Don’t ignore legal disputes – it could become expensive
We are periodically contacted by businesses and individuals who have been served with a claim after ignoring correspondence from the Claimant or who have chosen to ‘go it alone’ and start Court proceedings without fully understanding the process. Invariably this causes problems.
Delays in seeking legal advice after being served with a claim or trying to ‘muddle through’ generally makes matters worse. We were recently contacted by a Claimant who had issued a claim for recovery of a debt. The Defendant didn’t respond, and the Claimant sought Judgment against the Claimant which they were entitled to do. However, the Defendant hadn’t received the claim; it had been sent to the wrong address. The Defendant asked the Claimant to agree for the Judgment to be set aside. The Claimant refused and the Defendant was forced to make an application to have the Judgement set aside and successfully recovered their costs of doing so from the Claimant. Had the Claimant taken legal advice, the Claimant could have avoided this costly situation arising.
It isn’t uncommon for businesses and individuals to say that they didn’t take the Claimants’ pre-action correspondence or letter before action seriously and ignored it. If the matter is worth over £10,000 the other side are likely to recover their legal costs after proceedings are started, but pre-action, they are not entitled to. Early intervention by a solicitor when the dispute arises or when the letter of claim is received, will avoid unnecessary costs.
Pictons can provide advice at any stage of a dispute but the earlier advice is sought, the greater the chance of resolving the matter before the costs escalate.
For more information contact Pictons: