Small Claims Guide

Small claims are defined as those which involve disputes worth less than £5,000 and with a personal injury element worth less than £1,000. Where Court proceedings are issued then these cases are normally allocated to the Small Claims Track with simplified directions leading to an early trial.

The Small Claims Track is designed so that people may bring their own claims without the use of a lawyer. If you do need to use a lawyer the disadvantage is that it would be unlikely for you to obtain a costs order against the other side to cover the costs, although there are limited circumstances where this may happen. The likelihood is that legal costs will equal a large part of or even exceed the amount you are claiming.

We would not normally carry out work that would mean that our own client will have to pay us, rather than an insurance company paying us. This is because we have found in the past that insurers and tradesmen tend to make these claims as long and as awkward as possible. The net effect is that a considerable proportion of any damages you received would have to be used to pay your solicitor's costs. That said, there are certain steps where you can recover legal costs if successful and we will highlight these in the guide.

Whilst the Government may think that claims up to £5,000.00 are too minor to need a lawyer, we know that to most people this can be a considerable amount of money and the legal process very daunting. As a result we offer a limited service to clients whose claims will proceed on the Small Claim Track along with the enclosed guide.

The guide is not meant to be an exhaustive explanation of the law, but rather a simple procedural guide. It does not do away with the need for specialist legal advice if you find yourself in difficulty, What it seeks to do is provide a simple, straightforward guide so that you can take most of the steps yourself without incurring legal fees. It is not linear, so you need to go through it all to understand how to run a claim.  Sections and steps overlap, so you cannot just progress each stage and think you will successfully get to the end.