June 13, 2024
Where a statement of case (such as a claim, defence, or counterclaim) has absolutely no prospects of success or appears to be an abuse of the court's process, it may be possible to make an application to strike it out. This application asks the court to dismiss the statement of case. If a claim is struck out, then this ends the claimant’s claim. If a defence is struck out, then the court can order a County Court Judgment in the claimant’s favour. Below are some of the reasons why an application for strike out could be made:
To make an application to strike out incurs a fee of £303 (as of the date of publication). If your application is successful, you may ask the court to order your opponent to pay this application fee. Applications to strike out are often made before the track allocation to your claim.
What is the small claims track?
The term ‘track’ refers to the route the court will take based on the value of the claim and how complicated the case is. The small claims track typically deals with less complicated cases with a claim value of up to £10,000. Here, your preparation time and any legal costs are not normally recoverable, except in relatively rare cases where you can demonstrate that your opponent has been exceptionally unreasonable in their conduct. This is a high threshold and should not be relied upon to pay your legal costs.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Alternatives
Where your opponent has not properly formulated their statement of case:
Key points
Parties should take great care when preparing their statement of case, making sure that they have set out their position clearly and met any legalisation requirements. Where your opponent has not quite met the mark necessary in their statement of case, you should weigh up the cost of the application to strike out with the costs of going to trial. It might be better to attempt to settle the case out of court if you find a fault with your opponent’s statement of case.
If you require any advise in this area the Commercial Litigation Team at Porter Dodson would be happy to help.
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