The cost implications of taking someone to small claims court

System

Lucy_Lastic wrote: »

I am considering taking an individual to the small claims court for a sum of £1250, but as he is bankrupt I'm not sure it will be worth it. He has/had a number of businesses and properties, but I would not be surprised to find that he has no assets in his own name.

I have already sent him a letter asking for payment and also sent a letter to the official receiver. I'm not sure I want to throw away more money on a lost cause.

Are you sure that the sum he owes you was not included in his bankruptcy?

Lucy_Lastic

DisgruntledOne - more info

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court

!!!!!! - Not quite sure what you mean but he was made bankrupt by HMRC due to non payment of taxes.

System

If he owed you the money at the point of bankruptcy then that will be included whether declared or not and you stand no chance of getting the money back.

At the point of declaring bankruptcy, all existing debts (with a few exceptions) will be included whether declared or not.

littlemonkeywolf

Depending on your claim amount there will also be a directions questionnaire fee you will need to pay if the other party files a response disputing any of it. £0.00 if claim up to £1500.00, £40- up to £10000.00 and £220 anything above that so please factor that in also (I think they are correct but only off top of my head).

INT1

If you lose the case, aren't you liable to pay the other parties costs too, including solicator costs etc?

Voyager2002

INT1 wrote: »

If you lose the case, aren't you liable to pay the other parties costs too, including solicator costs etc?

Not usually in the 'small claims' track.

AnnieO1234

The problem will arise if the other party issues a counter claim. In which case you would become liable, particularly if they have any reason to suggest your claim is malicious.

Don't use a pick axe to crack a nut and all that.

FWIW and what most litigation solicitors would do is fill in the N1 claim form, send a copy to the defendant party with a 14 day letter to state it will be lodged at county court on xx date in 14 days. They would normally give a final 7 day letter thereafter, and then lodge. It's about frightening people and showing you mean business, but also proves to the court you have used due process in an attempt to resolve your dispute.

X

InsideInsurance

INT1 wrote: »

If you lose the case, aren't you liable to pay the other parties costs too, including solicator costs etc?

Sort of.

There is no such thing in the UK as the small claims court. The England/ Wales County Court is divided into 3 "tracks", small/ fast/ multi, which is predominately based on the value of the case but is partially on the complexity.

Small track typically deals with claims under £10k for non-injury or £1k for injury. Generally speaking the courts want to push things down into the lowest track as possible, so if you have a straight forward case for property damage for £11k you may find it dealt with by small track rather than fast track.

On the flip side if things are very complex for one reason or another then the small track may decide it is inappropriate for it to hear the case and push it up into fast track despite the value.

What you can reclaim in terms of costs depends on which track of the court the case is allocated to. Generally in small track anything but token fees are excluded however the judge does have the authority to allow certain fees for expert evidence or solicitors. Dont have the numbers to hand but you are talking about a couple of hundred pounds. Once you get into Fast track then fees are recoverable but they are fairly heavily limited and in Multi track it is pretty much all reasonable costs.

The exception to the above is if the judge deems the case has been fabricated only to cause problems for the defendant rather than a reasonable final step to resolve a real issue after all other avenues have been exhausted.