Small Claims Court

Andreacl

Hi, I am hoping someone can help with advice here, please.
My old vet claims I didn't pay a bill (c £250 so not huge), he has requested payment almost 3 years later. I have never not paid so if the vet had given me the bill at the time, I would have paid it. I have no way of knowing if I have paid for this treatment, the treatment was ongoing so I don't know if I have paid it within a previous bill or if this is the vets error.
I have not returned the messages from my vet as I am cross that he has held up a bill that may or may not be accurate and he should have presented it to me in a timely manor. 
I have now received a message to tell me that he is going to the small claims court unless I pay up.
I am being a bit stubborn, the vet should have billed me earlier than 3 years and I can't prove treatment wasn't paid within a previous bill. Surly there is a time line or rules that vets have to abide by, or anyone could dream up a bill that you can't prove you have had the treatment for and then get threatened with small claims.....

mr_stripey

others will know better than me but I think it is 6 years in which they can ask for payment

Should be easy to piece together - ask you vet for copies of invoices which will show how much the treatment(s) cost. You can then cross reference with what you paid ? If there is an outstanding balance then you will have to pay it

But ignoring the vet is probably not the way to go

Alderbank

mr_stripey said:

others will know better than me but I think it is 6 years in which they can ask for payment

Should be easy to piece together - ask you vet for copies of invoices which will show how much the treatment(s) cost. You can then cross reference with what you paid ? If there is an outstanding balance then you will have to pay it

But ignoring the vet is probably not the way to go

Correct on all counts.

Okell

I also agree with Mr Stripey.

Ergates

Andreacl said:

Hi, I am hoping someone can help with advice here, please.
My old vet claims I didn't pay a bill (c £250 so not huge), he has requested payment almost 3 years later. I have never not paid so if the vet had given me the bill at the time, I would have paid it. I have no way of knowing if I have paid for this treatment, the treatment was ongoing so I don't know if I have paid it within a previous bill or if this is the vets error.
I have not returned the messages from my vet as I am cross that he has held up a bill that may or may not be accurate and he should have presented it to me in a timely manor. 
I have now received a message to tell me that he is going to the small claims court unless I pay up.
I am being a bit stubborn, the vet should have billed me earlier than 3 years and I can't prove treatment wasn't paid within a previous bill. Surly there is a time line or rules that vets have to abide by, or anyone could dream up a bill that you can't prove you have had the treatment for and then get threatened with small claims.....

Whilst annoying, the vet doesn't lose the right to bill you for services you've had within the last 6 years, even if it was their fault you weren't billed at the time.

Aylesbury_Duck

You have three choices:

1. Continue to ignore them and see if it goes to court.
2. Pay what they're asking.
3. Ask for proper billing information that proves you owe the sum.

1 is being silly and stubborn.  If it did go to court, you having ignored them doesn't help your case.

2 would be silly without you being sure. 

If they're threatening court it suggests they are confident they have the evidence to show they didn’t bill you at the time or they did and you didn't pay it.  Option 3 is the right way forward and if their information justifies the bill, pay it.  If you think it doesn't, let them take you to court, and hope the court agrees with you.

user1977

Andreacl said:

I have no way of knowing if I have paid for this treatment

Why not? What method of payment would you have used if you had paid at the time?

Andreacl

Thank you everyone. I will ask for further details from the vet, looking at the bill it was for treatment in 2020, I can't remember the details back then so I feel I am on a looser regardless, shouldn't have paid cash either I guess. Never to old to learn the hard way......
Thanks again. 

MyRealNameToo

Andreacl said:

Hi, I am hoping someone can help with advice here, please.
My old vet claims I didn't pay a bill (c £250 so not huge), he has requested payment almost 3 years later. I have never not paid so if the vet had given me the bill at the time, I would have paid it. I have no way of knowing if I have paid for this treatment, the treatment was ongoing so I don't know if I have paid it within a previous bill or if this is the vets error.
I have not returned the messages from my vet as I am cross that he has held up a bill that may or may not be accurate and he should have presented it to me in a timely manor. 
I have now received a message to tell me that he is going to the small claims court unless I pay up.
I am being a bit stubborn, the vet should have billed me earlier than 3 years and I can't prove treatment wasn't paid within a previous bill. Surly there is a time line or rules that vets have to abide by, or anyone could dream up a bill that you can't prove you have had the treatment for and then get threatened with small claims.....

Civil court works on the balance of probabilities, the judge has to decide what is most likely to have happened based on the statements of the parties and the evidence they provide. Your not going to be on good footing if you turn up to court and basically admit you have no idea one way or the other if you paid it or not and have no evidence to produce that shows you did pay it. 

Whilst lawyers fees basically cannot be added in small track court your bill will go up with both the fees from the court and statutory interest. If you then dont pay the judgement in full within a month you get a CCJ on your credit record to boot. 

Note however that judges have discretion, if you haven't taken reasonable steps to solve the matter out of court they can choose to allow the claimants costs to be added to the award despite it being in small track. 

You are much better engaging now and avoiding the judge penalising you for your stubbornness than have to pay lawyers fees. As others have said, the law of limitation on a simple contract is 6 years from the date of the breach (ie when payment was originally due)

eskbanker

Andreacl said:

I will ask for further details from the vet, looking at the bill it was for treatment in 2020, I can't remember the details back then so I feel I am on a looser regardless, shouldn't have paid cash either I guess.

Depending on exactly when it was in 2020, it's presumably possible that Covid lockdowns may have prevented you from returning to the practice to pay, although would have thought it more typical to pay at the time of treatment anyway, if doing so in cash - certainly when I was last involved with family pets, they wouldn't let you out of the door without paying?

retiredbanker1

Andreacl said:

Thank you everyone. I will ask for further details from the vet, looking at the bill it was for treatment in 2020, I can't remember the details back then so I feel I am on a looser regardless, shouldn't have paid cash either I guess. Never to old to learn the hard way......
Thanks again. 

Even if you paid cash you should have obtained a receipt?