Hello BankFodder, Thank you for your reply. At the time of submitting a defence to the counterclaim against me, I telephoned the court and I was told that I needed to submit all my evidence. I did this and also sent a copy to the other party. So it was filed with the court and the defendant also received a copy, but I'm just worried that I may not be able to use this evidence. By 'format' I mean the most likely way events will proceed during the hearing, i.e. a timetable of what to expect. I am a litigant in person but the tradesman will be using a Solicitor. My reasoning for not being able to use my evidence is because I may have sent it in 'too' early, but at the end of the day it was filed with the court and also sent to the defendant. Thanks again, EddieQ1

Hello, This is my first post on this forum. I have a small claims hearing to try and recover some money from a tradesman who didn't want to honour our contract and kept getting payments out of me before the work stage was complete. I issued proceeding and he did a bogus counterclaim - reversed all my grievances in his favour The case has finally reached the hearing stage and I would like some advice. 1) When I sent my defence to the counterclaim, the court helpline told me to send in all my evidence, photos, etc as this would be used in the hearing. I recently received the hearing date letter and it advised me to send in my witness statement and evidence - what happened to my evidence I sent in with my defence of the counterclaim? - will this be in the file and can I use this? 2) What is the normal format of the hearing? 3) How strict will the rules be regarding evidence ? 4) If I am not happy being denied use of my evidence sent in at an earlier time, can I do anything about it, such as ask for a change in date, etc? Thanks in Advance, EddieQ1