Claims are a means to resolve a dispute in a Court of Law. Before a case reaches the hearing stage at Court the case must be allocated to a ‘track’ which determines the process a case will follow.
In the UK, there are 3 types of tracks – Small Claims, Fast Track and Multi Track. The amount of the dispute/debt determines which track a case will follow. Small claims are for debts below £10,000, fast track is for debts between £10,000 and £25,000 and anything over £25,00 will follow the multi-track process.
Small Claims Court Procedure
This is taking action to recover money owed to you and is a simple process. The aim is to ensure you are confident you have a case before proceeding with a claim. Small Claims don’t usually require a lawyer and are intended for any individual to pursue a debt if they have evidence to prove they are owed it.
Before you seek small claim Court action, it is important to follow the pre-action protocol to show to the Court that you have tried to recover the losses. The Pre action protocol is a means to encourage early communication between the parties to resolve the debt informally, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and it governs the way parties must conduct themselves and set outs the way a case must be managed through the Court process.
- paid by a stated date (14 days), then they should treat the notice as a ‘letter before action’
- Offer mediation as a means to trying to resolve the dispute before Court action
- If no response, then proceed with a claim online on or send a claim form via post on using Form N1.
The Court fee that is payable when making the claim is dependant upon the amount you’re claim.
After you have applied:
Mediation: You may be offered to attend mediation which is a quicker and cheaper process that the Court will offer you
If the Defendant does not reply: The Court can award a judgement in your favour if the defendant does not reply. You can ask the court for judgment by default.
This can be done through the money claims procedure - If you have made the claim on-line. If you used Money Claims, you can also use it to request a judgment by default if the defendant hasn’t replied and the deadline for their reply has passed.
If you do not agree with the Defendants response: Proceed to a Court hearing.
For Scotland follow the Simple Procedure for claims £5,000 or under. For claims over £5,000 please refer to the Ordinary Procedure.
For Northern Ireland please refer to this link
Republic of Ireland: Refer to this link
Fast track Claims
These are usually more of the complicated cases therefore to reach the hearing stage it can take up to a year. Hearing themselves last a day and any costs for mediation would be shared out between both parties. The successful party would usually be awarded with costs.
Multi track Claims
Multi track claims do not have a standard procedure in place and allows Courts to deal with such cases based on the needs of the case itself.
- Multi track claims usually take place in either the High Court or County Court.
- Due to the complexity of multi track claims they will usually require a solicitor/barrister to assist
