Going to Court

If the builder fails to respond or you cannot reach agreement then your only remaining alternative may be to begin proceedings in your local county court. This is something you are unlikely to have done before.  In contrast, the builder may have been to Court lots of times.

The following is intended to apply to all claims up to £15,000.  However we must repeat our earlier advice that even on smaller claims you should seriously consider obtaining early legal advice. Good legal advice can save you £1,000's.

To issue proceedings you need to send the following documentation to the Court:

• N1 Claim form (enough copies for every party and you to have one and the Court to keep one) with a copy of the contract attached;
• Particulars of Claim (in complicated cases this should be a separate document to the N1 - in simple cases it can form part of the N1);
• Cheque made payable to HMCS for the Court issue fee.

Form N1 can be found on the court service website by clicking here and typing N1 in the "Form Number/Leaflet Number" box.

Court addresses can be obtained by clicking here.

Court fees can be checked by clicking here.

The Court will send you a copy of the documents stamped and dated and with a Notice of Issue telling you how long the other side have to respond. If they fail to respond within that timescale you should apply for Default Judgment straight away.. 

If they file a defence and the claim is for £5,000 or more we recommend you instruct a solicitor to deal with the matter from that stage forwards. 

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