Perhaps something along the following lines: Due to completely unforeseen pressing personal reasons I shall be overseas and unable to return to the UK for the court hearing scheduled for the I extend my apologies for my non-attendance and would ask please that the case be heard in my absence based on the written evidence submitted to the court and to the defendant. For the sake of good order I confirm my letter and attachments sent to the court on the ............were duly duplicated and forwarded to the defendant on the same day as will a copy of this letter.

Anyone?

I was thinking more in terms on receipt of the Allocation questionnaires to ask the District Judge to make an order that the other side provide copies of specific documents i.e the lost e-mails. Can this be done when returning the Allocation questionnaires?

I have an Apple computer - and alas confirmed total hard disk failure and back up over critical days missed. Will have to obtain lost e-mails from the defendant but not sure how to proceed in that regard

I am suing an internet online company for their failure to perform and deliver contracted goods. Regrettably my computer has crashed and I have lost all e-mails interchanged with the company leading up to and slightly after the placing of the order. This litigation will be handled in the Small claim County Court - how please can I ensure the company provides me with all those lost e-mails?

I purchased a Rigid Dog Cage from an online company in the UK having first asked them to apprise me of the transport costs for having the cage shipped to my holiday home in Portugal - they duly quoted and I subsequently placed the order on line for total amount of £135.00 delivered Portugal - duly received their order confirmation and funds taken from my credit card same day. Couple of days later they phoned to say Cage to big to go by transport they envisaged and additional cost would be £169.00 - did I want to proceed. I suggest they find alternative more cost effective shipper but they ignore and on own volition refund in full my original payment same day. I advise they now in breach of contract - I meanwhile find shipper who can ship cage for an additional cost of £53. On line company say I have suffered no loss hence no claim against them. I explain if they fail to comply with contract they in breach and I shall purchase same Cage from alternative supplier and debit on line company with additional costs amounting to approx £45.00. On line company not prepared honour contractual arrangement and I must now proceed small claim court and purchase Cage from alternative supplier and seek compensation of additional costs etc from on line company. Since small sums of money involved believe on line company hoping I will simply go away and not proceed with litigation but as I have suffered considerable disappointment and inconvenience as a result of their breach of contract I intend to proceed. Any reason why I should not proceed? Please advise.

pt2537 Would welcome your advice please

Many thanks for that helpful suggestion

Thank you GM - That is the Statutory interest to which you refer. The Late Payment of Commercial debts (Interest) allows small business to claim enhanced interest (base rate plus 8%) against all large businesses and the public sector. In all cases the award of interest is at the discretion of the court but invariably is routinely given.

Many thanks GM and PT2537 for coming back to me. Claim Form N1 issued on 9 December and defendant has responded via the court and partly admitted my claim. Since I was unaware as to how much was owed to me - on the claim form under VALUE I wrote:- "The claimant believes the claim will not exceed £500.00" However under Amount Claimed, Court Fee, Solicitor's costs and Total amount, I only filled in the court fee at £45 and left the rest blank. In their part admission they have sent me a cheque for a total of £531.02, made up of sum owed of 486.02 plus the court fee of 45. My claim in addition to seeking all sums owed, sought incidental costs for phone calls, time, letters and postage in the sum of £40 plus Statutory interest from the dates the sums owed became due to the date of judgment. The defendant has chosen to ignore my claim for expenses and interest. I believe interest whilst being discretionary is routinely awarded but I am querying my position in respect of expenses. I found the following on the internet. There is a table for fixed costs on commencement of a claim for recovery of money or goods. As an example it states where the value of a claim exceeds £25 but does not exceed £500, a sum of £50 can be recovered, where the claim form is served by the court or by any method other than personal service by the claimant. If served personally by the claimant a sum of £60 can be recovered. These as you know are not the actual court fees and I assume they are to cover reasonable expensed incurred? I am seeking a total of £600 to conclude this matter: i.e. an additional sum of ££68.98 which I believe to be proportionate to compensate me for expenses and interest. Any suggestions and advice would be welcomed and appreciated

Many thanks - but my case is not to do with bank charges. I am the claimant and the defendant has submitted a part admission. I do not accept the part admission, as sum offered excludes my nominal expenses of £40 and interest. [Please see my other posting on the The No Costs Rule ] Defendant is a company and they are closed over the holiday period and only return on 5 Jan the date by which I am required to respond or my claim will be stayed. I wish to give the defendant the opportunity to settle without a hearing my claim for my expenses and Interest - but because of the Xmas holidays time does not suffice. If I allow the claim to be stayed, would that disadvantage me and would I have difficulty getting the stay lifted?

Once a claim is stayed - what procedure is required to remove a stay?

Anyone?

The no costs rule 27.14 sets out the costs rules in Small Claim cases. Apparently any award for costs is discretionary and the Judge has the final say on whether costsand expenses are allowed in any particular case. There is no mention of incidental expenses, such as the likes I am seeking. I hope you do not mind my querying as to how confident you are that I am 'legally entitled' to claim incidental costs. The award of interest is discretionary but if claimed is routinely made in most cases. The award of interest is seen not a penalty but recognition that the defendant and not the claimant has had the use of the money.

As usual not explained myself properly. Following summons other side now sent me a cheque to settle. Neither interest nor my claim for £40 expenses included in settlement cheque, though both stated on claim form. I assume I can insist upon interest but I am querying whether the same applies to the £40 expenses?