Clevedon House Residents Association v Butcher [2020]
The defendant applied for two Judgments against him to be set aside on the grounds that demands and proceedings had been served at an incorrect address for service. They were as he claimed served on the property address to which the service charge arrears related but one in which he did not reside. Further, he alleged that the claimant new this to be the case and that they should have made an effort to search out his new correspondence address.
The Court found that there had been valid service of both the demand and claim forms sent to the property address as this was the last notified address for the defendant. The claimant was able to demonstrate that an email sent in 2015 made it clear that the defendant had provided the property address as the address for service and he had not notified them at later that this had changed. Further, the court held that it was not for the claimant to ‘track down’ the defendant and search for his alternative address.
Accordingly, the application to set side was dismissed. The conclusion to be drawn from this is that it is imperative to keep clear records of any changes of correspondence addresses and to ensure that these changes are made in writing.