Small claims, when the law fails! Advice needed.

[cupid07]

I applied for a small claims against the defendant in september 2011.

There were three parts to the debt - items of mine which the defendant refused to return, a holiday i had booked which the defendant logged in as me and cancelled (i was unable to get a refund from the hotel/airline company) and cash which i sent registered post and had proof of signature.

 

First court date was November 2011. The defendant didn't show, I didn't either due to being 500 miles away and currently on sick leave. The case was struck out and they lost my paperwork. Ideally it should have been dealt with on the grounds of the paperwork alone.The defendant admitted the first part of the claim and sent a cheque to me for the amount. The cheque bounced.

 

A second court date was set for January 2012. The defendant wrote into the courts and said full settlement had been made. The court struck out the case. No settlement had been made, what happened is the defendant paid the money into someone elses account and used my name in the header field to look like it was my account. I sent in all my bank details to the courts to prove no settlement had been made.

 

It took me 6 months of trying to prove this when i think the court shouldn't have taken the sole word of the defendant in the first place.

 

At the start of June, I had a for mention and the judge made a court order that the defendant was to pay. 7 days passed and no payment. However court orders are not enforceable, only decrees and ccjs are enforceable. So I then have to write in again and am wondering why a judgement wasn't just given in the first place since the defendant has been given opportunity after opportunity to pay.

 

Another two weeks pass and i finally get a judgement but its only for the first part of the claim! (which was the lowest amount out of all three parts to the claim and the one the defendant admitted to anyway). I spoke to the clerk and she told me that means the judge disagreed with me. I asked on what grounds but she said she didn't know. Unreal really. I asked if i could appeal and i can but the amount to appeal is slightly more than what i've been awarded. Overall a very bad experience.

 

Is it worth appealing? and on what grounds? is it worth enforcing? The amount awarded was £100 out of a £500 claim.