Small claims court - appeal question

pinkshoes

thenap80 said:

Does the £450 added not give me the chance to defend at no extra cost. That £450 says court fee. Or is that just for them to send the paperwok!!?

There is nothing to defend. You owe the money, hence they have taken it to court as you didn't pay when it was due, and didn't pay when sent the letter before action giving you a final chance to pay.

You can tell them you will pay in instalments, but unless they agreed (in writing!) then this was not an agreement and the money is still owed. So yes, as it has gone this far you will also have to pay court fees.

If you were unable to pay the money owed then you always had the option to sell the property or borrow the money... Would interest on a loan have been less than the court fees?

If it hasn't gone to court yet than isn't it just the initial fee due? In which case you could just pay them the amount you owe before it gets to court and hope they don't still chase you for the court fees?

mattyprice4004

It sounds like you owed the money and they didn’t want to let you pay in instalments - hence the paperwork. 

Costs are limited in small claims, but if you owe the money then you’ll need to pay the court fee too. 

To issue paperwork they clearly thought you were messing about or had no intention to pay in good time. 

thenap80

If I contest the claim, can the claimant keep adding on legal rep fees that I will have to pay. 

thenap80

Sorry to keep going on...
But if I want to contest a small claims, can the claimant add yet more cost onto my bill by my having to pay legal rep fees for THEM. I have already had two Solicitor fees added because they want to chase the money. If I contest by returning n1a and n1 b forms to the court, will my bill just go higher. Seems wrong that I have to pay for the claimant's decision to use legal reps etc.

soolin

thenap80 said:

If I contest the claim, can the claimant keep adding on legal rep fees that I will have to pay. 

Yes the successful party in any claim can ask that fees be added to their claim, the successful party should not be out of pocket for any allowable expenses.

Incidentally I have merged the two threads for clarity.

davidmcn

soolin said:

thenap80 said:

If I contest the claim, can the claimant keep adding on legal rep fees that I will have to pay. 

Incidentally I have merged the two threads for clarity.

You might want to add the other one about the same thing too:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6252468/money-claims-online-how-do-i-enrol-with-foreign-address#latest

soolin

davidmcn said:

soolin said:

thenap80 said:

If I contest the claim, can the claimant keep adding on legal rep fees that I will have to pay. 

Incidentally I have merged the two threads for clarity.

You might want to add the other one about the same thing too:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6252468/money-claims-online-how-do-i-enrol-with-foreign-address#latest

Thank you, I missed that one. Now merged. 

MattMattMattUK

thenap80 said:

If I contest the claim, can the claimant keep adding on legal rep fees that I will have to pay. 

thenap80 said:

Sorry to keep going on...
But if I want to contest a small claims, can the claimant add yet more cost onto my bill by my having to pay legal rep fees for THEM. I have already had two Solicitor fees added because they want to chase the money. If I contest by returning n1a and n1 b forms to the court, will my bill just go higher. Seems wrong that I have to pay for the claimant's decision to use legal reps etc.

Once again, you need legal grounds to contest/defend their claim. At the moment you have said you agree you owe the money and you have not paid them when the money is due. The short of it is that you owe them money, you are refusing to pay that money, to recover the money you owe them they are having to incur costs by taking legal action and so are rightly able to claim those costs from you, in addition to your unpaid debts. If you had a valid defence and could prove that you did not owe the money then they would not be able to claim any costs.