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Introduction to small claims
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What is small claims?
This section is concerned with going to the county court in order to claim for something worth no more than £5000. That something is usually money. It can also be goods.
Such claims are generally brought under what is called the small claims track of the county court. Higher value claims are usually brought under different tracks. Although the type of track is generally based on the value of the case, a second and important factor is the straightforwardness of the claim.
The types of claim presented at this site are at a basic level.
If you think you have a claim, the information on this site offers an in depth account of how to put a valid claim into operation from start to finish.
If, after reading through the sections, you feel your case is complex, it would be unwise to proceed without instructing a solicitor to help you. Nevertheless, you will at least have the benefit of being in a more knowledgeable position, which means a saving of everybody’s time and probably your money.
That said, the small claims track is designed for people to represent themselves and indeed for this reason the winner cannot normally recover legal costs from the loser.
If nothing else, you will have a good understanding of litigation in the small claims track of the county court.
The site is set out with various pages and sublinks which you can see on the left. If viewed together in order starting from the top and going down, the pages will guide you through the entire small claims procedure. However, you can also look at individual pages and sublinks as they apply to you. So, for example, the 'judgment' page will give you invaluable guidance on how a judgment affects your credit rating where you may recently have found out that you have a judgment against you. The hearing section will be useful if a solicitor has handled your case, but you have decided to present it on your own. There is also an instant dictionary of legal terms. Where you see a word underlined with dots, touch the word with your cursor and the legal definition will immediately appear.
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