Free Traffic Legal Advice

Apparently, many cases are being transferred to St Helens as telephone hearings. Not ideal, but they can do this as there is no need for the defendant to travel away from their place of work or residence.

However, as this is likely to be discontinued before the hearing fee is paid, you may just want to email the following to St Helens County Court at civil.sthelens.countycourt@justice.gov.uk and CC in yourself:

Hearing listed for: 20 August 2025 – Telephone Hearing at St Helens

Dear Sir,

I write to formally object to the Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track dated 29 May 2025, which lists a telephone hearing to be conducted by St Helens County Court.

On 28 April 2025, I contacted the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) by telephone and email regarding this matter. A member of staff at the CNBC confirmed that the case should not have been allocated to St Helens, and advised that they would initiate action to transfer the case to my local hearing centre, as the file had not yet been transferred at that time.

Despite this, I have now received a hearing notice listing the matter at St Helens for a telephone hearing. This directly contradicts the earlier assurance and is procedurally unfair.

I respectfully request that this matter be urgently reviewed and that the hearing be:

• Transferred to my local County Court hearing centre; and
• Heard in person, in line with the request made in my Directions Questionnaire.

It would be wholly unjust to require me to submit an N244 application with a fee of £15, simply to correct what appears to be an administrative oversight after the CNBC had accepted that the listing was inappropriate.

Legal Grounds:

• Practice Direction 26, paragraph 3.1 confirms that small claims hearings should normally take place at the defendant’s local County Court hearing centre.
• I clearly indicated on the Directions Questionnaire that I requested a hearing in person. The phrase “in person” was clearly intended to mean physically attending a courtroom, as opposed to a remote hearing.

While I understand the court may argue that a telephone hearing is “in person” in the legal sense, I submit that it is not equivalent to a physical hearing. As a litigant-in-person, I am disadvantaged by:

• The lack of direct communication with the judge;
• Inability to follow or challenge evidence effectively without face-to-face interaction;
• Potential technical issues or lack of a suitable environment for attending a remote hearing.
• The hearing involves factual disputes and the evaluation of evidence, including possible witness statements and signage photos, which are more effectively considered in a physical courtroom setting.
• Under CPR 1.1, the court is required to deal with cases justly and at proportionate cost. Allowing a telephone hearing in these circumstances fails to uphold this obligation. It places me at a disadvantage and affords procedural convenience to the Claimant’s professional representative, likely a bulk issuer of claims.

I therefore ask that the listing be reviewed without requiring a formal application or fee, and that the hearing be re-listed as an in-person hearing at my local court.

Please confirm receipt of this email and advise what action will now be taken.

Yours faithfully,

[Your Full Name]

Otherwise, you can try and submit an N244 application form. Download the form here: N244 application form

It is not clear from the XE50 form whether the fee to amend an order is the £15 or the full £313. If you want to do it this way, I suggest you complete an N244 and pay the £15 to request that the hearing is rescheduled to your local county court and you include the following letter:

Re: Claim Number [INSERT CLAIM NUMBER]
Defendant: [Full Name]

Application to vary Notice of Allocation dated 29 May 2025

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please find enclosed an N244 application to vary the Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track, issued on 29 May 2025, which lists a telephone hearing at St Helens County Court on 20 August 2025.

I enclose the £15 court fee for an application to vary an order, submitted under fee code FEE0458 as per the May 2025 EX50 schedule.

Basis of Application:

I respectfully request that the court vary the order so that the hearing:

• takes place in person (face-to-face); and
• is transferred to the Defendant’s local hearing centre, in accordance with Practice Direction 26, paragraph 3.1.

I had already contacted the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) on 28 April 2025, who acknowledged that the matter had been erroneously routed to St Helens and undertook to have the case listed locally, as the file had not yet transferred. Despite this, the Notice of Allocation issued on 29 May now lists a telephone hearing at St Helens and does not reflect the earlier correspondence.

On the use of fee code FEE0458 (£15):

This is a request to vary a court order, specifically the hearing format and location in the allocation notice. If the court considers this falls outside the scope of FEE0458 and requires a general application fee (£313) under code FEE0442, I respectfully request:

• that the court considers this matter under CPR 3.1(7) as a request to correct an administrative listing error; and/or
• that the court exercise discretion to deal with the matter without requiring the Defendant to pay a disproportionate application fee, particularly where the Defendant is a litigant-in-person and has made reasonable attempts to resolve the issue earlier.

Additional Grounds:

• I clearly requested an in-person hearing on the Directions Questionnaire.
• I am a litigant-in-person, whereas the Claimant is likely a represented bulk litigant.
• A remote hearing would impair my ability to participate fully and fairly, contrary to the Overriding Objective (CPR 1.1) and CPR 3.1A.
• This case involves factual disputes, and I believe that justice would be better served through a physical hearing at my local court.

Please confirm receipt of this request and advise whether the matter will now be relisted locally.

Yours faithfully,

[Your Name]

You can submit an N244 application by email to civil.sthelens.countycourt@justice.gov.uk with the subject of the email containing "URGENT" and the claim number.

This is what you need to fill in on the N244 if you go down this route:

Top section:

Name of court: St Helens County Court
Claim number: [Enter the claim number from your Notice of Allocation]
Claimant’s name: [As shown on the claim form]
Defendant’s name: [Your full name]
Date: [Today’s date]

1. Your name...
Enter your full name

2. Are you a...
Tick: Defendant

3. What order are you asking the court to make and why?

“An order that the hearing listed for [insert hearing date] be varied so that:
(1) The hearing is listed as an in-person hearing rather than a telephone hearing; and
(2) The hearing is transferred from St Helens County Court to the Defendant’s local hearing centre at [insert name of local court], being the Defendant’s home court pursuant to PD26 paragraph 3.1.
This application is made pursuant to CPR 3.1(7), the Overriding Objective, and PD26 3.1. The defendant is a litigant-in-person and reasonably expected an in-person hearing at their local court. The original request was made clear in the Directions Questionnaire. The current listing does not reflect the agreement of the CNBC to transfer the file to the local court before allocation occurred.”

4. Have you attached a draft of the order?
Tick: Yes (attach a typed one-page draft – I can provide this)

5. How do you want the application dealt with?
Tick: without a hearing
(unless you want a short telephone hearing to explain – optional)

6. How long will the hearing take?
If you ticked “at a hearing,” write:
0 hours, 15 minutes
Is this agreed by all parties? Tick No

7. Any fixed trial date?
Write: None

8. What level of judge?
Write: District Judge

9. Who should be served?
Write: The Claimant

9a. Service address (if known):
Enter the address for service from the claim form (DCB Legal's company address)

10. What information are you relying on?
Tick: The attached witness statement
If you prefer, tick "evidence set out in the box below" and copy the summary from section 3 (I can supply a full text)

11. Vulnerable?
Tick No unless applicable

Statement of Truth:
Tick: Applicant

Sign and date
Print your full name

Page 5 (your address):
Fill in your postal address, phone, and email

Update I called court yesterday 02/06/25 to ask why no response to my emails or my previous call, I didn't disclose I had received letter confirming hearing date & time in St Helens.

They also said that due to copying in multiple emails that some departments would think the others had dealt with it, and it may not have been actioned, but they still had a few more days within their timescale to respond to email?

They also basically stated judge had looked at case & decided St Helens was where it was being heard, though they did say to try and get an amendment via N244 but could not guarantee this would be successful etc.

This was the route I decided to go down over the weekend.

This morning 03/06/25 I received an email from DCB saying their client would settle for full and final settlement upon payment of £100

I have not acknowledged this or made any contact with them as per your previous advices etc.

So plan is to complete N244 and pay £15 and see how that goes, I will await your further advice if this is still relevant after reading the above.

Thanks again 

DCB Legal offering to settle for a reduced amount is the usual precursor to their discontinuing the claim. I would suggest you save your £15 and just let it run its course to the inevitable N259 NoD.

Thanks for advice b789, just so as I'm 100% clear

Just leave things as they are with the court at St Helens and hope that claimant backs down before hearing?

Thanks again 

Yes. The St Helens hearing would be a telephone hearing if it were to go ahead. Check the allocation order you received. Does it mention anything about requiring to provide your contact phone number a couple of days before the hearing date?

Morning b789, bullet point 3 on Notice of Allocation states.

3.Both parties must supply to the Court by 4.00pm two working days before the hearingdate, by email/letter, the contact number upon which they can be contacted. The email advising the court of contact telephone numbers must state in the title the case number and the date of the hearing.

Thanks