Small claims court

[WhirlyByrd]

Can anyone answer a quick question - if I take someone to the small claims court and lost would I have to pay the other party's costs?

Yes.

Sorry for lack of detail, but it's someone who owes me money. They have a hotshot ??? lawyer behind them and I don't. The case is straightforward and I can prove things but I am concerned that I would be liable for their legal expenses which would likely be thousands...

Oh shit. Even if small claims and < £5k?

We won our case, no solicitors involved so just the fees paid to progress trhough, they didn't contest it eventually, but we are still trying to get our money from them which includes any costs occurred by us.

Our fees without lawyers were just under £400, this included the bailiffs fee.

You don't normally get a costs order in the small claims court - it is intended for individuals to be able to represent themselves and not need legal representation. I am not a litigator, but memory from dim and distant past is that you would only get a costs order in very limited circumstances - for example, if you were shown to be a vexatious litigant (e.g. say you brought repeated claims with no basis just to annoy the other party then the Court could order you to pay their costs for defending a groundless and vexatious claim).

You could possibly get an insurance policy to cover it if a costs order was made I think although don't know anything about that side of it - you can certainly get after the event insurance for a higher court claim, you could look into the availability of such insurance for small claims court matters if you were worried. There is some guidance on small claims cases generally on the Citizens' Advice website: here

NB The costs of bringing the claim i.e. Court fees are not the same as solicitors' fees. This is not what 'costs' means - you can recover if you win in small claims the fixed costs of issuing the claim, which is the Court fees - that's what fivegomad is referring to - this is not the same as getting a Costs Order, which orders the losing party to pay the winning party's lawyers' fees.

If you lost they will recover their fixed costs. That is usually £80 issue fee; £40 allocation fee; £120 hearing fee and £80 solicitors costs or figures roughly around that area.

If you behaved vexatiously or unreasonably (for example) then they may be able to recover the actual solicitors' costs. This is extremely rare and they would have to show that your manner in conducting the proceedings has cost them more money than it should have done. This is CPR Part 27.14(2)(g). You can do a google search.

Ah that's what I thought, but DH thought we might be in for all the legal bills. That makes legal action more of a possibility now.

that's the whole point of the small claims track

Ah sorry just seen you are the claimant!!! In that case they wont recover anything!!! you only have those fixed costs if you are the claimant. SO if you win you will be able to recover those costs.

That's a huge relief. The other party has had a lawyer involved to try to scare me into walking away. I need to be paid for the work, but can't afford to risk court of I'd have to pay their astronomical lawyer bills

If the court found in favour of the defendant, I think they might be able to claim some minor costs, e.g. for travel, although having said that, hearings are usually held at a court close to the defendant. But as has been said by others, if you win, you can claim all the court related costs from the defendant, and some other minor costs, like the aforementioned travel. When you make your claim, don't forget that costs are in addition to the main claim, and don't count towards the maximum £5,000. Costs are sorted out at the hearing, so you don't need to guess what they'll be on the claim form - just put the figure claimed 'plus costs', and have the costs listed when you go to the hearing. Don't forget you can also claim interest on the payment owed.

I would advise getting some free legal advice (there's a telephone number on the court forms, plus some home insurance policies include legal advice, or through Which? etc) so you are confident about the basis of your case. It's very helpful if you have a good paper trail to back up your case, and a coherent argument. The basis for the judge's decision in the small claims court is what is likely to have happened 'on the balance of probability' rather than 'beyond reasonable doubt' which is used in other court systems (i.e. a less strenuous test).

There are books around and information online about representing yourself at Small Claims, and it's useful to look at other similar cases (although I don't think you can access Small Claims cases online).

Good luck, and don't be put off by the defendant's legal representation.