Key Facts
- •Defendants applied to set aside default judgments entered in February 2023.
- •The case concerns a concrete platform providing access to the claimant's property (21 Millicent Road) from the defendant's property (19 Millicent Road).
- •A High Court judge previously ordered the defendants to reinstate the platform by November 2022.
- •The defendants allegedly failed to complete the works to the required standard.
- •The claimant obtained default judgments, including damages to be assessed.
- •Defendants' application lacked a witness statement and a draft defence.
- •Defendants argued the works were completed, and there's a question of causation of loss.
Legal Principles
The court must set aside a default judgment if the whole claim was satisfied before judgment was entered.
CPR rule 13.2(c)
The court may set aside a judgment if the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, or there's another good reason.
CPR rule 13.3(1)
Promptness of the application to set aside the judgment is a relevant factor.
CPR rule 13.3(2)
An error in procedure (using request under 12.4(1) instead of application under 12.4(3)) doesn't necessarily lead to abandonment of other claims.
Robins v Kordowski [2011] EWHC 1912 (QB)
Outcomes
The application to set aside the default judgments was refused.
The defendants' application was not prompt; the works were not completed to the required standard; the defendants' argument about causation of loss was raised too late and lacked sufficient evidence.