Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Small Claims Court Fact Sheet – Consumer Claims
The purpose of the small claims track is to provide consumers with a simple, yet effective way of dealing with any disputes they may have with traders. It is a relatively informal process and can be carried out without the need to involve a solicitor.
This fact sheet is intended as a general statement of the law and does not purport to render specific advice, legal or otherwise, specific advice on a particular problem should always be sought.
The following information is intended as a guide for anyone wishing to take action regarding a consumer issue. There are a range of issues that can be dealt with via the small claims track, including:
• Faulty Products – goods that have been purchased but are faulty or do not meet the correct standards
• Landlord / Tenant Issues – matters such as disputes over rent arrears and maintenance issues
• Problems With Services – disputes or problems with service providers such as plumbers, electricians and building contractors.
How Do I Know if my Claim Qualifies for the Small Claims Track?
Small Claims Procedure
Expert Witnesses
How to Prepare
The Court Hearing
Appeals
Points to Note
Alternatives to Court Action
Costs and Fees
Small Claims Case Study
How Do I Know if my Claim Qualifies for the Small Claims Track?
As a general rule, the value of your claim must be under £5,000.00 to be allocated to the small claims track. In some, more complicated cases however, claims of a lesser value may not proceed in this way. Similarly, a very straightforward case worth more than £5,000.00 may be allowed to go ahead via the small claims track if all parties are in agreement.
If the value of your claim is likely to be more than £5,000.00, we would always advise that you seek the advice of a solicitor.
There is a time limit in force for action through the small claims court. This stands at 6 years. Several other time restrictions also apply through the various stages of the process.
Small Claims Procedure
There is a recognised, reasonable procedure to be followed by anyone wishing to make a claim through the small claims court. It must be followed or there could be financial penalties charged. Before commencing action, a letter should be sent to the trader or service provider. An attempt should also be made to settle the matter without proceeding to court.
If the situation does arise that you need to pursue your claim through the small claims track, the process is as follows:
Serving Proceedings
• Obtain an N1 claim form from your local County Court, or online from the court service website, www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk.
• Complete the relevant sections of the form with your personal details, the details of the defendant (the person / trader / company that you are trying to sue) and information about what the claim concerns.
• You will need to specify on the forms how much the claim is for and complete a statement of truth (for all cases in England and Wales), confirming that the information provided is correct.
• The section entitled ‘particulars of claim’ should be completed with the details of what has happened and why you wish to claim. Alternatively, you can complete a separate document outlining this information, which would have to be sent to the defendant within 14 days of the main claim form.
• If you require to claim interest from the defendant, you may be able to do so. This matter should also be addressed on the claim form. If there is no mention of terms relating to interest in any written contract you have, it would be set at 8% Per Annum under section 69 of the County Courts act 1984.
• When you have completed the claim form, it should be taken to the courts. You may deliver it in person or by recorded delivery and the correct fee (see the Costs and Fees section) must be included. There are certain circumstances under which the fee may be waived.
• The claim form will be posted to the defendant by the Court. If, however, it is returned as undelivered, the responsibility of serving the form will fall to you. You will be notified by the court if this is the case.
• A Notice of Issue will be sent by the court (an N205 form), which will show the case number.
• Most often the hearing will be held at the nearest County Court to the defendant. It is possible to make an application to have the case transferred, however this will not always be granted.
What Happens Next
• The defendant has 14 days to respond to the claim form from the date of service, which is considered to be the second day after the date of posting. They may wish to respond in a number of ways (i.e. admit full responsibility, admit partial responsibility, deny the claim, make a counterclaim, negotiate out of court or ignore the form altogether).
• If they decide to defend the case, the court will send you a copy of the defence, together with an allocation questionnaire (N150). When they receive this, they will allocate the matter to a track.
• The Court’s decision is based on a number of factors, namely the amount of money in dispute, the level of preparation required to deal with the case justly and the type of claim.
• If it is considered that the procedure is simple enough to be prepared without the assistance of a solicitor and will not require many witnesses, it will likely be allocated to the small claims track. You will be notified on form N157 (or, if the claim is worth more than £5,000.00 on N160). The form will show details of the date, time and location of the hearing and will provide guidance on the next steps that you need to take.
Following the Hearing
• If your claim is successful, a judgement will be passed and an order made to the defendant, requiring that they pay you. You should also ask at the end of the hearing for your costs to be included (this would not normally include any solicitors’ fees). The defendant may be asked by the judge to pay immediately, pay in full by a specified date or to pay by instalments.
• The defendant may fail to pay the amount due. In these cases the claimant will need to ask that the judgement be enforced. There is a further fee for this, dependent upon the method of enforcement required, and it may be waived in some circumstances.
• In cases where the defendant does not pay immediately, it may be possible to apply for an order to bring them to court. Their financial circumstances would be examined to help you determine whether further enforcement is worthwhile and, if so, which method should be used.
Expert Witnesses
It is not advisable to obtain reports or opinions from experts in relation to your case before obtaining permission from the courts. Generally they will expect that both parties agree on expert witnesses, so that they can use the same expert and costs can be saved.
How to Prepare
Instructions will be provided by the court at all stages of proceedings as to what you will need to do and by what date. It is essential that you comply with the directions provided, so that the court does not impose any penalties.
All of the documentation that you intend to use as support for your claim should be collated and kept together. It is important that the defendants have sight of all of the evidence before the hearing or it may not be allowed.
If you do not have a solicitor to speak for you and would like to bring someone to the hearing to accompany you, you may do so. This person would be known as a ‘lay representative’ and can be anyone of your choice, for example a friend or relative. Any costs for a lay representative would fall to you, even if your case is successful.
The Court Hearing
A date will be set for the hearing by the court. If you do not attend, the case can be heard in your absence, however you must inform the defendant in and court in writing at least 7 days before the hearing date.
If you do wish to attend, but are unable to do so on the given date, you can apply to the judge for it to be postponed to a later date. This will generally give rise to a fee.
It may be that the judge decides to deal with the claim using written evidence only or by holding a preliminary hearing. If either party involved objects to this, a hearing will be arranged.
Small claims hearings are relatively informal and do not require the taking of an oath to tell the truth.
When the hearing has been concluded, the judge will issue an order or judgement to set out their decision on the matter.
Appeals
In the event that you lose your case and wish to appeal against the decision, you can ask for permission at the end of the final hearing in which the judgement was made. An appeal can only be made if permission is granted.
It is not possible to appeal based solely on the fact that you disagree with the decision made by the judge. There must be proper grounds for permission to be granted. The court will grant permission if an appeal ‘would have a real prospect of success or that there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard’.
There is only a period of 21 days within which you can ask for permission to appeal. An application has to be lodged with the court that made the judgement and the relevant fees must be paid.
Points to Note
It may not be worthwhile to make a claim if the other party is unable to pay, for example if a company has ceased trading or an individual has been declared bankrupt. It may therefore be useful to check if this is the case before proceeding with your case.
Alternatives to Court Action
Before you consider Court Action, there are some other avenues that you would be wise to consider. There are often mediation / dispute resolution schemes available, which are sometimes offered by trade associations and can be very useful in reaching a satisfactory conclusion.
There is a guidance form (EX307) on the Court Service website which provides further information on making a small claim for a consumer issue.
The Trading Standards Central website also provides advice.
Costs and Fees
When you make a consumer claim via the small claims track you will have to pay a court fee, which will depend upon the amount that you are claiming. Further details can be obtained from your county court office.
There are some circumstances under which a court fee may be waived, for example if:
• You or your partner receive Income Support.
• You or your partner receive State Pension Guarantee Credit.
• You receive Income based Job Seeker’s Allowance.
• Your gross annual income is below a set limit and you receive Working Tax Credit with a ‘disability element’.
• Your gross annual income is below a set limit and you or your partner receive Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit between you.
If you can show that payment of a court fee will cause hardship to you and your family, the court may waive the fee.
You can claim certain costs if your claim is successful, including:
• Any court fees you have paid
• An amount of not more than £50 per day each for you, and any witnesses you may have for loss of earnings due to attending the court hearing
• Any additional travelling an overnight expenses
• Costs for use of an expert up to a maximum of £200
• The party’s own and any witnesses’ expenses in attending court, for example, fares and accommodation.
• Costs ordered by the judge if one of the parties behaved in an unreasonable way
It is important to note that, if you had the opportunity to settle your claim out of court and didn’t, you may not get your costs back, even if your case is successful.
Costs will only be awarded by the court if the successful party asks for them. This should be done when the judge is giving judgment. If there has not been a hearing, the successful party will need to write to the court asking for costs.
If a claim for more than £5000 is allocated to the small claims track, the winning party will be able to claim costs including solicitors costs against the losing party.
Small Claims Case Study
See below an example of the type of case that might be handled by the small claims court:
A gentleman sold a horse privately. The buyer wanted to return the horse and have their money back because their vet had not passed the horse as fit. They said the man misrepresented the horse as he said it passed the vet before he sold it. He maintained that his vet passed the horse and that he did not misrepresent the horse when saying this. The vet did mention a problem with the horse’s foot but this was very minor.
The man was advised that animals, including livestock, are covered by the Sale of Goods Act 1979. However as he was a private seller, not a trader, only part of it applies. The part which applies is that the goods must match their description. He was also advised that he must not misrepresent the horse by making a false statement. This would be a breach of contract.
As long as the statement made by the man wasn’t false then the buyer had no course of action. Omitting any defects does not count as a breach of contract. However, the buyer would have had a claim if the man had described the horse as perfectly healthy, as he was aware otherwise.
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