Small clailms court

arcon5

Did they send a letter before action? Or the notice of dishonour as mentioned on the legal website?

If not, i'd use this as a defence. Stating the defendant acted unreasonably - that had they followed civil procedure protocol you would have had the opportunity to take professional advice which you have now done, therefore the court claim could have been avoided, thus additional costs avoided.
Try to use this point to get the judge to NOT award court costs to the claimant - or at the very least split the costs.

Don't know how a judge would take it - so may be worth cutting your losses now and repaying the cheque and the court filing fee (if the company are demanding such). Up to you really.