What is the worst that can happen in small claims court

Clare11

Everyone is fearful about the courts ....the small courts.
What is the worst senario that could happen IF someone was to loose their case against a bank?
A heavy fine for waste of court time?
Pay the Banks court fees etc?
How much ......Max amount?
Would we be kept on file.....on a "black list" of sorts....County court judgment?


Anyway I have just sent my 1st letter today to the Northern Bank ( Northern Ireland) so will keep you informed.....

Kind regards
Clare

Bossyboots

You won't be penalised for wasting court time and you won't be blacklisted UNLESS you keep doing the same thing over and over in which case an application can be made to have you declared a vexacious litigant and if the order is granted, you will be barred from being able to bring court proceedings.

Providing you are bringing a claim for which you truly believe you are entitled to redress, that you have followed the rules, including trying to settle the matter before issuing proceedings, the court will not take issue with you for having brought the case.

HSBCrusher

There should be no problems whatsoever, using small claims will mean you are not liable for costs. You have a valid claim, this is what the court is for!

It is exceedingly unlikely you will ever get as far as court in any case, the bank will settle.

In fact it is the banks who are wasting court time, they often do not pay up untill moneyclaim is filed, often filing a defence, then cave in at the last moment. If they have no intention of fighting the case, why the games?

Clare11

Thank you..... I am now more determined than ever to claim the penalty charges.
Let the battle begin......smiles.

Kind regards
Clare

Clare11

Did I read correctly if someone was receiving Working Tax credit that to file a claim at a small claims court would be free?
Or does this just apply to other benefits?

Bossyboots

You will find the list of fee exemptions here http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/fees/exemption/exemption.htm

chuckles1066

HSBCrusher wrote:

In fact it is the banks who are wasting court time, they often do not pay up untill moneyclaim is filed, often filing a defence, then cave in at the last moment. If they have no intention of fighting the case, why the games?

As someone who recently won a judgement against a tour operator in the Small Claims track of the County Court, I can assure you that once you get behind the friendly, smiling, customer-service-orientated "we're here to help" advertisements you'll see an entirely different side to these businesses.

I learned a lot; certainly, businesses will always file a Full Defence to any claim even if they know they're wrong. They will also ignore pre-hearing Directions from the Court. And they'll lie. Repeatedly.

There are no punishments for this behaviour; the SC track is deliberately less formal than other legal avenues and the framework is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules. Note the word "Rules".

The "games" you refer to are mind games; taking a business to Court without a solicitor is quite intimidating and they know that most people will bail out long before a hearing date has been assigned to the case.

There is nothing to be gained by *anybody* not issuing a full defence to a claim. And there is nothing to be gained by *anybody* paying up if judgement is awarded against them.

alared

This is the link you need to take out a county court summons (small claim) online.
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

Depending on how much you`re claiming from NB,the most you can lose is that fee.
A lot of big companies will bluff it out right up to the wire and then not turn up and lose by default.
I noticed that you said,you`ve just sent your first letter,it may take a few more and then if there`s no progress you can then threaten NB with the small claims court.
The point I`m trying to make is that you must show the judge (if it gets that far) that you tried to get a settlement before resorting to court action.

Clare11

Thank you Alared.
Its reassuring to know that I wont loose a major fortune such as life savings or my home if I dont succeed. I think everyone is fearful of that. Afterall the Banks have so much and have a legal dept etc.
But like I said before.... we are willing to take them on. Plus the fact we are on Working tax credit so its worth doing.
I have ALL the bank statements at hand so I have the evidence.
It will be interesting to see if their list of penalty charges matches up to those on the statements.

Hubert_Dalrymple

chuckles1066 wrote:

There is nothing to be gained by *anybody* not issuing a full defence to a claim. And there is nothing to be gained by *anybody* paying up if judgement is awarded against them.

Having a CCJ registered against any company is a very serious matter. For smaller companies it will usually make it extremely difficult to obtain credit. A CCJ against a director can cause huge and very grave problems as well. I have found that many judges will be extremely lenient with company directors and companies and coerce the Claimant into agreeing a consent order rather than entering Judgment against them.

MSE_Martin

Actually there is no such thing as the small claims court. When you take a case for under £5,000 via moneyclaim, it is usually sent through the 'small claims system of the county court'. This means that if you lose you won't have to pay costs, though you won't get the court fee back.

However if you ask 'what is the worst case scenario', there are two options to consider.

1. You go through the small claims system - and the bank launch a counter claim. This is always possible, though unlikely - but the bank has threatened some with this - though as yet I've not seen it come to fruition.

2. Your case isn't seen through the small claims system. As I note in the article, "As a technical note, while it’s rare with these cases, submitting a claim for no more than £5,000 doesn’t guarantee it’ll be heard as a small claim; if it’s contested and seen as a difficult case, it can be tried in the county court as a non-small claim (on what are called the ‘fast track ‘ or the ‘multi track'), which could imply costs, though this is very rare."


So while the majority of people win with no hassle, this is not a risk free thing, as I've said elsewhere you have to be prepared that you are taking a big bank to court. There is always the chance with the court system of problems - however you have to balance that (so far) very small liklie hood against the much more (so far) likely outcome of getting all your money back.

Martin