Small claims court

[TangBloodyFastic]

Invoiced a customer in April, wouldn't pay, ignored all calls etc etc
Ended up taking customer (ltd company) to court
Finally got payment last week but they have knocked off the court fees.
Does anyone know how I can get them to pay the fees too?
Under £600 so it says I can't get a warrant

How much are the costs? You’ve had a great result in getting actually paid without having to take irritating, time consuming and expensive enforcement action. Maybe best to quit while you are ahead?

£500.

It's a lot to be out of pocket and it's the principal. They had no reason not to pay, just being dicks

Were they ordered to pay court fees? If so, I understand you can bounce the nonpayment back to the court - they won't be pleased.

Have you discontinued the court action? Write them a strongly worded letter saying you do not consider the matter settled until you are paid the amount on your claim full inclusive of costs in full, and will take them to court if necessary
You can theoretically add interest too www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt - so I'd threaten this as well
Practically speaking though, it's likely to cost you more than £500 in time, hassle, further court fees and possibly hiring legal representation if it did go to court

No we haven't discontinued the court action. Hearing is soon.
Customer says they are going to write to court telling them settled in full.

Yes they were told the court fees were payable and that the amount was now £xxxx.xx.

@SpoonBlender what happens if they are ordered to pay the costs and you are unable to get a warrant for less than £600 (as per the small claims website)
How does the process proceed then?

They are going to be hilariously shat on by the court if they haven't paid in actual full by then - or even better, don't turn up. Either will be worth going to court for.

I don't know, sorry, I've only been a couple of times as a witness (not called in the end) and an interested observer.

I'm spitting feathers with them. They have refused to pay (for no reason) for over 6 months.
We have saved them ££££ (a six figure sum) and they wouldn't pay us for doing a f*cking good job and they're quibbling over a relatively small amount just because they can.

Customer says they are going to write to court telling them settled in full

Unless they pay the court fee they haven't settled in full.

Whilst you cannot get bailiffs involved for less than £600 there are other enforcement methods you can use. For example, you can ask the court to freeze money in their bank account.

If you claimed fees they have pay the fees. Continue with the case.

Tell them they also owe fees, that you have no intention of waiving them, and they must pay or they will still get a CCJ against them. Given they’ve essentially admitted the whole claim by paying the £500, they will have no legs to stand on.

So they have paid “in full and final settlement” prior to court hearing date? Did you accept that payment? If so you could be argued to have agreed the sum excluding costs unless you said it was without prejudice to the treatment of costs

@Chocolala just the fees were £500. The debt was thousands

@VanCleefArpels they paid direct into our account, we weren't able to decline the payment and I am certainly not going to return the money for the £500 fees. We will write to the court advising the money was paid but we do not consider the amount paid in full until stated fees are paid.

We phoned them numerous times and they would not take calls, we sent reminders by email (Read receipts for all of them) and then a notice to take legal action (read)
They then incurred further fees by being dickheads. They then paid by bank transfer with no notice/phone call/email.

I reckon they have done this just because they can and I want them to pay the £500, it would be totally unjust for them to play the system and push it until the last minute without any financial punishment.

Sorry - was confused.

Write to them saying “thank you for admitting liability and sending partial payment. Please send the balance of £x within 7 days.” Then carry on with the case.

I'm a lawyer. If you are entitled under the order made by the court to court fees as well as the principal sum, then you have a debt claim for the court fees. This would be a fresh claim in which you are suing them on the judgment from the first claim, for the unpaid fees.

Write them a letter before action setting out the fact that under the order they are obliged to pay the fees but have only paid the principal sum. If they don't pay within 14 days, you will issue proceedings for recovery of the fees, plus interest.

If you do need to issue then, as you will know from the first claim, this will be a small claims court claim and you won't be able to recover legal costs (absent any exceptional circumstances), so it makes sense to represent yourself.

I'm not sure if I am misunderstanding what 1Wanda1 is suggesting, but if you've got judgment (a court order for an amount to be paid that includes the costs) you do not need to issue another claim to sue on the judgment. You enforce the judgment that you already have.

Yes sorry that is what I meant - hurried typing early morning!

You fill in the court form (www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n316a-application-for-order-that-officer-of-the-debtor-company-attend-court-for-questioning) and the appropriate person from the debtor has to answer questions under oath as to the company's assets. Then you can choose the appropriate enforcement (depending on what the assets are).