Procedure for Joint Defendants

[MondeoST24]

Couple of questions about issuing against 2 defendants, lets say for example the claim is for £100

 

Once its issued does it in effect become 2 claims, i.e. a claim pack goes to both and they fill it in individually, i.e. 2 defences, 2 acknowlegment of services etc. Or do they both have to collabarate on one claim pack?

 

What happens if one admits and one denys or if they both ignore it completely, does the claim get split 50/50 i.e. both have to pay £50 and half the court fee?

 

Thanks

[BotB]

You issue one claim with 2 defendants. They each get served with the claim and both need to deal with it by filing an admission, partial admission, defence etc. If its the same debt owed by both eg as business partners, they need only file one response - e.g. Joe Bloggs & John Smith T/A Rip-Off Associates.

Judgement would be entered against both of them for the full amount if the claim is successful but you can't recover more than your loss so you wouldn't get two lots of damages, costs etc. paid back.

 

If its a question that you are unsure as between two parties who owes the debt e.g. lets say you paid a deposit to an agent on behalf of a landlord, you could name both of them as defendants on a claim for the return of the deposit - then you could expect to get different defences filed e.g. the agent may say he handed the money to the landlord or the landlord may say he never got it from the agent etc. Again, if you are successful, you would just get judgement for the amount claimed, and the Court would specify who of the two defendants should pay it or if both of them are liable, in what proportions each should pay according to culpability.

[MondeoST24]

This topic was closed on 10 March 2019.

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