money, what must he state?

Answer 11

a) The amount he expects to recover.
b) That he expects to recover:
i. <£10k
ii. £10k-£25k
iii. >£25k
c) That he cannot say how much he expects to recover.

Question 12

Where C is making a claim for money in a PI case, what must he state?

Answer 12

Whether the amount they hope to recover for PSLA will be:
a) <£1.5k
b) >£1.5k

Question 13

If C is issuing a CF in the High Court, what must it state?

Answer 13

a) that the claimant expects to recover more than £100,000;
b) state that some other enactment permits/requires the claim to be brought in the HC and specify that enactment;
c) if the claim is for personal injuries, state that the claimant expects to recover £50,000 or more; or
d) state that the claim is to proceed in one of the specialist High Court lists and state which list.

Question 14

What must the POC include?

Answer 14

a) facts;
b) Interest (where they are claiming)
c) If seeking aggravated/exemplary damages, a statement to that effect and the grounds for claiming them;
d) If C is seeking provisional damages, a statement to that effect and the grounds for claiming them; and
e) Other matters as may be set out in a practice direction.

Question 15

If C is seeking interest, what must they include in the POC?

Answer 15

State whether they are doing so—
a) under the terms of a contract;
b) under an enactment and, if so, which; or
c) on some other basis and, if so, what that basis is; and

If the claim is for a specified amount of money, state—
a) the percentage rate at which interest is claimed;
b) the date from which it is claimed;
c) the date to which it is calculated, which must not be later than the date on which the claim form is issued;
d) the total amount of interest claimed to the date of calculation; and
e) the daily rate at which interest accrues after that date.

Question 16

What additional info must be included in a POC for PI?

What must be attached.

Answer 16

a) C’s DOB.
b) Brief details of C’s injuries.

Schedule of Past/future loss.

Medical report (where evidence from a medical practitioner is relied upon). This is the case even if the report has already been served pre-action.

Question 17

What must be included in a POC for a claim brought to enforce a right to recover possession of goods?

Answer 17

A statement showing the value of the goods.

Question 18

What should be attached to a POC for a claim based on a written agreement?

Answer 18

A) Copy/copies of the contract/docs constituting the agreement. The originals should be available at the hearing.
B) Any general conditions of sale incorporated into the contract.

Question 19

Where a claim is based on an oral agreement, what should be included in the POC?

Answer 19

POC should set out:
a) the contractual words used and
b) state by whom, to whom,
c) when and
d) where they were spoken.

Question 20

What must a POC include where C seeking to rely on a party’s conviction of an offence?

Answer 20

s11 Civil Evidence Act 1968

Question 21

Wrongdoing.

What must C specifically set out in the POC where they wish to rely on them in support of a claim?

Answer 21

The claimant must specifically set out the following matters in the particulars of claim where they wish to rely on them in support of the claim—
(1) Any allegation of fraud;
(2) The fact of any illegality;
(3) Details of any misrepresentation;
(4) Details of all breaches of trust;
(5) Notice or knowledge of a fact;
(6) Details of unsoundness of mind or undue influence;
(7) Details of wilful default; and
(8) Any facts relating to a claim for mitigation expenditure.

Question 22

In a clinical negligence case, what must be inserted at the top of every statement of case?

Answer 22

The words ‘clinical negligence’

Question 23

Can a court award interest on a debt for a period during which (for whatever interest) interest on the debt already runs?

Answer 23

No

Question 24

What happens if D doesn’t acknowledge service within time limit of being served the CF?

Answer 24

C may obtain default judgment if Part 12 allows it.

Question 25

What must D include in their defence where they deny an allegation?

Answer 25

a) Reasons for denial.
b) Their version.

Question 26

What happens where D fails to deal with an allegation in their defence but puts forward a contradictory version of events?

Answer 26

C will be required to prove their version.

Question 27

What happens where the claim includes a money claim and D fails to deal with an allegation relating to the amount of money claimed.

Answer 27

C must prove all allegations relating to the amount claimed unless the defendant expressly admits the allegation.

Question 28

Once a CF has been issued, does the court have the power to order that the claim continue without any other statement of case?

Answer 28

Yes (16.8)

Question 29

Who must the defence be served on?

Answer 29

Every party

Question 30

If C files a response to the defence, what must they file alongside it?

What should the reply contain?

Answer 30

a) C must file the reply with a directions questionnaire; and serve the reply on the other parties at the same time as it is filed; and

b) the reply should form one document with any defence to counterclaim, with the defence to counterclaim following the reply, unless the dates on which they are due to be filed differ from one another.

Question 31

Can a further statement of case be served after C’s reply to the defence?

Answer 31

Only with the court’s permission.

Question 32

Where—
a) the only claim (apart from a claim for costs and interest) is for a specified amount of money; and
b) D states in his defence that he has paid to the claimant the amount claimed,

What will the court do?
What will happen to C’s response?
What happens if C doesn’t respond within 28 days of service of the court’s notice?

Answer 32

Send notice to the claimant requiring the claimant to state in writing whether the claimant wishes the proceedings to continue.

A copy of C’s response must be served on the D at the same time as it is filed.

If C fails to respond within 28 days after service of the court’s notice the claim shall be stayed.
Any party may apply under Part 23 for the stay to be lifted. The application must include an explanation for the delay in proceeding with or responding to the claim.

Question 33

If D doesn’t respond to a POC/applied for s/o within 6 months, and C doesn’t apply for a default judgment, what happens?

Answer 33

Claim is stayed

Question 34

Must D always include an address for service in his defence?

Answer 34

Not if he has already included it in his acknowledgement of service

Question 35

When is the deemed service of a CF?

Answer 35

The second business day after the relevant step (including if done by personal service). r6.14.

Where the POC is served alongside the CF, this rule applies.