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Sometimes it is said that a case will be brought in the ‘Small Claims Court’. This is not a special Court, but a division of the County Court which has a special, more informal, procedure for dealing with small claims up to usually £5,000.

Before commencing Court action, it is necessary in many cases to comply with any Court protocol. This will often  requires you to send a ‘letter before action’. This is simply a formal letter advising of your claim and that if not paid you will issue Court Proceedings. With certain proceedings however a more detailed protocol is laid down.

To commence an action a Claimant must file with the Court the following documents:

1. Form N1, or the designated form for the particular type of action. These can be obtained from the Court Service web site.

2. A Statement of Claim. This can be made on form N1 or as is often better, on a separate sheet. A statement of claim and form N1 is required for the Court and for each Defendant, plus copies for yourself which the Court will stamp and return to you.
The statement of claim must be signed and contain a statement of truth.

3. The Court fee. The charge for issuing the proceedings will depend upon the amount claimed. For those of limited means, a fee exemption or remission may be available. The exact amount payable is available from the Court Service web site.

4. Any additional document required by the Court rules. For example in a personal injury case it is necessary to file a medical report.

Once the proceedings are ‘issued’, the Court will then send to the Defendant a copy of the Particulars of Claim, together with a Court form for a acknowledging service of the claim, and for admitting or defending the action.

The Defendant in a money claim now has 14 days from the date of service to respond. If he/she does not do so, the Claimant may apply for judgment in default in most monetary claims. If only part of the debt is admitted judgment can only be obtained for the admitted part.

Where The Defendant replies saying that he intends to defend the claim, a further period of 28 days from the issue date is allowed for filing the defence. If one is not filed within that time, judgment in default may be obtained.

Sometimes the Defence filed will obviously have no chance of success. If so the Claimant may apply for summary judgment (but not in Small Claims). This will avoid much wasted time and expense, as a full trial will not be necessary. The application must be accompanied by a signed statement setting out why summary judgment should be given.

Where a Defendant contends that a claim has no realistic prospect of succeeding, he or she may similarly apply to the Court for summary judgment, and ask that the claim be struck out.

The Court may also strike out a claim or a defence of its own volition where it considers that such would have no prospect of succeeding.

When an action becomes defended, the Court will send an 'allocation questionnaire,  to each party for completion in order to assist the Court in deciding how the case should be decided. In some cases matters can be best resolved by the parties themselves with mediation or by considering ADR, and then the Court is likely to agree a ‘stay’ of the action for this to be tried. If this is not appropriate, the case will be allocated to the most appropriate ‘track’ for hearing. Each ‘track’ has a different way of handling claims, and the decision will be based on factors such as complexity, the value of the claim, and the extent and type of evidence that will be required.

The Small Claims Track.

Most claims under £5,000 (but not personal injury claims), or over this amount where both parties agree, will be allocated to this track.

It is intended for simple straightforward disputes, which are suitable for informal adjudication without the need to incur extensive legal and expert costs. The amount of costs which the winning side can recover is strictly limited.

When a case is allocated to the Small Claims track, a hearing date will often be fixed there and then. In some cases the Judge may decide that it can be dealt with on written evidence without a hearing. In either case, the Court will give directions; a timetable for what must be done before the case can be heard. These must be strictly complied with.

The Hearing will be informal, and held in the Judges ‘chambers’ rather than in a Court room. Both parties will have the opportunity to put their case, and the Judge will ask questions before making a decision.

The Fast Track

A case will usually be allocated to the fast track when the amount in dispute is between £5,000 and £15,000. This track will be appropriate where the documentation to prove the case is not extensive, where any expert evidence can be given in writing, where the time to prepare for trial does not exceed 30 weeks, and where the trial is not likely to last for more than one day.

On allocation to the fast track, the Judge will usually give directions.

These can vary from case to case, but standard directions will be:

* Disclosure of relevant documents [four weeks after allocation]
* Exchange of witness statements [10 weeks]
* Exchange of experts reports [14 weeks]
* Court to send listing questionnaires to confirm all directions complied with. [20 weeks]
* Trial [30 weeks]

The Multi-Track

All other cases will be allocated to the Multi-Track. There is no standard procedure. Each case will be managed by a judge, usually by calling a case conference, which all parties will attend, and where directions will be given.