Is it really this simple to take someone through the small claims court?

[lalamom]

Okay so we had a tenant who did not pay rent for 3 months- we got him out and have decided to pursue the debt via the small claims court- about 2K in total.

Now we phoned a solicitor and they suggested their costs would come in at around 700 quid.

Anyway I have done a bit of research and it seems pretty straight forward to apply through your local court to try to get the debt paid. I realise that the person may show they are unable to pay the debt but if nothing else there will be a county court action against them. We are not happy with the state the place was left in and as the parents are the legal guarantors we feel strongly they should act o that responsibility.

Now we have been told we will pay 2% of the amount of debt we seek to recover.

I cannot believe it is this simple- how come solicitors charge so much for what seems like a straight forward process?

Am I missing something here?

We charge for our time. A claim form is a claim form. Time doesn't slow down when we prepare documents for a claim for the small claims court as against a claim for more than £5000.
£700 will probably amount to less than 3 hours work. It's good that you can do it yourself - that's what the small claims procedure is designed for. Betcha your mortgage though that it takes you far longer than 3 hours to DIY.

Yup, very straight forward and I even went to small claims court and won against a solicitor .

Thanks Resolution and obamadog- believe me I am happy to spend more than 3 hours to save 700 quid! It 's a high hourly rate but I just did not even consider it would be something we can do ourselves at such a low cost until my dad suggested it- his friend runs a business and is always chasing up unpaid bills and never uses a solicitor. I guess it is just really worth looking into this stuff to see you can do it yourself.

I know forms are a pain but hec I do a lot of forms through life and never get 700 quid for them so I am motivated to do this one.

I really did think I must be missing something and had no idea that is how much solicitors charge for their time.That is an eye opener.

Got to agree the small claims court is a doddle to negotiate. Pick up the forms from local court office together with information leaflets and you should have no problem Sols fees depend on the region you live also - my own firm started at £140 ph up to £400 ph and that's the North East.

Good luck and if you do get stuck the court staff will help you

I posted this is two wrong places so am trying here now!

What happens if there is no financial settlement agreed after divorce?

My solicitor said to me at the time the divorce went through that I should not re-marry until a settlement is reached but I didn't question this at the time.

I have no intention of remarrying but I am getting worried about what would actually happen if I died suddenly. I have changed my will leaving everything to my son and my best friend to be his guardian (live with her) and she be executor of the will.

Butbecause there was no financial settlement, what would happen if he found out I had died...could he still contest any money/property? The house is in my name only.

We had a second rental property which I sold and have invested some of the money, spending it as I go as I earn peanuts. Obviously exH pays no child support at all.

He took ten grand savings with him and depleted my overdraft limit too leaving me ten grand in debt, which I have managed to clear off.

Could he even dispute my will and get custody of ds too?

I dont know whether I should write to him (I think I know where he works but it would be v difficult to get in contact) and ask him to put in writing to me that everything is owned by me and he makes no claim on anything?

I dont know how to sort this out. Or even if, after being abandoned by him for 3 years now with no contact, I really need to.

One other thing: on the divorce, the court ordered exh pay all costs relating to it but I didn't do anything about that because of the circs. I paid the costs myself and the sol suggested I could pursue him through the small claims court.

Is it too late to do this now (divorce came through over a year ago) and can I make a claim when there is no prospect of him paying the costs and I dont know how to serve any papers on him? It might be useful in future for there to be a CCJ against him? I have no email, phone or contact address for him but I know he is alive as he is traceable on the internet.

GHaaaah. Am i fretting unecessarily ??

agreement ever, is FLIPPIN expensive and I dont want to get into it all with him until or unless I really have to.

ExH disappeared abroad nearly three years ago now, and I have no contact. Son was 6 months when he ran away.

Anyone?

oops, sorry about the last few sentences.

Forgot to say, Exh Ran away to Thailand. Lied about his background to secure a teaching job there and is still doing it as far as i can tell. I could prove he got up to all sorts of yucky stuff when he got there, if he ever decided he wanted custody if ds (doubt it but who knows what a man like this is capable of doing?)

I went to small claims court and won. Very simple process that I would certainly do again if need be. Good luck.

Amazonian - don't you need to start a new thread? Your query isn't related to the OP query.

Your case is complicated anyway, and I'd recommend you take advice from a solicitor.

Gawd i am being a total numtpy today. It was meant to be a new thread. So very sorry OP. Ignore me

You can start a small claims case online, don't need to even go to the courts. And because it's automated they prompt you to fill everything in correctly.

We won a ccj against someone who would not pay my tradesman husband for work at her house. She only owed £300 but had no intention of paying. We have now instructed tha bailiff to try and recover the £££. She now owes £430 incl costs. I hope we get recovery in the end.

You have to try it is the principle. We filled out all the forms our self and you can do it online

WWW.hmcs.gov.uk

It's very easy to get a ccj against someone but, ime, it's bloody impossible to get them to pay, even if you send the bailiffs in, most people don't have #2k of goods lying around their house (or not the sort of people who are willing to let it go that far).

Gold is at an all time high and the bailiff at our court tries to get jewellery. No storage and simple to weigh in for scrap value. two or three items can be £500 +

Thanks everyone....oh gosh I'm not sure we could go down the bailiff route particularly if they have genuinely hit hard financial times- parents guaranteed the rental.

But it is such a lot of money-it shows me how people just have less integrity. I have never not paid what I owe- no matter how hard up I have been.

If the parents guaranteed the rental then you can pursue them rather than the tenants. Presumably you have their address and something signed to say that they would guarantee it?

you don't have to go the bailiff route
if you know that they have a bank account (and that they might have something in it!) you can get a third party debt order so the bank pays you directly
if you know they have a house and you are owed more than say £1000 or so you can get a charging order over their house (and the paperwork for that landing on their doorstep can cause them to send you a cheque pretty quickly), if they are employed you can attach their earnings...

lots of options

but yes small claims court is designed for DIY jobs, so do it yourself and good luck