I did try to donate earlier but PayPal wasn't working, but I will do so as this has been appreciated. Hopefully this can help others in the future. One half has paid up already, I don't expect the other to do so before the very last day (28th).

I was in court this morning and the judge ruled in my favor. The interest rate was reduced from 8% to 2% but other than that I have been aware the expenses and costs. However, the judge also found the 2 defendants 50% responsible each which doesn't seem fair given the discussions in court. I am confident in public speaking and used to be outgoing, but I still found the court hearing to be daunting and stressful. I really appreciate having a sounding board to talk to about this, thanks all.

An extract of the letter, I find it difficult to take anything they say without a large pinch of salt. They are claiming not to have received evidence, specifically a spreadsheet detailing the costs and expenses. In their evidence pack, they include an email from their solicitor which includes said figures. As the court date is only days away, 1st sept and with bank holiday and school holidays it will be difficult for me to juggle work commitments at the last minute to attend any mediation. Would the judge see this as unreasonable given they have had months to agree to mediation?

I have received a letter from one of the defendants claiming that all parties need to contact court mediators so that a date can be booked. My understanding is that a defendant should appoint a 3rd part mediator, with only days to go it feels like it has been left to the last minute and possibly a delay tactic.

As the second statement was late, assuming also late at the court as it was even dated the 9th, is it up to the judge to accept the statement or will I have any say? I ask as it is hugely in my favour to accept it.

I have received a statement from the other defendant today, hand posted which I presume is late as the deadline was 4:30 on Friday. The statement basically confirms the events that I had documented and ends with the statement "I believe the Second Defendant is wholly responsible for the delay to vacant possession."

My documents were received by the court and both defendants in good time. Upon reviewing, I noticed an inadvertent error - a misprint of "May" instead of "June" on one of my points. I'm hopeful this minor oversight will not negatively impact the case. I have also received a statement from one of the defendants, as expected confirms their breach of contract. Interestingly, they seem to attribute the blame to both me and their removals firm, essentially deflecting responsibility They have made several claims are blatantly untrue, even to the point where one of their statements is contradicted by their own evidence. Additionally, they have included a copy of an email thread between our solicitors that, in essence, supports my assertion that they tried to avoid action. I hope this'll help to validate my case.

I have not yet heard anything about mediation, and the deadline for sending documents to the court and defendants is Friday. I plan to send the documents by registered mail so that they will arrive on Wednesday. I have noted in my statement that I have agreed to mediation, but was not contacted and I understand that this is likely to be due to the courts being very busy.

The deadline to submit all of my documents and statements is next week. I had assumed that mediation would contact me by now, but I understand that they are likely very busy. Should I try to call them by phone and if so am I now contacting my local court as opposed to the cc business centre?

I did requested mediation to resolve the dispute, but one of the defendants declined, the other agreed. On the DQ, they stated that "in a telephone conversation, the mediator advised me that mediation was not possible because the claimant had not followed the pre-action protocol".

I've just received the N157 allocation and have been notified that the trial is scheduled for the 1st of August. It's somewhat surprising to me that a trial is necessary considering both parties have made admissions. I'm required to complete a payment of £346 in the early part of August. Additionally, I need to provide a statement along with relevant evidence by the 7th of July. It's been suggested that both parties should attempt to resolve the matter through negotiation, so perhaps I should kickstart this process now.

Short update, it has now been transfer to the court nearest to my home. I not that the offices are many weeks behind in processing inbound correspondence, assume similar backlogs in the local courts and as such I do not expect a date anytime soon.

I have received a copy of the DQ from 1 of the defendants today, it seems they waited until 2 mins to 4 on the last day to submit. Mrs Defendant seems to be clinging onto my pre action letter not being detailed enough in how I calculated the expenses and seems to hope that the whole thing will be thrown out soon a technicality. In reply to my pre action letter, Mrs Defendant "refused the claim", a few weeks later Mr Defendant asked for a more detailed breakdown and this was provided along with receipts. They do seem determined to drag this out as long as possible which is the opposite of what I would do given the interest is accumulating on a daily basis. PS. This site really is fascinating, I do wish I had the knowledge to help others too. I will make a small donation at some point as I have spent some time on here.

I have received a DQ today from the courts and have until 20th to complete the N180. Any advice really is appreciated.

I have received defence from both defendants, lots of strange comments, false mudslinging and bluster but it seems to me that both parties have admitted that the property wasn't vacated on time which in my understanding is a breach of contract. From Mr Defendant... From Mrs Defendant...

From what I understand it was the opposite of amicable and Mr Defendant forced the sale of the house through the courts. It is quite sad it is this way as I understand they have 2 or 3 children but I suppose that's none of my business.

I can see online the Mrs Defendant has filed an acknowledgment of service on the 9th, the request for my questionnaire has now gone. I assume that I need to wait another 2 weeks to see what is filed and wait for a new small claims questionnaire deadline.

Apologies BaazaS, Ive just logged on here to update the thread and didn't see your reply before now. I gave them another chance to pay and as I heard nothing I filed a claim as the end of last month. The contract was with both husband and wife and I have filed the claim to both jointly as the contract of exchange clearly names both parties. I have received a defence from the ex husband, which disputes the full amount claimed. He disputes some of our costs and then goes on to blame his exwife, aggress that she should pay the fess without interest and the reiterates that his ex-wife is "wholly responsible" and that there "cause of the issue was solely due to Mrs x not removing her goods from the house". I have until the 18th to complete a small claims questionnaire, Im tempted to wait a few days to see if the wife also responds but my simplistic view is that he has given has pretty much admitted fault.

Sorry to be impatient, but does the lack of replies mean this is a worryingly grey area?

The sellers are now divorced and live separately. The ex-wife has responded to say that the issues we experienced were due to the actions of the ex-husband and she did not live at the property for some years. The husband has not responded. I know that 2 respondents can make things more complex, has the wife given me the ammunition to pursue her ex husband?

Thanks for the feedback. My solicitor has advised me to speak to a litigation specialist or go to the small claims court as they only do conveyancing. Eyes open, I know it will take minimum of months to resolve, as Ive used MCOL before successfully. It will cost me £200 to lodge a claim and I know that nothing in life is guaranteed but I feel I have strong evidence including admission of fault and apology in sms message.

Hello, yes. Our solicitor have advised us that it is a clear breach of contract. Normally in these situations, solicitors act as the messenger post completion, but their solicitor have flatly refused. We have been advised that the sellers are liable for the expenses plus a small amount of interest at 4% above base rate. We do have evidence we have which includes a time stamped video from the removal co, invoice clearly itemising the additional removal costs, apologetic text messages arranging for access to collect items from the property after the completion date.

My family recently moved into a new house, it was made a lot more stressful that it should have been. We paid for a professional moving company, spent days packing and moved out of our property well in advance of 1pm and handed over the key to the estate agent. Our sellers were not as organised and when we arrived at our new home just before 2pm they were literally throwing drawers full of clothes into the back of their car and the house was full of furniture. The moving company waited until 5pm and then took video evidence and went home, this was on Friday and they were unable to bring our stuff back until Monday. We were unable to find a hotel as we live in the midlands and everything is booked out for the commonwealth. The sellers managed to move their stuff into the garage before dark and cleared the garage over the weekend, we were literally living like squatters in our own house for the weekend. Due to the sellers not vacating on time, we incurred out of pocket expenses due to wasted food that couldn't be frozen/refrigerated, additional moving costs of almost £2000 and other out of pocket expenses. Via solicitor and estate agents, we have been told in no uncertain terms that the sellers do not care and will not contribute to the costs. We are aware of their new address, thanks to neighbours and believe that the best course of action is a letter of preaction, followed by an application to the small claims court. I just wanted to ask if there is any advice please? PS I am a long time (10 to 15 years) lurker and have never been in a situation that I wasnt able to search for on here before, but I have always clicked on adverts to help out the site.