If you know the specified amount of the claim, the best option is to do an online money claim, since the court fees are cheaper, as the following chart shows:
| Claim amount | Paper form fee | Online claim fee |
| Up to £300 | £35 | £25 |
| £300.01 to £500 | £50 | £35 |
| £500.01 to £1,000 | £70 | £60 |
| £1,000.01 to £1,500 | £80 | £70 |
| £1,500.01 to £3,000 | £115 | £105 |
| £3,000.01 to £5,000 | £205 | £185 |
| £5,000.01 to £10,000 | £455 | £410 |
| £10,000.01 to £100,000 | 5% of the claim | 4.5% of the claim |
| £100,000.01 to £200,000 | 5% of the claim | You can’t make a claim online |
| More than £200,000 | £10,000 | You can’t make a claim online |
The court fees can be paid by debit or credit card. You may have to pay for more fees later on, if the case requires a court hearing or an enforcement of the judgment. For example, a hearing fee for a money claim that is up to £300 is £25, and to issue a warrant of control you will need to pay £77.
The costs are high to issue a claim and enforce a judgement, as an attempt from the courts to persuade people to resolve the matter out of court, although statistics have not proved that this is actually working in the way intended, and many victims ended up being penalised than the offending party. If you win your case, the Court may order the opposite party to pay any court fees that were previously paid, according to the Civil Practice Rule.
You can claim statutory interest on the amount that you are owed. For all debts, except late commercial payments, the statutory interest rate is 8% per annum.
To make your money claim online, you will need to create an account in the UK’s money claim system, providing the details of your claim, such as:
- Your personal information;
- The defendant’s personal information;
- Claim amount;
- Claim details – brief summary and the evidence you will be providing.
After you make your claim, the defendant will respond to it. You will be sent a letter or an email telling you the date they need to respond by. If the defendant pays the debt owed, you need to email Money Claims with the date you were paid and the reference number for the claim at moneyclaims@justice.gov.uk or ccbc@justice.gov.uk, or update your claim in the Money Claim Online Service.
If the defendant does not respond to your claim by the deadline, you will need to request a default judgement to be issued. If the defendant responded and you do not agree with their response, you will need to attend a court hearing. You may be asked for more information about the case, and if you would like to use the court’s mediation system to reach an agreement with the defendant.
The mediation service is provided for free by the court on small claims, and it can save both parties significant costs and hassle to reach a resolution quickly. For more information on mediation and how it can be the best action you can take to resolve your issues, please keep an eye on our blog articles.
If there is a hearing, you can represent yourself, or ask someone to advise you in court. They do not have to be a lawyer, or you may hire a suitable barrister to speak on your behalf. You might need to receive the court’s permission to have someone else represent you or advise you in court.
We have to alarm all consumers that please be super careful on whom you hire to represent you in court. Usually, you will not have permission to speak once you’ve hired a barrister to speak on your behalf in the England & Wales court. If he fails to address your points or your concerns, injustice can be inevitably the end result for you, often times no matter what the facts and evidence you presented in your witness statement. If you do not want to be a victim of bad barristers and solicitors, which often times you will not have remedy for unless you then sue against the barrister or solicitor, please read more on our blog articles about how to choose a good legal service professional. If you need a reference, please send us a message and we will only suggest our tried and tested legal service professionals.
You will get a decision on the day of the hearing. If you win your case, the other party will have 14 days to pay what they owe. If they still have not paid or made arrangement to pay, you can enforce the judgement using a number of options most suitable for the situation, including issuing warrant of control online, seeking a third-party debt order, filing an attachment of earnings order or a charging order.
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