Rogue builder...Small claims or normal court?

sam1970

In brief..Major house renovation costing nearly 200K but had alot of problems since it was completed with heating, electrics and plumbing (recurrent leaks).
The builder (company) refused to repair or cover cost of repairing and eventually stopped responding to calls/Emails.
I reported him to various agencies and had damming reports for his work from Health & Safety executive (fine and prohibition notice) and from independent electric assessor (commissioned by the electrician scheme his electrician registered under) labelling the electric work as dangerous. He also has been reported to Trading standards and had letters sent to him giving him 14 days notices to respond but he failed to reply. Eventually sent him letter before action and he responded denying any responsibility and blaming me for not following his advice on many jobs which is a complete lie with no evidence what so ever. He threatened to make counter claims if I go to court.

Now Iam going legal and Iam wondering on what is best way? I reckon 10K will be just about enough to rectify the problems but will normal courts give me better chance of success than Money claim online? Considering all the evidence and reports I have is it worth the costs of solicitors and courts?

Murphybear

The small claims court is cheaper and takes much less time I believe

waamo

What do you mean by "normal court"? Money Claim Online (MCOL) is just a way of issuing a claim, it isn't an alternative to court.

steampowered

Moneyclaimonline does start a formal claim in the court process.

MCOL is not the same thing as the small claims track. You can use MCOL to issue claims up to £100,000.

The case then gets allocated to a county court. Cases worth less than £10k will follow what is called the "small claims track" - but you still get to a formal court hearing if the case is contested.

sam1970

Thank you guys. Iam confused then as I thought MCOL is the same as small claims court and I cant claim more than 10K. In that case I might as well put my claim slightly higher (15K) to ensure Iam not out of pocket doing the repair work

waamo

sam1970 wrote: »

Thank you guys. Iam confused then as I thought MCOL is the same as small claims court and I cant claim more than 10K. In that case I might as well put my claim slightly higher (15K) to ensure Iam not out of pocket doing the repair work

You can't just make up amounts to claim. You have to evidence your claim. Get some proper quotes or you risk getting nothing.

eddddy

sam1970 wrote: »

In that case I might as well put my claim slightly higher (15K) to ensure Iam not out of pocket doing the repair work

I think you might not understand how it will work.

You will have to provide evidence of the financial losses you've suffered as a result of the builder's breach of contract.

So that probably means detailed invoices and quotes showing the amounts that you're claiming (plus the reasons why you believe the builder should cover the cost of those invoices and quotes).

And your claim would be for the total of those invoices, quotes etc.

It won't be a case of saying something like "I'm claiming £15k to ensure I'm not out of pocket."

da_rule

This is the problem with people referring to it as the “small claims court”, it gives an impression that it is a different court.

The County Court has 3 tracks; the small claims track, the fast track and the multi-track. Regardless of which track it’s on it’s still a County Court claim.

Which track something is allocated to is decided after you issue your claim. The general rule is that claims of £10,000 or less are allocated to the small claims track. However, if it is a relatively simple claim, and only worth slightly higher than £10,000 then the Court has the power to allocate to the small claims track. Likewise, if the claim is complex but is worth less than £10,000 it may be allocated to the fast track. The court can hold an allocation hearing if there’s disputes or the matter is complex.

The difference is that the fast track and multi-track are covered by more complex rules and the risks of getting something wrong are therefore far increased. The Courts flexibility when it comes to allowing for such mistakes is also greatly decreased. Also, unlike the small claims track, there is very little, if any, cost protection on the fast track or multi-track. Therefore, if you are unsuccessful you could end up paying all of the other sides legal costs.

As has been said, MCOL is simply an online portal to enable you to commence and manage a County Court claim (up to the online limit of £100,000).

steampowered

sam1970 wrote: »

Thank you guys. Iam confused then as I thought MCOL is the same as small claims court and I cant claim more than 10K. In that case I might as well put my claim slightly higher (15K) to ensure Iam not out of pocket doing the repair work

No, MCOL is just a gateway to the court system.

You can issue small claims through MCOL. But you can also issue other types of claim.

If you issue a claim for more than £10k, it will be issued to the fast track NOT the small claims track.

Both the small claims and fast track go through the county court system. However, in the fast track, the losing side is usually ordered to pay the other side's legal costs. This could be to your advantage or disadvantage depending on whether you want to use a solicitor or not.