Civil Enforcement Limited Ordered to Pay £1,280.65 in Costs After Particulars of Claim Fail to Meet Procedural Requirements
Civil Enforcement Limited Ordered to Pay £1,280.65 After Failing to Comply with Civil Procedure Rules
In a recent court case, Civil Enforcement Limited was ordered to pay £1,280.65 after their particulars of claim were struck out under CPR 3.4(2)(c) for failure to comply with the Civil Procedure Rules.
The case was heard in the County Court at Newcastle, with the Defendant, represented by Mr. Jackson Yamba on behalf of Lawrence and Associate Solicitors LLP , successfully applying to strike out Civil Enforcement Limited's claim.
The key issues were:
Failure to Properly Plead the Terms of the Alleged Contract The particulars of claim failed to adequately set out the specific contractual terms that Civil Enforcement Limited was relying upon. For a contract formed by conduct, as was the case here, the rules require the claimant to specify the conduct relied upon and state by whom, when and where the acts constituting the conduct were done. Civil Enforcement Limited's pleadings were found to be vague and lacking in the necessary particulars.
Failure to Properly Plead the Alleged Breaches Similarly, the particulars of claim did not clearly identify the specific breaches of the alleged contracts by the defendant. The court found the allegations of breach to be overly general, without specifying the particular contractual obligations that were allegedly violated.
Failure to Properly Plead Loss and Damage The claimant also failed to properly plead how the alleged breaches caused them loss or damage, and did not provide a coherent breakdown of the quantification of the losses claimed.
Failure to Comply with Practice Direction 22.3.8 Finally, the court found that Civil Enforcement Limited had failed to comply with the requirement under Practice Direction 22.3.8 that the individual signing the statement of truth must print their full name clearly beneath their signature. The signature only included the initial "S" followed by the surname.
In striking out the claim, the court agreed with the submissions made by Mr Jackson Yamba that the deficiencies in Civil Enforcement Limited's particulars of claim were critical, warranting the claims being strike out. The court ordered Civil Enforcement Limited to pay our former client's costs in the sum of £1,280.65.