Small Claims Court - is it easy,anyone used it?

babyblooz

Hello. I am going to be claiming through Small Claims Court, and have been advised by Trading Standards that this is the correct proceedure, given the fact that they breached the Sale of Goods and Services Act.

I am a bit confused by reading the Moneylink website details. I thought I prepared my statement, and submitted my claim, a 'person' read through and decided if I had a case or not. If I did, then they awarded in my favour and awarded costs to me as well, and if they didn't agree, then they didn't find in my favour and that was the end of it.

Now I am reading something about attending before the judge and so on, and I wondered, has anyone used this system and have they any info, or anything to make it a bit clearer for a first time user? I'm a bit worried it might turn out expensive and not be worth the amount being claimed.

missile

I have claimed (and won) twice. The process is quite straightforward but can be quite intimidating. You or your representative must present your case in court. The judge / sherrif will find in your favour (or not) and can award costs to either party.

babyblooz

so, is it not the case that the judge (or similar) just reads everything and then makes a decision, and do you HAVE to attend, or can you do it by letter (if you see what I mean)

Avoriaz

There isn’t really such a thing as the Small Claims Court, though it is a commonly used expression.

The County Court deals with many types of cases, and simple cases of a value of about £5,000 or less are usually allocated to the Small Claims Track or Process within the court system. This is a relatively simple and inexpensive process compared to more complex legal processes.

You as the Plaintiff should submit your claim on the forms provided along with the relevant fee. The court will process this and send copies to the other party against which you are making a claim. They are called the Defendant.

They have an opportunity to respond and agree to settle or to dispute your claim or even issue a counter claim. If they dispute your claim, a date will be set for a hearing in front of a judge. These hearings usually take place in a small office type environment, not in a courtroom and are relatively informal.

Please be very careful. Costs are not usually awarded in Small Claims cases so you are probably not taking much of a risk. However going to law is always an uncertainty.

Only go to court if you have a very strong case and you are confident that the defendant has the money to meet your claim and you are able to enforce any judgement.

If you have taken advice and you believe that you have a strong case, then go ahead. Bear in mind that, even if you win, that is no guarantee that you will ever get your money. If the defendant loses but simply refuses to pay, you then have to take further action. This could involve considerably more expense and risk..

If you are suing Tesco or similar you will be able to enforce a judgement. If you are suing a small company with no assets, or a fly by night individual, enforcing a judgement is a lot harder or impossible.

A large number of County Court judgements are never enforced and a lot of Plaintiffs end up losing a lot of money.

I speak from some experience of both sides, but please note I am not an expert or professional. I am strictly an amateur.

Post more details and I will comment further.

missile

babyblooz wrote: »

so, is it not the case that the judge (or similar) just reads everything and then makes a decision, and do you HAVE to attend, or can you do it by letter (if you see what I mean)

Please note, I believe you must submit the claim via court local to the defendant.

From my experience:
First time I wrote all the details down and submitted my claim. Defendant contested my claim and send a solicitor to plead his case. The second time defendant contested the claim but did not turn up.

You may like to see http://www.lawpack.co.uk/small_claims.asp