Any experience with Small Claims court?

[MDM]

Hello there, has anyone had a successful outcome via a Small Claims court? Did it cost much? Was it stressful?

Yes we won. It cost a lot in travel and accommodation as we lived outside the area and the person we sued knew how to play about to get it continued several times. It was very stressful and I wouldn't do it again. You can get some costs back but they are capped and we lost out on that as we didn't have enough knowledge about how to justify a higher claim after being mucked about. If you think it will be a pretty simple case then there isn't much to lose by having a go and you might not find it stressful. We did because we were being played along by someone who has done it before. Good luck.

I was sued and won as I had clear documentary evidence of what had happened the other person only had their memory. I did not ask for costs.

Yes and we won.
DH bought a camera on Ebay, collected it in person and paid cash. the next day found a small crack in case, also the lens was not the model as advertised.
Took seller to court 100 miles from home but did not ask for our travel costs.
We won because the goods were not as advertised, not because of the crack.
Got our money back within 4 weeks, I think the small claims court charges were about £30?
Would recommend it...what have you got to lose? Take paper copies of all emails etc to court.

Yes, I won (after going all the way to court) but have never had the money and don't expect to ever get it. TBH, it was a horrible experience.

Yes - helped my mum and she won. I've also used money claims online which is very easy to do for low value claims (my claim was £450 I think). Not too stressful in terms of admin etc but may be moreso depending on the nature of your case.

Many thanks everyone - some mixed views there. Its hard to fathom out from the various websites, but do you have to pay court costs upfront (as well as the initial cost of making the claim)?

No, you only pay for the cost of the claim upfront. You can often do it online and if it's uncontested, you will find it very simple and quick.

Moneyclaimonline.gov.uk (I think is the link) is brill, you can do it all on line. Claimed £300 from caravan park for breach of contract, they ignored the court docs so for £100 I had pleasure of sending bailiffs round - they noticed then! Got my £400 and costs which were only about £30. It was very efficient, but you get hardly any space on the form to fill in details of claim etc so it needs to be simple.

Thanks spero and queen. Gosh, I'd love to send the bailiffs round to this guy, what an absolute delight that would be!

Seriously though, under what circumstances would I find myself having to travel to a court? Would that be if he contests?

Initial fee us 120 quid and then 40 quid when it gets a bit further.

And if you win the court should order that your costs are paid by him so you shouldn't be out of pocket.