I am grateful to barrister Matthew White for sending me details and a copy of the decision of His Honour Judge Lopez in Price -v- Egbert H Taylor Limited (Birmingham County Court 2nd October 2015).
"... there [are] numerous authorities which caution that a party leaving things to the last minute run...
Interesting… In my case, I was exempt from fees due to a low income… I sent the relevant information, filled in the form and the court lost it. When I got to court, my defence and counterclaim had not been issued to the court and the judge dismissed my case. A year later the court has found the documents, admitted it’s mistake & apologised… but now what?