To think I can manage small claims court process

[lorettalemon]

Posting for traffic in aibu - hoping more people will see it and can help!

I need to take someone to the small claims court to get money back for a service not provided and I wanted to ask whether anyone's had experience of doing it and if it's a very difficult/complicated process to follow.

I don't know where to look for the best guide on the steps to take to make sure I do everything right.

Thank you for reading!

Very easy.
Look at money claim online, it's self explanatory

www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

My friend and I both had to take the same individual to small claims for non-payment of wages. She was successful and I was unsuccessful. She had a fairly straightforward process to follow as hers was completed and concluded entirely through the online portal but my case went to court 200+ miles from where I live, on a work day, with 3 days' notice, so I was unable to attend in person, and I had to chase the court to find out the outcome - after a year of jumping through various hoops I gave up trying to pursue it any further because it was just driving me mad, to be honest, and I needed to move on with my life.

My original claim was against an individual (as per my work contract with him), I was then asked via the courts to resubmit it and pursue my claim against a company he was a director of. The company is now listed on companies house as having wound up the day before the court hearing took place anyway so I'm sure I wouldn't have got any money back regardless of how the court decided.

I am sure there is good money to be made out there by someone who could put out a clear guide to all the steps to follow - I work in policy and legislation and still couldn't make sense of a lot of the official guidance.

Its very easy to do , however you are supposed to send a 14 day letter before action ...i.e , give them 14 days to pay up or else

Very easy. I have done it a few times, won them all. Go for it.

The only tips I would give before you look at the MoneyClaims site is:

• you must give the service provider an opportunity to give you a final response, that must be in writing to you

• courts like you to offer mediation. Show, in writing, that in your request for a final response, you have offered mediation. They'll probably turn it down.

• be clear in your evidence, don't go on and on

• pay strong attention to deadlines. Exact times and dates when papers are to be sent. If either party fails to do this, the case can be thrown out/ruled in your favour. Make sure you are on the ball, and if the defence are 1 minute late, call the court and ask the judge to rule.

Thank you all!

Does anyone know if there's any kind of guide anywhere saying the basics like you have to send such and such letter first, then you fill in a particular form and then send it to a certain place?

All your answers are on MoneyClaim.
You have to submit the initial form first.
Once you're in the system and it's been referred to a court, then I found a good detailed phone call with their clerks helped me understand what form, when etc.

Look at the WHICH? website - they have template Letter Before Actions there and further guidance.