Going to small claims court - How??

[jellyjelly]

Am thinking about taking a company to the small claims court as they will not authorise a payment or send it back despite saying they will.

How do i do this? How pays if i win?

thanks

If you win they pay.

Try the Ministry of Justice website - that's got info about the UK courts system.

And good luck!

thankyou hope it will help.

Okay, I do this all the time for work. It's easy. Here's how:

1. Write a formal letter to the company stating the outline of your claim against them, eg. on xyz date I did abc for you, I have not received payment which is due to me, blahdiblah. You will need to adapt this letter to your circumstances, obviously, and stick to the facts of why they owe you money. Include a final paragraph to the effect that: "if I do not receive payment in full from yourselves within fourteen days from the date of this letter, I shall have no other option but to commence legal proceedings in the County Court in order to obtain payment of the outstanding amount."

Send the letter recorded delivery, so you can prove they received it. You can cc it to a solicitor for added umph.

1. Wait fourteen days, then wait another fourteen days if you like, just to make sure. Lots of people pay out at this point.

1. If you haven't heard from them by then, then go to the moneyclaimline website and follow the step by step instructions. It really is pretty simple, though some of the boxes have a maximum no. of characters, so watch out for that. Remember that you are claiming against a company rather than an individual, and in the box marked 'particulars of claim' or similar, just state your case straightforwardly much as you did in the original letter.

1. You have to pay a fee upfront (you can use debit card) but this will be added to the amount of your claim, so as long as you win, the fee will be paid by the defendant.

1. I find most people who haven't already cracked pay up as soon as they receive the summons from the Court, so I've never had to actually defend a claim in front of a judge. But keep all the paperwork and a record of all phone calls etc, just in case they decide to play silly buggers.

hth