Small Claims Court guide

wealdroam

marktowler wrote: »

I am currently taking my ex to court. I have heard from the solicitor that they will defend the action.

What will happen at the first hearing, do I have to bring my evidence, etc?

This is first time that I am having defended case, usually in the past that out of court settlement was done.

Could anyone explain what first hearing is going to happen.

PLEASE NOTE: This is for Scottish Court. It is being heard at Sheriff Court.

Thanks

Hi Mark, here's a 'please note' for you:

PLEASE NOTE: This thread is here specifically to discuss MSE's Small Claims Court guide, but you will have already read that just a couple of posts above yours.

Computersaysno

Lol...........another person who refuses to read before posting....


I love it.

Figaro2016

Hi
I would appreciate some advice in relation to small claims court. I will try to give a brief summary first:
I was in a 2-year relationship, my partner and I had recently moved in together early this year after I gave up the keys on my flat and moved into hers - we had not got around to registering everything as we were looking for a bigger place anyway. I sometimes worked away and one evening came home as a surprise to take her out for dinner. Well she'd already cooked but seemed a bit put out to see me, Long and short of it she suddenly got irate over dinner, ended up ordering me to leave and shouting at me, ran out of apartment and called a neighbour who then called the police rather than get involved himself as I thought at the time. The police came and while they were sympathetic to me I was booted out into the cold night with no explanation. On their advice I waited a few days for my partner to calm down about what ever had upset her then attempted to contact her - I was effectively homeless throughout this time, Naturally, I attempted to call her to find out what was going on and sent a few benign conciliatory messages and an email 'Are you OK? What happened? Can we talk?' that sort of thing. Finally, after a couple of weeks I went back to the property and buzzed the intercom - at this point I assumed the relationship was over although I still had no idea what had happened but wanted my possessions back. I then found myself arrested and charged with non-violent harassment - I had had no contact / explanation from my partner since the neighbour had called the police. Of course, I tried to explain all this to the police but they were hostile in the extreme - I was already the 'villain' and she was the 'victim'. You may be struggling to believe the above - particularly if you never had any involvement with the criminal justice system, it was my first - but what I have written is accurate. So I found myself charged with harassment on the basis of the above and I was fed into the machine of the criminal justice system. The next 6 months of my life were hell as I had this hanging over my head - a criminal conviction would have ended career and I never had an explanation from anyone about why this was happening. The truth of the matter came to light in the court when it was eventually thrown out of court - that night when I had returned home, I had walked into a romantic liaison - the neighbour in the block who called the police was actually coming to dinner with my partner and I'd walked straight into it, they then decided to launch into a relationship and my ex just 'switched off' our relationship that evening in an instant without ever bothering to tell me, but she used the police and criminal justice system to do so. It cost me nearly £20K to have a decent lawyer stand up in the court and speak on my behalf - despite the ridiculous nature of the whole situation which never should have gone to court in the first place - yes a wake up call the CPS are not all passionate seekers after the truth one might hope them to be - despite that, I have no doubt from what I could see of the system that if I had not had representation I would have been in a very vulnerable position in court. Oh by the way - in case anyone missed this in the media, there is no legal aid in court unless you are already destitute - you have to pay for it yourself and guess what even if you are completely cleared, you dont get the money back - yes that's our justice system! Anyway, as I say this all came out in the courts and my partner was exposed for telling lies and being malicious (seems she'd told the other chap a pack of very unflattering lies about me at the start of their relationship which overlapped with ours and could then not get out of the web of deceit) - I was exonerated completely but as I can see nobody is proposing to investigate the matter further or take action against my ex-partner and her new partner for telling lies, unnecessarily wasting police and court time or causing untold distress to me. And, finally of course I have never been re-united with all my property which was in our home at the time in question.
So my question is this: Can I take out a claim against my ex in the small claims court for the cost of my legal defence and lost property up to £10K and what would my chances of success be?

steampowered

You need to make a new thread Figaro2016 rather than posting in this one.

Undervalued

steampowered wrote: »

You need to make a new thread Figaro2016 rather than posting in this one.

Yes and break it up into paragraphs so that it is actually readable!

LilElvis

steampowered wrote: »

You need to make a new thread Figaro2016 rather than posting in this one.

He has - on the Marriages board. Still a wall of text though.

Computersaysno

Lol...........another person who refuses to read before posting....


I love it.

topbanana1985

If I take a company to small claims court and I lose, will I have to pay the defendants costs,fees and expenses?

I want to take the company to small claims, I believe I have a very strong case (I can prove/have evidence of breach of contract) but there is a tiny voice in my head telling me that they are a fairly big company and can afford top solicitors/lawyers to fight against me and there is a small chance that I may lose and if I do lose, I am going to have to pay thousands of pounds of their legals costs.

So if I lost, would I be made to pay their costs? and if so, what costs would I have to pay?
(for example: if it is just a potential couple hundred for travel expenses then I am willing to take the risk, but if its going to be a few thousand to cover their legal/solicitors fees, then I simply cannot afford to lose)

I apologise if this question about costs may have already been answered previously in this thread, but I had a quick sift through but did not see an answer.
Any help/info will be much appreciated.

unholyangel

topbanana1985 wrote: »

If I take a company to small claims court and I lose, will I have to pay the defendants costs,fees and expenses?

I want to take the company to small claims, I believe I have a very strong case (I can prove/have evidence of breach of contract) but there is a tiny voice in my head telling me that they are a fairly big company and can afford top solicitors/lawyers to fight against me and there is a small chance that I may lose and if I do lose, I am going to have to pay thousands of pounds of their legals costs.

So if I lost, would I be made to pay their costs? and if so, what costs would I have to pay?
(for example: if it is just a potential couple hundred for travel expenses then I am willing to take the risk, but if its going to be a few thousand to cover their legal/solicitors fees, then I simply cannot afford to lose)

I apologise if this question about costs may have already been answered previously in this thread, but I had a quick sift through but did not see an answer.
Any help/info will be much appreciated.

Legal fees (as in fees you pay for legal advice/representation) are generally not recoverable in small claims and costs are limited.

This article perhaps helps explain plainly enough

steampowered

topbanana1985 wrote: »

If I take a company to small claims court and I lose, will I have to pay the defendants costs,fees and expenses?

I want to take the company to small claims, I believe I have a very strong case (I can prove/have evidence of breach of contract) but there is a tiny voice in my head telling me that they are a fairly big company and can afford top solicitors/lawyers to fight against me and there is a small chance that I may lose and if I do lose, I am going to have to pay thousands of pounds of their legals costs.

So if I lost, would I be made to pay their costs? and if so, what costs would I have to pay?
(for example: if it is just a potential couple hundred for travel expenses then I am willing to take the risk, but if its going to be a few thousand to cover their legal/solicitors fees, then I simply cannot afford to lose)

I apologise if this question about costs may have already been answered previously in this thread, but I had a quick sift through but did not see an answer.
Any help/info will be much appreciated.

The costs which are payable in small claims track are listed here, under paragraph 27.14(2): https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part27#27.14.

It boils down to saying that if you lose you will have to pay the defendant's travel costs, but not much more.

In small claims track, you would only get lumped with a large legal costs bill if you have behaved unreasonably. The power to award costs against someone who behaved unreasonably is only used in a very small number of cases to punish people who (for example) repeatedly ignore court orders, issue vexatious claims or fail to turn up to hearings.

If you want more specific input, it would be best to make your own thread and give more details.