consequences of losing in small claims court

benb76

What are the consequences of losing in the small claims court? The person whom I'm making a claim against seems to think that she has nothing to lose by going to court.

Assuming that I win (I have a good case), then apart from having to pay the money she owes me, am I right in thinking that she'd also have to pay court fees and have a CCJ against her credit record? Anything else?

thanks

alared

She would have to pay your fees if she loses.
Don`t know about CCJ

duchy

She'd only have a CCJ if she didn't pay up surely ?

DaisyFlower

If she loses the judge may ask her to settle your court costs - you cant claim legal fees back through the small claims court but assuming you are self representing anyway.

She wouldn't get a CCJ unless she doesnt pay any judgement issued against her. I dont think if affects her credit rating unless again she doesnt pay the judgement.

Remember though, you may not win and therefore have to stand your own court costs.

alared

When you make a claim through the county court (small claims as it used to be),you put the amount you are seeking PLUS whatever the court fee is making the total you are claiing.
If you win or the other party don`t turn up you are awarded your total cost including the court fee.

consultant31

alared wrote: »

When you make a claim through the county court (small claims as it used to be),you put the amount you are seeking PLUS whatever the court fee is making the total you are claiing.
If you win or the other party don`t turn up you are awarded your total cost including the court fee.[/quote]

And much good may it do you!!!!

This happened to my daughter a few years ago, she won the case plus costs and the other party was issued with a ccj which she ignored. My DD never saw a penny of what she was owed.

It was a complete waste of time and money.

two_sheds_2

I sued my ex-landlady who refused to repay my deposit. As I was on Benefits i didn't have to pay any fees, so I went ahead and took her to Small Claims.
I won, and she appealed as a delaying tactic. After further delaying tactics, including "forgetting" to turn up at court, she asked for another hearing. The judge granted her one on the condition that she paid the disputed money direct into court funds. That way, she couldn't get the money back if I won, as it now belonged to the court.
I won again.
I was able to claim interest on the money she owed me from the date it was due to the date of the final hearing...9 months.
She ended up paying a lot more than the deposit, silly ***. If she had just ignored the court, I would never have got my money back. If I had had to pay court fees up front, I would never have gone ahead.

alared

consultant31 wrote: »

alared wrote: »

When you make a claim through the county court (small claims as it used to be),you put the amount you are seeking PLUS whatever the court fee is making the total you are claiing.
If you win or the other party don`t turn up you are awarded your total cost including the court fee.[/quote]

And much good may it do you!!!!

This happened to my daughter a few years ago, she won the case plus costs and the other party was issued with a ccj which she ignored. My DD never saw a penny of what she was owed.

It was a complete waste of time and money.

She could have taken it to the next stage for the bailiffs to recover the money.
Having said that,if the other party hasn`t assets to seize,then I agree,that`s where the system falls down.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

When I put in a claim for money owed to me by my ex boyfriend via the small claims court (county court) he ignored every correspondence that he received, even the judgement against him. I wasn't going to give up and took it to the bailiff stage (they visited him twice). The whole process has taken over a year (still ongoing, started July '06). I've nearly recovered all the money that was owed to me plus he had to pay all court costs. So in answer to your question, if it gets to the judgement stage I assume that is a CCJ against your name and if you win then the person does have to pay any court costs.

consultant31

alared wrote: »

consultant31 wrote: »

She could have taken it to the next stage for the bailiffs to recover the money.
Having said that,if the other party hasn`t assets to seize,then I agree,that`s where the system falls down.

She did, paid the fee for the bailiffs, who turned out to the persons address and knocked on the door. Either she was out or (more likely) she was hiding behind the curtain, either way, that was that!!!

To the best of my knowledge, they only have to call the once and if you want them to do it again, you have to pay again.

However, it's supposed to work, it didn't work for DD and she ended up even more out of pocket than she was originally.

I'd think long and hard before I took this route.