Submitting a small claims online vs paper form, help!

NibblyPig

Hello, does anyone know the best way to submit a small claims? (England)

I downloaded the N1 form and filled it out. In the brief description, I put a brief desc like 'I hired fred the builder, fred the builder screwed up a bunch of things, I seek the cost of rectifying fred the builder's work'

Then in the particulars, I put 3 sections eg.

Particulars (abridged)

1. I hired fred the builder
2. fred the builder came on this date
3. I signed a contract with fred the builder on this date
4. fred the builder did some work
5. fred the builder finished
6. I looked and found that he had screwed up a few things

Then I put a 'particulars of breach' section eg.

  1. the door
  1.1 fred the builder put the door on upside down
  1.2 fred the builder said the door was fine and he i thought I wanted it that way
  1.3 I think fred the builder is liable for ensuring the door is installed correctly

  2. the windows
  2.1 the windows fred installed don't open and close
  2.2 fred says they're not supposed to open and close
  2.3 our initial contract said fred the builder would install windows that open and close

etc.

Then I put the last section,

  3. Remedy Sought
  3.1 £200 to replace the door
  3.2 £400 to remove the windows and replace them

etc.

The problem is when it comes to the online form, there is only 2 sections, the brief description, and the timeline of events. 

Into the timeline I put what I wrote above in the particulars section, just saying basically I hired fred to do work, this is when he did the work, and this is when I realised it was no good, this is when I asked him to fix it, this is when I sent him a letter before action etc.

But then there's nowhere to put the actual breaches if I do that. The only thing you can do is submit evidence (optional). None of the above is actual evidence though, it's just an explanation of the details of what happened.

I tried to phone them and I was on hold for an hour but they were very unhelpful, they just said they only want a brief description. But when I look online at other completed n1 claim forms they specify at what the actual problems were, not just that something went wrong.

I was tempted to just send it by post, the particulars/particulars of breach/remedy sought sections are three sheets of A4, 1 for the timeline, 1.5 for the list of problems (there were about 7 problems), and half a page just listing the cost of fixing each bit.

However to send it by post you have to attach a cheque which I have no idea how you do in 2024 lol, or a money order but max money order is £250 whereas the court fees would be £455

Any advice?

DullGreyGuy

According to https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees you can add a note to pay by card and the court will call to take the payment. 

NibblyPig

Oh nice! I did not spot that. Honestly that would be easiest. Then if they don't want all that extra info they can just ignore it. Much appreciated.