A Guide to Small Claims Court

Originally written by Charlotte Walker-Olivier, updated by the editorial team on 10th June 2026

What is the small claims track?

The small claims track is a way of resolving civil disputes without the expense and formality of a full court hearing. Despite the name, it is not a separate court. It is one of three tracks used by the county court to handle cases, with each track suited to different levels of financial value and legal complexity.

The small claims track is designed for straightforward disputes, typically involving sums of £10,000 or less. The process is intended to be accessible to ordinary people without legal representation, though you can use a solicitor if you wish.

The other two tracks are the fast track, for moderately complex cases worth between £10,000 and £25,000, and the multi track, for higher value or more complicated matters. A judge decides which track your case should follow after you submit your claim.

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Which cases can be dealt with as small claims?

Most money disputes up to £10,000 can be handled on the small claims track. Common examples include unpaid invoices, faulty goods, poor quality services, and disputes over deposits.

Some other types of case may also qualify:

Personal injury claims where the amount claimed specifically for pain, suffering and loss of amenity is no more than £1,000. Other parts of the claim, such as vehicle damage or lost earnings, count towards the overall £10,000 limit but are assessed separately from the injury element.
Housing disrepair claims brought by residential tenants against landlords, where the cost of repairs is no more than £1,000 and any other damages claimed do not exceed £10,000.
Disputes over goods or services that did not meet reasonable standards.

The financial value of your claim is only one factor. If the judge considers your case legally complex or likely to need extensive evidence, it may be moved to a different track. This matters because the cost rules change significantly on the other tracks.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Costs and risks

One of the main features of the small claims track is that each side usually pays their own costs, regardless of who wins. This means that if you lose, you will not normally have to pay the other side's solicitor fees. This reduces the financial exposure compared to other types of court action, though it does not eliminate risk entirely.

You will still need to pay a court fee to issue your claim. The amount depends on how much you are claiming. Current fee levels are published on GOV.UK. If you win, the court may order the other party to reimburse this fee, though this remains at the judge's discretion.

There are some limited exceptions to the usual cost protection. The court can award costs against a party who has behaved unreasonably, for example by ignoring court directions or making false statements. Witness expenses and certain other minor costs may also be recoverable.

A more significant concern arises if your case is moved to a different track. On the fast track or multi track, the losing party will typically be ordered to pay the winner's legal costs. These can be substantial. If you think your dispute might be more complicated than it first appears, it is worth getting advice before you begin.

How the process works

You start a claim by completing a form, either online through the Money Claims Online service or by filling in a paper form and sending it to the court. You will need to set out clearly what you are claiming and why.

The other party then has a set period to respond. They may admit the claim, dispute it, or make a counterclaim against you. If the claim is defended, a judge will review the papers and allocate the case to the appropriate track.

Hearings for small claims are usually informal. They often take place in a private room rather than a traditional courtroom, with the judge, both parties and any witnesses seated around a table. The strict rules of evidence that apply in higher courts are relaxed, and the judge will typically ask questions directly rather than relying on formal examination of witnesses. Many small claims can be decided on paper without a hearing, if both parties agree and the judge considers it appropriate.

You do not need a solicitor to bring or defend a small claim. The process is designed for people to represent themselves. That said, if your case involves legal points you are unsure about, or the other side has instructed a lawyer, getting some advice beforehand may be worthwhile.

Winning a judgment does not always mean you will receive payment. If the other party does not pay voluntarily, you may need to take further enforcement action. Options include applying for an attachment of earnings order, a warrant of control to send bailiffs, or a charging order against property. Each of these involves additional court fees and procedures.

Citizens Advice can provide free guidance on court procedures. The GOV.UK website has current information on fees, forms, and the claims process.

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84 questions

Ask Courtroom Advice a Question

CourtroomAdvice Editor 18/08/2026 at 2:00 pm

@Quickquestion Their case is weak but not hopeless. Under the doctrine of unjust enrichment they could try to argue you benefited from the extra work, but courts are generally reluctant to force payment for uninstructed work, especially when the trader had a chance to check and didn't. Gather your contract, any messages, and photos showing what was agreed versus done. Write to them rejecting the charge in writing first, as that'll look good if it does reach court.

Quickquestion 18/08/2026 at 1:29 pm

Hi,

We had a contract for windows to be replaced and fixed. The company undertaking the work went beyond what we asked for on some of the windows (doing more fixing/replacing than we'd asked for). We're now being charged for this extra labour, even though it wasn't in the contract (it was an error from the builder who misread the contract) and we weren't asked at the time/during the repairs whether we were happy for this unintentional work to be undertaken. We are being threatened with small claims court for non-payment of this additional labour. Does the company stand a chance of winning, even though the extra labour mistakenly done was not in the original contract?

CourtroomAdvice Editor 18/05/2026 at 9:18 am

@Adriano Really sorry to hear what you're going through, that's a horrible situation with a newborn too. If the "addressee unknown" letter came back, you'll need to trace his current address before the court can enforce anything; a tracing agent is usually around £50 to £100 and worth it. Once you have a confirmed address, ask the court to reissue the order to attend for questioning, and consider an attachment of earnings order through his Carpetright work. You can also report him to HMRC for undeclared income.

Adriano 21/08/2023 at 11:03 am

I used a local business to fit my carpets May 2022. It was a sole trader, and I paid a deposit for the carpets of £1900, and the agreement was labour would be paid after the work was done. He cancelled on us for our fitting and we rescheduled the next month. 2 days before the fitting date, he messaged to say he is having difficulty at home and has decided to close the business. All refunds will be processed by the end of the month. We asked to just take the carpets of him and we will get someone else to fit them. He came out with some excuse and we knew something was up. Refund didn’t come, and with numerous calls, messages with constant excuses, we had no choice to proceed with small claims court. Obviously he as the defendant was told to pay back the money. He says that he’s not working, when we know that he has been at carpet right as “self employed” although I’m sure he hasn’t paid a penny in income tax. We’ve tried to freeze the bank account, which could have been bad timing or he didn’t have any money but that didn’t work. The latest one is prove of earnings where he has to attend court, but I’ve had a letter saying addressee unknown. Not sure what to do next? People defending him saying we don’t know his circumstances, well we’ve got a 3 month old baby and are having our house repossessed. It feels the law is on the defendants side.

N/A 29/04/2023 at 3:02 pm

I have worked for my ex employer for 4 days plus 1 day training. My employer did not give me a contract on a point of entry to start work. On the day I explained that I will be unable to continue to work, they refused to pay me and send me a contract that I did not want to sign, because the contract had terms and conditions which I am not agreeing with, it speaks about penalty of £1000 if leaving without working notice of a month, and £5000 if not worked for 12 months, and DBS check £100.

This company did not sponsor me to come to work for them, and I was not explained about these terms when I started working.

The amount due to me might be above £500, is it worth taking this to small claim Court.

Please I would like to hear an advice on this matter.

Thank you

Caz 07/08/2021 at 9:29 pm

My 83 year old mother has been issued with a county court claim. Her cousin died in 2016 and passed with no will and no family member only my mother who was her cousin and next of kin. My mum applied to probate and was given access to her estate which was 17k in the bank. Now a friend of this cousin has put a county court claim in against my mother stating my mum agreed to give the 17k to him after probate he is not a relative of the deceased he was a close friend only. He states he arranged the funeral however the funeral costs were paid directly to the undertakers from the deceased bank account, he states my mother verbally agreed to transfer the money to him. He has verbally abused my mother since 2016, sent hate mail to her and we have reported him to the police twice. The police did contact him. My mother is in bits over this. My mother is 83 and disabled with poor health. Would she have to go to court. We have responded and but in our defence.has anyone else had any experience of this please

Tammy 28/07/2021 at 5:21 am

If someone is on probation and they are taken to a small claims court, would it affect their probation?

Kedeja 13/07/2021 at 10:15 am

A case I took to small claims court has gone in my favour. However, the carpet shop hasn't paid me back any money. The amount is just over £500 so I'm unsure how I need to go about it now to get my money back. This has been going on since Oct 2020. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

River 17/06/2021 at 7:50 pm

Hi, I have been taken to a small claims court as a builder caused damage and bad work and gave me X amount of the bill which I have in writing. The next day he changed his mind and wanted it back and now we are in a small claims court as I am asking for X amount back as the discount he gave me is not enough. We have had a survey done and the surveyor who missed aspects and there is parts I disagree with as things weren't done as we asked etc, has basically said the same amount I was discounted will cover it and admit aspects of the work was bad. When we go to court if the judge says he gave the discount and I have it in writing would he loose? Then will I win as the surveyor has sated it would cost X amount which is £15 more than the discount he gave. If not would the judge say award it to no-one and to cover your own costs? If I am award part of my claim does that still count as a win and the other side would have to cover my costs? Thank for replies in advance.

Charlie 19/05/2021 at 11:39 am

Hi,

I have taken my ex employer to an ET. Hearing due 21.07.21. My claim is about unpaid holidays since 2007.
They made me an offer to settle the claim that I have refused.
I am NOW thinking to withdraw my claim, and submit a new one to the small claim court as it seems there are less limitations/restrictions.
I would like to know if I can make a claim for unpaid holidays in the small claim court, and how many years can I claim for a back pay ?
Thank you

Charlie 19/05/2021 at 11:37 am

Hi,

I have taken my ex employer to an ET. Hearing due 21.07.21. My claim is about unpaid holidays since 2007.
They made me an offer to settle the claim that I have refused.
I am not thinking to withdraw my claim, and submit a new one to the small claim court as it seems there are less limitations/restrictions.
I would like to know if I can make a claim for unpaid holidays in the small claim court, and how many years can I claim for a back pay ?
Thank you

Pao 20/04/2021 at 1:56 pm

I carried out plasyering and repair work for a client and he was paying on a weekly basis via my invoices. He went on holiday and paid me in advance to finish, gave me keys. Well I had a heart attack and obviously couldn't continue, I spoke to the guy and we agreed to pay back the money as we'd going into shielding with covid. Ok I didn't keep up my payments so out of the blue I get paperwork via court as he is now demanding all his money back not just the 2 days wages he paid in advance. He will not adhere to a figure by mediator and wants all his charges included. Can he do this please?

eric orros 07/10/2020 at 12:28 pm

just taken travel company to small claims 01/10/20 re holiday being cancelled by them. After i made them aware that i would not accept a credit note but paying in full in 14 days or we go to court on day 15 they replied your refund will now take 7 weeks. My case description states i had told then the hotel was closed 6 weeks b4 kept requesting 13 times what is the status--no real reply until 5 days b4 flight so the cancellation should have been 2 month sbefore thye did canced so they have deprived me th enjoyment of a paid holiday as if they had refunded my money as per law i could have booked another holiday. So my case isn't just 14 day money so should i have given written formal notice ? Someone suggested i use N244 form add pleed is an anticipatory breach --cost is another £100--question do i need to do it and if i win can i claim the n244 cost and whats the opinion about a form notice to go to court-an dif it is can i add a note on th eform to address this ? was hopeing to leave as and the court would overview the whole claim

Sam 27/07/2020 at 4:25 pm

I have started the process to take a decorator to court for bad workmanship to which i then had to pay someone else to fix. He has acknowledged our intentions and requested the 12 day extension which lapses today.
We have a strong case however he is a one man band who i believe is self employed by advertises having business insurance, if we take him to court i know he has nothing in his name and will claim that he cannot pay, is it worth taking him to court in the hope that his insurance will pay out or are we throwing bad money after bad money?
Thanks,
Sam

vince 25/07/2020 at 9:25 am

Typical cases ...good to know what happened.

Molly1100 06/07/2020 at 1:03 pm

can someone advise how I could bring my ex flatmate to court for leaving during tenancy agreement and not paying rent if she did not give me her forwarding address?

Rahul 03/07/2020 at 12:47 am

I am thinking of taking a travel agent to court, they are refusing to refund money for flights cancelled by airlines. Both airlines are only offering vouchers, which now are no good to me. The some is £1500.00. They have also charged me a admin fee. I understand this goes against EU and UK laws. If I lose for any reason, what is the most I would have to pay them.?

Mr ROYSTON K GOLDING 25/04/2020 at 9:39 am

If I see the defendants defence and decides he has a strong defence can I pull out of the small court case , and if so at what cost to me please.

Tbell90 10/04/2020 at 2:10 pm

Hi there,
A travel agent is threatening to take my mother and I to court for £450 to recoup cancellation costs for flight tickets that my mother never instructed them to book in the first place. They then tried intimidating my mother into payment by withholding passports and coerced into accepting an amedment. However how is she liable for any costs when she did not instruct them to make a booking in the first place. Grateful for any advise. Thank you.

guffs 18/03/2020 at 2:31 pm

We've just had a phone call from an accountant saying he's representing one of our old customers relating to some physical damage to her property some five years ago and wanting £2'000 as compensation for rectification work carried out five years ago.

Is there a time limit on being able to make a claim regardless of the detail?

Wendy 12/03/2020 at 3:41 pm

We bought a property and have had nothing but issues with electrics, wood burning stove, water and planning permission which was not disclosed. We feel the seller has been dishonest and also have a case of misrepresentation. Rather than use a solicitor and pay even more money than we have had to. Can I go through the small claims court with this matter ?
Wendy

Owens1673 29/08/2019 at 12:17 pm

Just been to small claims, awarded £500 for shoddy bathroom work. The court fees were £150 we paid money for quotes total £50 plus two people were off work £100 witnesses, so that means we were awarded £200 basically which is nowhere near enough to rectify the problems. Can we do anything about this?

Jess 29/07/2019 at 5:01 pm

Hi there I live in an apartment block of 6 and my neighbour wanted to install an entry system to the main door into the stairwell. I said this was a good idea but send me details and a quote etc. I was then working over in Indonesia for 3 months and I’ve came back home to a bill of £500. My neighbour is saying that’s how much I’m due him as he had it installed for £3000 then it’s been split between the 6 apartments. I told him I never agreed to that price there were far cheaper options and I can’t afford that sort of money. He is now taking me to the small claims court ?! Do I just try and pay him monthly or do I have a strong case to defend?

laura 27/06/2019 at 2:18 pm

hi could someone pls help i don’t know what else to do my mum and dad are in their 70 and being taken to a small claims court by a 21 yr old neighbour as they are claiming my dad was spraying his car with paint and the over spray hit the car next to him. my dad has no idea what this man is talking about he has never used spray paint only a light water spray for his wheels the claimant has knocked twice and my parents house demanding money that they don’t have it has frightened them they have also received a call from their insurance company saying the claimants solicitor had called them claiming my dad had been in road traffic accident but the solicitor and the claimant did not give any details on this as they couldn’t because it was not true my parents will not call the police about him knocking and demanding money as they are frightened of any further aggression from this man now they are being made to attend a small claims court in july although the man has pictures of his car and bills of work that has been done on his car their doesn’t appear to show any over spray he has no proof or images of my dad working next to his car they are not sure what to expect i live so far away from them i can’t get their to help we feel he is just a chancer and has prob done this before to vulnreble people but it doesn’t stop them being worried my dad suffers with high blood pressure anxiety depression he is a great dad and loving grandfather is always helping his neighbours out with anything even taking them to hospital appointments etc this is not fair some pls help any advice will be grateful

Dee 18/05/2019 at 9:11 pm

I am making a claim through the stalls claim track for rent arrears. Since putting the claim in my ex tenants have moved. When I sent my documents to court I put the ex tenants' new address on the form N1. I have now been notified by the court that although their original notification to the defendants had been returned as "not known at this address" the document is never less served unless the address given on it is not the relevant address for purposes of rule 6.5 of the civil procedure rules. What does this mean? Do I have to do anything other than send my bundle to them at their new address?

Paul 01/05/2019 at 9:26 pm

I wish to take a trader to the small claims court. However I only have his old address as he is an individual trader. I don’t have his new address and he is not registered company. I have sent letters to his old address notifying him that I plan to claim. One letter was never signed for and the other was returned to me by the post office saying the address didn’t exist.

I wondered if I could still file a claim with no correct address or how I could find the new address. I have read about tracing agencies.

I don’t want to lose more money making a claim that won’t go anywhere.

Thanks

msh1990 20/03/2019 at 10:39 am

Hi, we have recently booked a holiday through on online agent & have someone who is now not willing to pay the remaining balance. We have contacted the company who have advised that even if the person wants to cancel, the full amount is still liable to be paid. I passed this message onto the person wishing to cancel to no avail. We have tried to sell the place but the name change cost is almost as much as the remaining balance. Is this something that I would be able to take them to the small claims court for to pay the remaining balance of the holiday which they have committed to?

Shawty 24/01/2019 at 3:52 pm

Hello,

I have a court hearing monday I cannot attend and I have just read in the small print i had to let the court know 14 days prior and I had to send in my evidence 7 days before. I really have messed up here. I have sent my evidence today to be received tomorrow.

It's a case I am defending and I have a good chance of defending the case. Any advice anyone and also can I appeal if I can't attend.

Thankyou

Rachel11 Editor 16/07/2018 at 2:12 pm

@Smithy1986 - this sounds a bit suspicious to me. Late completions are thought to be beyond anyone's control, particularly if there is a long chain. Usually there is a clause via the conveyancers/estate agents that should deal with this. It sounds a bit crazy how it has got this far, as court proceedings should be considered as a last resort. Legal costs are not generally recoverable ‘win or lose’ within the small claims court, so whatever you do spend on legal representation is considered dead money. I'd get some legal advice through free organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, as this sound as though it needs a fresh pair of eyes, something is definitely amiss.

Smithy1986 14/07/2018 at 5:44 pm

We completed on our purchase in August 2017 for our new home. Unfortunately the buyer of our property had issues with their solicitors so we did not complete on the day specified and instead completed the following day.

Our solicitor received a claim from the people we bought our home from for additional removal fees (£900). He wrote back to their solicitors to say we were not responsible and that everything was done to complete the next day. The person liable was the bottom of the chain.

We were not aware that this conversation was happening between the solicitors and not consulted but have now been taken to the small claims court for the money.

It’s really stressful as our solicitor is now quoting us £1000-£3000 to represent us!

Any advice anyone can give would be grateful.

Can we pay it and then begin a claim against our buyer?

Do we have a leg stand on to dispute this?

Will we be issued a CCJ if we dispute it and lose?

Antony 07/06/2018 at 7:03 am

Hi my van was taken to a garage by recovery and the garage told me the bill would be about £400 however the next day he rang me up to tell me that it was going to cost £800 plus vat as the clutch needed replacing i told him i didnt have that amount and to not go ahead with repair i then tried to make other arrangements in getting the car moved from the premises and getting quotes from other mechanics. A mechanic told me to ask the garage what the bill was owing as garage had taken the faulty clutch off so i rang harage and they told me £350 was the full labour costs for 8 hours work in taking it off so then about a week later the garage rang me and said i needed to remove car from garage otherwise i would be charged storage fee this was left as a voicemail and was quite threatening in tone. I then made arrangement with a recovery truck to collect car from the premises and then called the garage to let them know they then said i dont need a recovery truck as i can drive it out its been fully repaired i just need to pay £960 to get it. I then at garage told him i was paying under protest and he refused to allow the paperwork to say this so the police was called and they were witness to me protesting about the payment as i never asked for the repair to be carried out. Can someone tell me do i have a good case as i am unemployed and dont have a lot of money had to borrow money to pay for repair as i couldnt aford it so had to sell van for £1000 to pay back money borrowed

CourtroomAdvice Editor 26/01/2018 at 2:00 pm

The Money Advice Service whichshould tell you all you need to know regarding your legal rights.

Alex 23/01/2018 at 12:42 pm

Hi.
I am about to take a car dealer to the small claim court, but would like to hear some advice before hand. I bought a used car on 04/12/2017 for £1250 and less then week later a car broke down. So I got in touch with the dealer and he agree to take it to the garage to repair. So after a lot of phone calls and some argueing been told car was done and ready to pick it up 10/01/2018 went there but car was in horrible engine nocking noise so I told them than I cant have this car as it clearly something wron with it and gave him second chance for repair. So on 16/01/2018 been told a car is ready again. Went pick it up ir sounded not perfect but much better, got my car back and the next day service light came up telling about check injection and car started knocking noise again. Phone again to dealer and garage to let them know about that, they told me bring a car to the scanner to have a look. I did this on 22/01/2018 and they told me they need to put another injectors into it. So I am so tyred of this nonsence and a garage is a hour away from where I live. Garage told me they been trying only second hand parts for repair which didnt go well. Please advice me in this if I can win a court because I cant go back and for to the garage again and again to waste my time and my holidays for taking a time off. He is already got 2 attemts to rapair and failed to do so.
Regards
Aleksandr

Chris 23/01/2018 at 9:39 am

I'm confident of winning, but want English friend to attend hearing in my place because the case has taken a long to come to court and I have now returned to my own country- very busy because of work and family problems. Can my friend represent me? I am only nervous that there is so much paper work, he would be there to help

Lottie 18/01/2018 at 4:38 pm

My mum wants to claim against a holiday company - as her room on a family holiday was located in another block, a 10 mi ute walk from the rest of the family group - the holiday was 7 nights - she complained in resort and another part of the family was mobed to her block after 3 nights - she wants to claim for stress caused to her ' she was 72 at the time - she has cone up with the value of £300 - does this sound like a suitable claim for the scc?

AC 13/01/2018 at 11:38 pm

Hi, I'm taking a decorator to the small claims court but I put her name instead of her name and trading as. She is an individual trader and the company isn't limited. At what point (if any) should I or do I have to apply to change her name?

It would be £100 which would be more expensive than just doing another claim.
Thanks!

PaVB Editor 21/12/2017 at 2:13 pm

@stacey - do you have an alternative place where the papers can be served i.e at the person's palce of work?

stacey 21/12/2017 at 9:01 am

If you issue a claim against someone and it is returned by post office saying "not known at this address" but I know they are still living there, how do i proceed?

CourtroomAdvice Editor 30/11/2017 at 9:54 am

The court can proceed with the hearing in the other person's absence. If for any reason the court cannot proceed then it can penalise that person by ordering them to pay the other party's costs of the hearing. It all depends on the reasons for non attandence. It is difficult to anticipate what the court may decide.

millie 29/11/2017 at 2:15 pm

I am taking someone to court for poor workmanship. what happens if he doesn't turn up to court ? will I incur more fees to the court again to get him to court? if I win and he doesn't pay me what would be my next step and will this cost me more again OR WILL the courts just pursue this for me and put a ccj against him?

AID Editor 12/10/2017 at 3:01 pm

@Popcorn - it's unlikely you're going to get your money now :(

Popcorn 12/10/2017 at 8:09 am

After 3 years of waiting and the defendant after moving and failing to turn up at court for questioning actual turned up after court issued a warrent to attend or go to prison my question is now hes been questioned (n316) what happens now
As he still owes me over £2000

Julie1980 28/11/2016 at 10:50 pm

I was wondering if I could take my ex to small claims court, he left me when I was 5 months pregnant. Left me to provide everything for the baby up to date. He only pays £22 per week. Was wondering if I can clim costs back 50% of what I have paid. Plus he's dragged me through court this year with even more costs incurred. Can I claim these all back?

Daz 23/10/2016 at 3:29 am

I need to take a developer to small claims court for refusing to fix damages to my property. Developer has ltd company with £100 shares. As the Party Wall award mentioned developer being required to make good any damage, can he be held personally liable as opposed to claiming against company. Secondly, could a court force developer to pay me from profits when selling the property? Thanks.

mike 06/09/2016 at 10:00 pm

my van was brushed by the rear bompper, and the lady that brushed it stopped, looked at the dent, took a photo of it and zoomed off. But before she zoomed off a man on a bike appeared all of a sudden and they exchanged some words in a foreign language and she zoomed off. this bike man now introduced himself as the boy friend and lives with her. we had an argument but later he accepted to let her deal with it. We exchanged numbers and i have called him twice to speak with her but to no avail. I have fix my van with £200 and she has not done anything since then. what to i do please? it was a small dent but £200 is a lot of money.

Mightymouse 27/08/2016 at 7:11 am

I would like to know what my chances are of suing for damages after being falsely accused of harassment. I made a website exposing the fraudulent business activities of a certain business. This included showing pictures stolen from American websites, and passed off as being pictures of the service the woman was selling. The woman accused me of harassment, including stalking and death threats, and made false allegations to the police, in the hope of silencing me. I defended the case which cost in excess of £16,000. I was cleared of all wrongdoing, the judge said he found her evidence unconvincing, and said I had exposed a dangerous and elaborate scam, and I was awarded costs at enhanced rate. I got back just over £6000, leaving me £10,000 out of pocket. Can I sue the woman who made the false allegations against me for that amount? It should be noted that there are 2 witnesses who provided statements for the court case, who had been subjected to false accusations against them in the same manner - retaliation for exposing the woman's shoddy business. These complaints were completely unfounded, one to the General Medical Council about a doctor, and one to the Press Complaints Commission about a journalist who fortunately had recorded the conversation showing there was no bullying, harassment, intimidation. If it came down to suing her business, I would not be confident of getting a settlement, as she hides the earnings from her business. It was she personally who made the complaint, therefore I would rather sue her than her business in order to have a better prospect of getting compensation. Can I make a claim against her in the small claims court, and what would it cost? Thanks for any advice

Sarahlc 03/08/2016 at 8:25 pm

Hi, please could someone advise, I took a firm of architects to the Small Claims court and won the judgement of the forwarding of all the supposed work they had done and £1000 damages. This judgement was agreed by both parties, however when the order came through no mention of the work being sent to us was made only the damages, which this firm paid by cheque on the last day of the order. I wrote to the courts immediately advising them the order was wrong, but having spoken the the helpline i have received conflicting opinions; first one that the defendants would still only have up to the last day of the order to send the work even through it was omitted from the order as they agreed in front of the judge to undertake this action, and as so would incur a ccj if they didn't send it; the second opinion was that the defendant was only carrying out the order and would have time to send the work if the order was amended. The order was raised on the 24 June Please help!!

Becca 11/07/2016 at 1:29 pm

Not sure where to start with this or whether small claims is right route for me.
I am an art director starting a new business and recently pulled together a team of models, make up, photographer for a fashion shoot. I found the photographer on a Creative Network site. She replied to a post I put up asking for free collaborations, i.e. we all work together creatively and all have portfolio shots at the end of it.
The shoot happened and she has now gone quiet on giving me the shots. I have been trying to get them for 3 weeks now. She has not replied to any texts/emails for the last week. I sent her an email last night saying how unhappy I was about the whole situation as she has basically relayed on the agreement to give us all of the shots. How do I stand with this legally to get her to hand the shots over ?

Archie 19/06/2016 at 10:22 pm

I've won a small claim case and was that overwhelmed said no to claiming back loss of earnings and travel expenses ??.. Although was only about £100 in total. Now home and settled really think I should of. Is there any chance I can write to the judge and ask for this or is that it after the hearings past? Hearing was Friday 17 June.

Thanks in advance

Chelmer1 09/06/2016 at 9:15 pm

I am experiencing the following issue: We had two bathrooms refitted last May and purchased all the fittings from Victoria Plum. All has been fine so far however around two months ago we noticed a blistering inside the bath which looks like delamination of the acrylic. I spoke to Victoria Plumb who advised that due to the timescale since we had the bath delivered and fitted (12 months) we would need to arrange a plumbers report to confirm how the fault on the bath occured as follows
· Reports must be on letter headed paper or supported by a business card.
· The report must include the Company Registration Number and/or if applicable the Gas Safe number
· Reports must include:

· What the product is
· When was the product fitted and who by
· What the fault is
· How you came to find this fault
· What the fault has caused
· What the plumber believes the fault was caused by
· Was the fault caused by a manufacturing problem, damage or misuse

We did this and the plumber came to the conclusion that this was a manufacturing fault and was delamination

We sent the report to Victoria Plum together with a quotation from the plumber as to how much it would cost to remove the existing bath and replace it. They responded to this requesting that they required the plumber to state how the delamination has occurred which is crazy as it is obviously a manufacturing fault. Victoria Plum then stated that they are not willing to pay the associated costs for the remedial work involved in removing the old bath and replacing the new bath but as a gesture of good will they would be willing to replace the bath and pay for the plumbers report.
Do you think that this is worth taking to the small claims court as Victoria Plum won't budge

CourtroomAdvice Editor 25/05/2016 at 12:27 pm

On a practical level, some airlines will not let you fly towards the end of your pregnancy - therefore you may wish to check with the airline for their policy on this. Also after week 28 of pregnancy, the airline may ask for a letter from your doctor or midwife confirming your due date, and that you aren't at risk of complications. With regards to your friend's position, I can only suggest you seek legal advice, as while agreeing to go on holiday with someone is a verbal contract and if that person loses money as a result of you breaking the contract, then she may have a small chance of winning. However, this is less likely if circumstances such as your pregancy could not be helped.

Tommy 24/05/2016 at 6:29 pm

In January 2016 a friend & I booked to go on holiday together, paying around £400.00 each. At the end of February 2016 I found out that I was very unexpectedly pregnant (having been told some fifteen years earlier that it was unlikely that I would ever conceive). I told my friend that it may be unwise for me to travel abroad given my age (44) and the fact that I would be 28 weeks' pregnant at the time of the holiday. I was happy for her to have my part of the trip for no money and take another friend. She has now began sending nasty text messages saying that as I have broken my part of 'the deal' and that she doesn't want to go with anyone else, she is going to make a small claim against me. What should I do? I have since told her that if the holiday means so much then I will go with her but she still wants to take me to court. This is stressing me out no end. I have tried calling her but she won't answer. Please help.

CourtroomAdvice Editor 23/05/2016 at 2:24 pm

I can only suggest you take legal advice regarding this as we cannot advise on whether you should dispute the claim or not, as this is outside our remit.

darren 22/05/2016 at 9:56 pm

im being taken to court for cleaning costs by a customer for carpet and furniture
over three months ago i did some work at a customers house where while working some dust got onto the carpet and marked it i pointed out the problem and offered to have the carpet profesionally cleaned - the customer refused this and then asked for a new carpet and got quotes and tried to get me to pay direct but i passed on my insurance details instead
the customer failed to make a claim
then the customer again sent me a quote this time to pay for cleaning the carpet and furniture though no dust or damage went on the furniture i offered to clean the carpet again but this was refused and now hes taking me to court do i dispute the whole claim or part - at no point have i been allowed to arrange any cleaning nor have i been shown an actual paid invoice

Eddie 11/05/2016 at 5:04 pm

I signed up to Ovo Energy, based in Bristol for a holiday property in Edinburgh which is 400 miles from my home. I booked the flight especially to be there for a meter replacement (Ovo insisted someone had to be present on the day). They turned up, failed to complete the work (because not all of it was listed on the engineer's worksheet) and left. They have admitted in writing that they failed to properly instruct the engineer. I had to fly up again 3 weeks later specifically to be there for the work to be completed.

As my home is in England and the arrangements were originally made there and the supplier is also based in England can I make a claim under the English small claims system or because the service was provided in Scotland do I have to claim under the Scottish system?

(2)

Maggie 19/04/2016 at 5:46 pm

are morals ever taken into consideration in a small claims court ?
Can I invite the press into a hearing, indeed can I publish comments in the paper if they are true facts ?

Nunki 19/04/2016 at 1:00 pm

Hi. Please could you help. My husband purchased a car for myself 17th Nov 2015. £1850 by debut card. From day of purchase the car was returned I think four times for repair. The dealer was happy for this this. We were reassured by the second garage that had the car, that it will be a good car when all the work was done. It was mainly electrical work. The car was taken to a third garage with the front out. The rewired the whole of the dash. We were advised to get a service by the second garage. We fully intended to have this done but nearer to home. Each trip to the garage was 94 mile round trip and two cars. The dealer was happy and we thought we would have a good car. The last time the garage had the car it was 7 weeks. On the 8th Feb the car refused to start. I couldn't pick my daughter up and she had to stay at a friends house(16yrs old). I had to cancel dentist as it would have been 4 buses and I could not do this before or after school,she has her GCSEs. The garage said they would not do any more work, spend any money or refund. We said we would put a claim in. He said he will be waiting. I've tried trading standards which lead me to citizens advice. The bank. Ombudsman wrote to them twice but because they didn't acknowledge them they can't do anything. My question is do I have a case for the small claims court. I can't afford any cost if I loose as I'm being made redundant. Because of the value of the car would it be worth it. I received a letter from their legal and basically they were quiet intimidating saying . Taking into consideration the as 51 plate and the mileage 118,000 something things would go wrong and we didn't have the service they advised us on. If the car was that old and high mileage and taken in from someone they knew and the desperate need of service it shouldn't have been on the forecourt. The whole thing is making me ill. I now have a£100 car w reg 157,000 on the clock and it works. I know this car won't last long. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Jayjay 29/03/2016 at 11:40 am

I have had a dispute with my old landlord about various different things regarding the property. Due to this my deposit was handed over to the TDS where they made the final decision to pay me most of the deposit back but also rewarded the landlord part. This decision was made due to the landlord having a lack of photographic evidence of the property before i moved in. The landlord wasnt happy with this decision and i have now recieved a letter via the letting agency saying he still wants money from me in the total of an extra £628 pound for things that have already been dealt with through the TDS. The letter states if i dont agree to the amount he will take me to a small claims court and add on extra things. Where do i stand on this as i am not willing to pay what he is asking for aa it has already been dealt with properly and in my eyes is a closed case now.

Unico 20/03/2016 at 8:52 am

I bought a horse who was said to be quiet, I tried him before purchase and he was very quiet on bringing him home he was un rideable by myself ( I am registered disabled). The owner who is anot equine related business is refusing to have the horse back or even to sell him on my behalf? I cannot afford to go to court as cannot afford solicitor or fees.

keithj050 15/03/2016 at 2:15 pm

Hi,
A car dealer sold me a car which he didn't declare as a Cat C after being in an accident, this was after we asked him if the car had been in an accident , he told us no, we also asked had an HPI check been done, he answered yes it had and it was clear, we found out later from the V5 we were sent that it had been written off and then put back on road, so it is roadworthy and legal, we paid £1900 for 2004 plate mini, we think its only worth £700 so we are trying to claim back £1200 , he's refusing saying he wants car back, we saying we want to keep the car and want £1200 part refund, we are willing to negotiate and have sent him various letters which he has ignored, but we now get a letter saying he's closed the business, is this likely to get sorted through small claims court or will a judge get involved which could end up costing us more money, we have involved consumer advice and they in turn have involved trading standards. Would appreciate any comments, Thankyou.

LMN 12/03/2016 at 3:45 pm

I had a dispute with my travel agent and took them to small claims court for denial of boarding being and stranded on the airport outside EU for 15 hours and compensation using EU rule 261/2004 as a guide
The judgment was not in my favour.
Prior to the court hearing the court had ordered that the parties comply with the following directions
Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office no later than 14 days before the hearing
(i)Signed statements setting out the evidence of each party and all witnesses on which each party intends to rely
The defendant produced some evidence form a third party which was not sent to me and I think it was on the basis of that one sided evidence I may have lost the case
I realised that after the hearing and the judgement
Can I appeal on the grounds that there was substantial procedural or other irregularity?
If I had known earlier about the evidence from the third party I too could have obtained evidence from them in my favour
I feel I was disadvantaged because I was not a privy to that document 14 days before the hearing. If i did have that I could have prepared my defence differently

everhopeful 09/03/2016 at 11:57 pm

By opening a wall I made the overall footprint of a wine bar slightly larger before a new tenant took over. The Business valuation office were not informed [as I did not think it was required] The new tenant traded well but when he appealed to the council about reducing the rates, they measured the floor area and actually put them up. he has since left the business and signed a release document agreeing to pay£5000 in instalments. He paid one but since has refused, citing the difference in business rates as my fault that should have been disclosed. In his final release document is a clause that states neither party shall pursue the other for any matter arising from the previous business lease he was released from, excluding of course the final agreement. A. Does he have a case for us not informing the valuation office of an improvement? B. Does the non pursuant clause in the final release document technically dispose of his arguments anyway?

Mirek 08/03/2016 at 11:56 pm

Me and my wife made an offer on 6/10/2015 to purchase the property for £376K. The property was brand new so to get a mortgage bank required NHBC certificate or Professional Consultant Certificate. The price was £960 for survey and 1314 for certificate total £2274 We agreed to pay 50% on the completion of that certificate (£1137). We also paid £1000 per exchange deposit to get the property removed from the market.
In one of the emails to the vendor my wife wrote that it would be nice that we can complete on 28/11/2012.
On the 1/12/2015 we informed the vendor that we didn't get a mortgage from the bank and our mortgage advisor said that we can get a mortgage from another bank. The vendor immediately put the property back on the market.
On the 8/12/2015 we got a mortgage offer from another bank but the offer was less than we expected so we ask the vendor if they can reduce the price of the house by £10K.
The vendor didn't reply to that email - they have already accepted another offer despite holding our pre-exchange deposit. They withdrawn from the offer.
We sent the vendor email to give us back the deposit. They responded that they were not going to give it back and they were going to keep it towards the costs of the Professional Certificate.
On the 2/01/2016 we sent them final letter to give us back deposit or we were going to take legal action. We made a small claim on 11/01/2016. The judgement was entered on 4/02/2016 against the vendor. On 15/02/2016 the vendor made an application to set aside the claim because apparently they didn't receive the initial forms.
Moreover on the 15/02/2016 the vendor made separate claim against us to get £1137 for Professional Consultant Certificate. We have never received the certificate. The certificate is a warranty on the property so it has no use for us because we did not purchase the property. They produced pro-forma invoice for the certificate. They paid 960£ for survey on 14/01/2015 which was 10 months before they even seen us.
Could you please give us opinion if they have chance to get that money back for that certificate.

dotty1008 20/02/2016 at 6:21 pm

I act in the capacity of letting agent for a landlord that lives abroad. I am claiming on his behalf against a roofer that carried out shoddy workmanship, in the sum of £1700.

Can I represent the landlord in the small claims court or does he have to attend? If not, would living abroad be a valid reason not to attend the court hearing, provided he gives the 7 days notice?

jed 14/02/2016 at 2:51 pm

I am one of three executors signed with a solicitor our third in two years, we are also brothers sister.
Due to a difficult executor who is my brother and refuses to finish estate estate. We had probate in may 2016 ( my father died 06/01/2014. Managedto get siblings paid out December 2015 but my brother is refusing any executors costs which amount to £260 for my sister and £6700 for my costs which nearly £5000 was to get brother to the table at solicitors he chose and we signed with,this was our second solicitor and nearly ended in court proceedings for direction. Our present solicitor we have had for one year had given brother many opportunities to sort including meetings but brother refused to attend. Is there any way it can be heard by judge without court.
Solicitor is now exhausted as us of situation and although estate modest approx £120,000 costs because of brother has nearly reached £20,000.

CourtroomAdvice Editor 10/02/2016 at 10:25 am

If you signed a contract with your wedding planner, then you may have recourse for a breach of contract. When any contract is made an agreement is formed between parties to carry out a service and payment for that service. If one of the parties fails to carry out their side of the agreement then the party can be said to be in breach of contract. Breach of contract can also occur if work carried out is defective or if one party makes the other aware that they will not be carrying out the agreed work. If a dispute does occur due to breach of contract then the judge will need to decide that a legally binding contract does exist and that it has been breached. In some cases the contract may only be a verbal contract and there may be no actual written evidence that a contract was formed. In such cases a judge will need to go over the terms and conditions of the contract and clarify what actually took place in practice.
Entitlement to damages may be awarded if the innocent party can prove that a breach of contract took place. The innocent party must prove that there was a loss due to the breach and that the nature of the loss would lead to compensation. Remoteness of loss will also be taken into consideration by the courts and may include future loss that could reasonably occur from the contract being broken. I hope this helps.

del 09/02/2016 at 3:08 pm

i booked a wedding abroad with a planner, i since found out that the wedding was never booked, i asked to see the written confirmation but they couldnt supply it, would i have a striong case? i have contacted the venue who assure me they had never heard of me until i contacted them directly and they had never received a request for a booking from my planner.

Gill 05/02/2016 at 12:38 am

I bought a dog a few days ago, he was advertised as being "great with other dogs" in his previous home he lived with another dog and showed no aggression towards it but since bringing him home we have been on 3 walks and each time he has been extreamly aggressive towards other dogs, several times 2 people have had to hold him back to stop him attacking the other dogs and my husband had to scout ahead to prewarn other dog owners about this dogs aggression so the dogs could be kept as far away as possible. I rang the old owners to offer them first refusal on the dog as I simply can not have him in the house with my 3 year old son, who is now petrified of dogs, but the old owner is refusing to accept that the dog would act this way and is refusing to take the dog back and give a refund. I have had a friend of mine, who is an experienced dog owner, look at the dog, and she agrees that it is aggression. Where do I stand in getting my money back from the old owner as this dog was not as it was advertised.

max 03/02/2016 at 9:53 pm

Hi, I really need some help. I bought a laptop from a large retail store, which keeps running slow and keeps dropping Internet connection. The laptop was bought in Aug 15 and has been sent off to be repaired twice and now it's broken again. The store is not prepared to offer a refund and wants to send it off again. To be repaired. What is the best way for me to proceed.

tibbles 02/02/2016 at 10:17 pm

THE CLAIMANT HAS PERSONAL PROPERTY BEING HELD
AT THE DEFENDANTS ADDRESS THE CLAIMANT AND
THE DEFENDANT CO-HABITED AT THIS ADDRESS FOR
TWO YEARS AND FIVE MONTHS THE DEFENDANT HAS
NOT COMPLIED WITH CORRESPONDANCE SENT TO HER
SOLICITORS OR HERSELF ONCE LEGAL HER
SOLICITORS WERE NO LONGER INSTRUCTED IN
THIS MATTER AND AS SUCH HAS FAILED TO COMPLY
WITH DATES AND REQUESTS GIVEN FOR THE RETURN
OF THE CLAIMANTS PROPERTY. THE DEFENDANT HAS
AGREED THE LIST OF THE CLAIMANTS PROPERTY BUT
STATES THAT ITEMS WITHIN WOULD ONLY BE
RETURNED AT THE CONCLUSION OF FAMILY LAW
MATTERS THIS PASSED THE CLAIMANT HAS SENT
FURTHER REQUESTS FOR THE RETURN OF PROPERTY
AND NO AGREEMENT DATES HAVE BEEN DISCLOSED TO
THE CLAIMANT THE DEFENDANT STATES NOW TO THE
POLICE AND CLAIMANTS LEGAL BODY THAT SHE HAS
NONE OF THE CLAIMANTS PROPERTY AND THAT IT
HAS BEEN DISPOSED OF THE CLAIMANT SEEKS
EVIDENCE AND FULL MONETARY VALUE TO REPLACE

Can anyone tell me if I have a strong case

CourtroomAdvice Editor 02/02/2016 at 12:54 pm

This is a tricky one to advise on. Regarding their promises of a payment once compensation arrives, compensation can never be guaranteed, until notification that they are going to receive it arrives. As you know claiming compensation can take years, therefore given the non-guarantee your neighbours will be awarded it and the unreliability of any compensation claim, I would advise you to take action sooner rather than later. Also, there is a six year window when you are allowed to take your neighbours to court over this issue, so you may wish to research whether you are still within this time frame. If you have evidence of the loan agreement, then then this stand in your favour. If the court rules in your favour there are also other ways of obtaining the money, i.e assets etc and the courts will look into this. I suggest you take some legal advice regarding this matter. Sometimes even a solicitor's letter threatening action might jolt your neighbours into finding money they previously claimed not to have.

nickyc 01/02/2016 at 10:31 pm

Hi I'm after some information regarding getting back some money I've loaned to someone, basically I loaned some money to a neighbour and I'm struggling to get it back. They are apparently being awarded some compensation money and will pay me back with this but this has been going on for almost 2 years. I don't have much reason to disbelieve them as such but I've seen no evidence of the compensation matter and all I keep getting from them is were picking up the cheque tomorrow but tomorrow never comes there's always an excuse why they don't get it and this is giving me doubt about the situation. I know I could take them to a small claims court but they have nothing so I'm also doubtful I would get anywhere. I do have evidence of the loan (texts,Facebook messages and an agreement /contract I wrote up months ago) any advice would be much appreciated.

linny 31/01/2016 at 9:07 am

Can I put more evidence ininto my final bundle for my small claims at court

LollooB 29/01/2016 at 3:08 pm

I had a non fault, chain reaction collision road accident in August 2014. Multiple cars were damaged and personal injuries. My vehicle was written off. I claimed through the 3rd party who were at fault for the accident. I have been without a vehicle ever since and my claim has still not been settled. I have a solicitor dealing with my Claim but doesn't seem to be very useful either. I have no car, personal injury, out of pocket expenses and 3 young children to take care of, including school runs and shopping etc. Should this be settled by now or at least have some transport? I've paid my own car rental charges when in a desperate need for a vehicle. This is now in excess of over £3000 alone since the accident Occured in 2014. It doesn't seem right, or fair in any way, that I am still waiting for settlement after this lengthy time. Advice greatly appreciated here?? Thankyou ??

hotelservice2015 22/12/2015 at 11:49 pm

A company I was working for had a small claims hearing against them and set up the initial defence during the process of the claim I gave notice to the company in September I informed the copy of the next step in the process and awaited their decision as too what they wanted to do in the next step. During my notice period 8 weeks I was transfered to another property before the transfer I offered to do a complete handover this was refused. During the whole process all correspondence was addressed to the company not me as an individual I did register my work emails upon registering on the money claim website however from when I was transfered this email account was stopped. I have since completed my notice and on my final pay I noticed there was an unauthorised deduction of over £1500 this so happens to be the amount the company lost as they failed to reply to the questionnaire. They also didn't imform me of this deduction until I enquired several days later once I had received my payslip. They claim this is my negligence and fell under my responsibility and pointed out that under my contract I am responsible for any lose to the company. However this was not entirely my responsibility as it's not for me to decide if we settle or proceed with out their consent. Throughout the whole process they have had all correspondence. Not only that but during the incident for what the claim relates to I was on holiday. Can any one please help with any advice on this

Poppy 14/11/2015 at 1:19 pm

I have purchased a dog, have a receipt and now the seller is harassing me by wanting the dog back, I have contacted the police because of the harassment and today have now received a recorded delivery letter siting court action if I to return the dog?

CourtroomAdvice Editor 13/08/2015 at 9:55 am

I'm afraid small claims apply only to those persons resident in England and Wales.

BETTERDAYS 10/08/2015 at 6:10 pm

Can an American company take a british person to the small claims court in the UK if they haven't paid their bill?

Angel 30/05/2015 at 12:36 pm

what forms do I need to take two defendants to court I've looked on the UK web site the gov one but it only allows for one defendants name

Al 22/05/2015 at 12:25 pm

I have claimed against a house builder who has fitted a wet room that does not drain, I have issued a claim for the money to get this rectified but they have sent a solicitors letter to me to state that my contract was with their contractor (supplied details) and that I should issue against them otherwise they will look for recovery of all costs incurred, is this correct if I bought the property from them and their salesperson witht he contractor present agreed to the wetroom?

Kate 20/05/2015 at 1:04 pm

Just wondering if there is a time limit on when a builder/plumber can make a claim? If a builder/plumber did some work in say Jan and they were paid some but not all of the money because the job was not done very well & not finished. If the person completing the work wanted to claim for the full payment even though they didn't complete the job, could they and is there a time limit on when they could make that claim i.e. if 6 months would have to have made the claim by June? Thanks

CourtroomAdvice Editor 13/02/2015 at 11:42 am

@milliep - if you have been served papers then you need to reply. If an unspecified amount has been claimed against you, then he litigant can ask the court to make an order against you which will mean you are responsiblefor the litigant's claim. This is known as asking the court to ‘enter judgment for an amount to be decided by the court’. This will be referred to a judge, who will decide whether a court
hearing is needed or not. Once the judge has made a decision about how much money the litigant is entitled to, both you, the defendent and the litigant will be sent an order. It will give the decision of the judge, or it may inform you that your claim has been given a hearing
date.
If a sepcified amount has been claimed and you have not responded then you will receive copies of this judgment and possible fines which will be recorded on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines.
This is not something you can avoid and hope it will go away, if you want to defend yourself, you really do need to respond. I hope this helps.

milliep 12/02/2015 at 9:38 am

if a defendant does not complete any forms they receive for a claim against them in a small claims court, a judgement has been issued 6 months ago, can they now have it set aside

Seth 06/10/2014 at 7:31 pm

Hello,

thank you for your service to help those who are victims of police abuse 'color of law' and also victims of civil and constitutional rights suffered at the hands of uneducated and illegitimate cops.

I am being harassed by the local police department for no reason. I have been told that the current police chief doesn't like me. They follow me on a consistent basis, I have kept a log of this, Can I sue them for violation of my constitutional rights. I have committed no crime, Isn't this a violation of my constitutional right /my right to pursue my happiness-going places, visiting people, it's like America doesn't exist any longer. are freedoms are being taken by tyrannical henchmen . Our founding fathers would be so upset concerning these actions of our so-called fellow americans. I would like to sue the police department.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Peter Seth Hoosac

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