Small Claims Advice - Disclosing Statements

Getting the correct small claims advice is essential.  When this section refers to a statement it is referring to any document where a witness sets out the evidence they would give at court in relation to who is responsible for what happened.  This may take the form of a letter or a formal statement.

The starting point is not to disclose these unless and until the court tells you to do so unless there is good reason.  What you are trying to avoid is someone seeking to tailor their case to fit what other people are saying and to make it more credible as a result.

When you first write to the other side you have to give them enough information to be able to identify what you are complaining about.  They may write back asking for full information or supporting witness evidence. You are not obliged to provide this. You need to consider what information they need to be able to investigate the complaint. Usually this can be limited to the time and place of any incident and a brief summary of why you think they are responsible.

If the other side want to see all of your supporting witness statements then either they should give their version of events first or agree to a mutual exchange.  Our preference (and the usual requirement) is for the other side to set out their response first. It prevents later allegations that they are trying to twist their version.

Mutual exchange means that both sides put copies of their evidence in the post to each other at the same time and there is no opportunity to "fix" the evidence. If you are going to perform mutual exchange make sure this is agreed in writing, with time and date for this to be done and method (we recommend Recorded Delivery). There is no guarantee that the other side will then go along with the agreement, but if they are unable to produce evidence of sending a recorded delivery letter to you then it will show they have not. You can then ask the court to draw inferences that they have tailored their evidence and cannot be believed.

Where the other side gives a clear version of events you can disclose a part of your witness evidence that deals with that only.  For example, if the route they arrived by is relevant the evidence of a witness who deals with this could be disclosed without anything else.

Overall you have to apply common sense, act reasonably and hope that the other side will do the same, while planning on the basis they will not.

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