How to File a Small Claim: Costs and What to Send First

You can apply to a county court to claim money you are owed by a person or business. GOV.UK calls this making a court claim, and says it often used to be known as taking someone to a 'small claims court'.

In England and Wales the small claims track is the normal track for any claim with a value of not more than £10,000. For a personal injury claim, the small claims track is the normal track where the damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity are not more than £1,500, or £5,000 where the injury arose from a road traffic accident (with £1,000 in some road traffic accident cases). A claim for harassment or unlawful eviction relating to residential premises is not allocated to the small claims track whatever its financial value.

In Scotland the simple procedure replaced 'small claims' and most 'summary cause' claims on 28 November 2016. The Northern Ireland limit was raised from £3,000 to £5,000 on 3 October 2022. The rest of this guide covers England and Wales; mygov.scot and nidirect cover the other two.

For the rights behind a dispute, see our guides on faulty goods, refunds and package holidays. For a tenancy deposit, see deposits.

The court's Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct says the steps before a claim will usually include the claimant writing to the defendant with concise details of the claim. The letter should include the basis on which the claim is made, a summary of the facts, what the claimant wants from the defendant and, if it is money, how the amount is calculated.

The defendant should respond within a reasonable time: 14 days in a straightforward case and no more than 3 months in a very complex one. The steps will usually also include the parties disclosing key documents relevant to the issues in dispute.

Before commencing proceedings, the court will expect the parties to have exchanged sufficient information to understand each other's position and to try to settle the issues without proceedings. If a dispute goes to court, the court will take non-compliance into account when giving directions and when making orders for costs. It is not likely to be concerned with minor or technical infringements.

The Practice Direction says litigation should be a last resort. It also says a refusal to take part in a form of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, might be considered unreasonable by the court and could lead to the court ordering that party to pay additional court costs.

You can make your claim online through GOV.UK, or by post on paper claim form N1, and you pay the court fee when you do. GOV.UK says you can make your claim online unless:

• you do not know how much money you want to claim
• you are making the claim on behalf of more than one person or organisation
• your claim is against 3 or more people or organisations
• you or the people or organisations you are claiming against do not have an address in England or Wales
• your claim is against a government department

The full steps are in GOV.UK's make a claim guide. For other consumer problems, see our consumer rights guides.

You can claim interest on the money you are owed. If you are owed money by another business, you can charge interest on a late commercial payment. For other types of debt, the rate is usually 8%.

If you are claiming a fixed amount, you work out the interest yourself. Multiply the amount you are claiming by 0.08 for the yearly interest, divide that by 365 for the daily interest, then multiply by the number of days the debt has been overdue. GOV.UK's example is a debt of £1,000: £80 a year, which is about 22p a day.

You must pay a court fee when you make your claim. It is based on the amount you are claiming, plus any interest, and runs from £35 for a claim of up to £300 to £455 for a claim of £5,000.01 to £10,000. You may be able to claim the fee back if you win the case.

The fee will be calculated for you if you make your claim online. You may have to pay more fees later on, for example if there is a court hearing or you need to get a judgment enforced.

You may be able to get help with fees if you have a low income or you are on certain benefits. Whether you are eligible depends on how much money you have in savings, which benefits you get and your income. You can get money off your fee if you claim income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit (and you earn less than £6,000 a year) or Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit), and you also have less than the maximum amount of money in savings.

To use the online route, apply for help with fees online before you make a court claim. You will get a 'help with fees' reference number to use when you make your claim. By post, fill in form EX160 and form N1 and return both to the Civil National Business Centre.

The defendant can pay the full amount, offer to pay a different amount, or defend the claim. They can also make a claim against you, called a counterclaim. A defendant who is not paying the full amount can ask for another 14 days to respond.

Under the Civil Procedure Rules, the period for filing a defence is 14 days after service of the particulars of claim, or 28 days if the defendant files an acknowledgment of service. A defendant may make a counterclaim against a claimant by filing particulars of the counterclaim.

If you get no response

If you get no response, or the defendant refuses to pay what they owe, you can ask the court to order the defendant to pay. If you made your claim online, you request a judgment online. With a paper claim form, use form N225 if you claimed a fixed amount or form N227 if you claimed an unspecified amount. A claimant can obtain judgment in default of an acknowledgment of service only if the defendant has not filed an acknowledgment of service or a defence and the relevant time for doing so has expired.

If the defendant disputes it: mediation

If you are making a claim of £10,000 or less and the defendant disputes it, you will be told you must attend mediation. The court organises this mediation and the service is free. A mediator from HMCTS speaks to you separately by phone, in an appointment lasting up to one hour.

If you do not reach an agreement, you will have to attend a court hearing. You cannot mention what happened during the mediation appointment in court, and you will not have to wait longer for a court hearing if you go to mediation first. If you have been told you must attend mediation and you do not, the judge can sanction you. Sanctions can include your case being dismissed or having to pay all court costs even if you win.

You might have to go to a court hearing if the defendant says they do not owe you any money, they disagree with the amount you have claimed, or you do not agree with how they have offered to repay you. The court may send you a questionnaire asking for more information on the case. Fill it in and return it to the court. You will have to pay an extra court fee.

Your hearing can be held in the judge's room or a courtroom in a county court if your claim is for less than £10,000. Under the rules, hearings will be informal, the strict rules of evidence do not apply and the court need not take evidence on oath. You will get a decision on the day of the hearing, and the court will send you a copy by post.

At the hearing, you can represent yourself, pay for a barrister or solicitor to represent you, ask someone to advise you in court (they do not have to be a lawyer), or ask someone to speak on your behalf, which might need the court's permission. The court must give reasons for its decision.

If you cannot attend

A party who will not attend can ask the court to decide the claim in their absence. They must give written notice to the court and the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date, and serve on the other party at least 7 days before the hearing date any other documents they have filed with the court. If a claimant does not attend the hearing and does not give that notice, the court may strike out the claim. The court may also deal with the claim without a hearing if all parties agree.

If you disagree with the decision

You can appeal the decision if you think the judge made a mistake during the hearing. The Civil Procedure Rules set 21 days after the date of the decision for filing an appellant's notice, unless the lower court directs otherwise.

No, you can represent yourself: GOV.UK lists that as one of your options at the hearing. If you pay for a solicitor, the court may not order the other side to pay your costs, fees and expenses on the small claims track except for the items listed in rule 27.14 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Those items include the fixed costs of issuing the claim, any court fees you paid, expenses reasonably incurred in travelling to and from a hearing, capped sums for loss of earnings and for an expert's fees, and such further costs as the court may assess against a party who has behaved unreasonably. Apart from capped legal advice and assistance in a claim for an injunction or specific performance, the list has no allowance for a solicitor's fees. A party's rejection of an offer in settlement does not of itself constitute unreasonable behaviour, but the court may take it into consideration.

You can ask the court to collect payment from the person or business who owes you money if they do not pay you after receiving the court order. You must pay a court fee when you ask. You can also ask the court to order the debtor to attend court to give evidence of their income or spending, such as bills and statements, so you can see what they can afford.

• Bailiffs (warrant of control): you can ask the court to send bailiffs to collect the money. The bailiff will ask for payment within 7 days. If the debt is not paid, the bailiff will visit the debtor's home or business to see if anything can be sold to pay the debt. To apply at a county court you must be owed £5,000 or less (form N323).
• Money from wages (attachment of earnings): the court sends an order to the debtor's employer to take money from the debtor's wages. Use form N337.
• Freezing an account (third-party debt order): you can ask the court to freeze money in the debtor's bank, building society or business account, and the court will decide if money from the account can be used to pay the debt. Use form N349.
• Charging order: you can ask the court to charge the debtor's land or property. If the land or property is sold, the debtor must pay this charge before they get their money. Use form N379.

You can apply to either a county court or the High Court if you are owed between £600 and £5,000, and you may need legal advice if you apply at the High Court. How you apply to the court depends on how you made your claim, so check GOV.UK's enforce a judgment page for the right form. GOV.UK says you cannot enforce a judgment if you are told that the person who owes you money has a 'Breathing Space' and is temporarily protected from their creditors. Our Breathing Space guide explains the scheme.

You must respond by the date on the email or letter you receive, in the same way the claim was made. You can pay the full amount, offer to pay a different amount if you think you owe less, or defend the claim if you do not think you owe any money.

You might have to pay more or get a county court judgment (CCJ) if you do not respond in time. You can also make a claim against them (a counterclaim) if you think they owe you money. For what a judgment means, see our CCJ guide, and see GOV.UK's guide to responding to a court claim for money.

In England and Wales an action founded on simple contract, or on tort, cannot be brought after six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. Personal injury claims have a special time limit under section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980. In Scotland, an obligation to which section 6 of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 applies is extinguished once it has subsisted for five years without a relevant claim having been made and without being relevantly acknowledged.

Writing to the other side first does not change these limits: the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct says it does not alter the statutory time limits for starting court proceedings.

If the business is a sole trader, GOV.UK says the owner is personally responsible for all of the debts of the business. A limited company is legally separate from the people who own it.

If you paid by credit card, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 lets you claim against your credit card provider, or another lender that financed the purchase, when the seller has breached the contract or misrepresented what you bought. A chargeback lets you challenge and claw back a payment made with a debit or credit card. You can only do it in certain circumstances, and your bank will ask for supporting evidence before it starts the process.

Our guides explain Section 75 claims and chargebacks.