Small claims process

spongebob59

spongebob59

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After some unsatisfactory work with a local trader last week , we verbally agreed he would remove the items he'd fitted and we wolf get a refund of the deposit we had paid.

I've written this morning confirming our wish to take up the verbal agreement of the refund.

Now I don't trust him so want to know what the process is if I need to escalate this up to small claims.

Any tips ?
 
I've done it with work before for customers who will not pay their bills. Very simple to do, all online. Unless the amount is high it will cost you about £25. Lay out very simply what has happened, what went wrong, what you agreed. Press send. The trader will then receive a letter from the court stating your claim and a time period in which they have to pay the amount claimed or refute it.

Don't go flowery, don't go emotional, keep it to the point, keep it factual.

Hopefully it wont get to that but as I say the process to start it off is very simple.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
I've done it with work before for customers who will not pay their bills. Very simple to do, all online. Unless the amount is high it will cost you about £25. Lay out very simply what has happened, what went wrong, what you agreed. Press send. The trader will then receive a letter from the court stating your claim and a time period in which they have to pay the amount claimed or refute it.

Don't go flowery, don't go emotional, keep it to the point, keep it factual.

Hopefully it wont get to that but as I say the process to start it off is very simple.
Click to expand...

How long would you give it before starting ?
I've only sent the first mail today, is there a minimum time allowed for them to respond ?
 
Personally I would give him two weeks to respond to your first letter. If that is ignored I would then send a further letter, by registered post, advising that if he does not resolve the situation then you will take him/her to the small claims court. Give a deadline to reply by in that letter. There is no hard and fast rule so you decide how long that would be, I'd say 7-10 days. You want to be reasonable and friendly for as long as possible before pushing the button.

Firm but fair has always been our approach. Long enough that is reasonable, traders can be a little disorganised admin wise, but not too long to reply so that it is taking the Michael. The court will view that in the same way.
 
Ive done the small claims court a few times and it works ok. Keep good, accurate notes, photographs etc etc that will help if you end up in court as the defendant is likely to say that you have no case or are lying. Tell the builder what you are looking for from him and why you think it is owed and reasonable, give him a time frame that is reasonable to sort himself out but if you don't get the response you desire by the date you give him, then don't hesitate to act as he will be sure that you are serious and know what you are doing
 
chrisd said:
Ive done the small claims court a few times and it works ok. Keep good, accurate notes, photographs etc etc that will help if you end up in court as the defendant is likely to say that you have no case or are lying. Tell the builder what you are looking for from him and why you think it is owed and reasonable, give him a time frame that is reasonable to sort himself out but if you don't get the response you desire by the date you give him, then don't hesitate to act as he will be sure that you are serious and know what you are doing
Click to expand...

Think we're done talking to him after the abuse he gave myself and the wife last week.
He came back to rectify the first fitting and did a worse just the second time around.

We gave him a chance to correct the first fitting and in hindsight we should have just cut and run then.
 
spongebob59 said:
Think we're done talking to him after the abuse he gave myself and the wife last week.
He came back to rectify the first fitting and did a worse just the second time around.

We gave him a chance to correct the first fitting and in hindsight we should have just cut and run then.
Click to expand...

When I say " tell him" by email or letter is best anyway as you have a permanent record, giving the chance to correct his work is in your favour in the long run as he wont be able to claim that the work was good but you just don't want to pay up
 
So the online form is pretty simple, just put a summary of what the dispute is and then submit, if he doesn't pay up the it goes to court and thats when you have to start putting all the evidence together ?
 
Yes. Keep it simple, just the facts. It is not an English lit test :D.

Annoyingly he will get a letter from the court advising your claim and he will have 7 days to pay. He can do this and avoid paying the fees. After that date you can claim the fees back from the person / company. I have always taken the attitude that it is worth the £25, or whatever, to get the main cost back.
 
Ha ha, I know what you mean. We rarely have to do this with work but we do every so often and some of the companies really get under my skin. You want to vent but you have to reel back and keep it professional. Rant on here, it releases the tension.
 
If he contests the summons you and he will be obliged to send each other, and the court, a bundle containing any evidence that you each have, and will rely on during the hearing, some time before the hearing date.
 
The court process will now kick in. Check details of the confirmation of your claim, one there will be a date by which the person has to respond to your claim. Not just to get past the point where he / she has to cough up and avoid the court charges, the point where they HAVE to reply. If you are past that point then the fun starts to kick in. I can't remember exactly but either you contact the court and advise them that you have received nothing or the court contacts you, asks if you are satisfied and if not do you want to take matters further. The obvious answer is you are not satisfied. The court will then send a more threatening letter to the person advising them to settle the amount owed, counter the claim or it will go to the next step, the court appoints people to take the money off them. They then have a period to respond to this next letter.

Apologies for not knowing precisely, it is a few years since I had to go past the first stage. I know it is a slight cop out but if you check the claims website it should spell out the next stage for you more accurately.

You wont appreciate this but the Scottish version is much better than ours. Once the claim is in they take over much more thoroughly and it is an easier ride.
 
Asked the court to make a judgement a few days back as we'd had no reply and today they called to make the payment, so all good in the end.

Now shall I post examples of his bodge job up to warn others off ????
 
I'm pleased it has ended well. It's horrible to have to go through the stress of this, although the process is not bad to be fair.

I look for reviews regarding trades people so I want to see the bad as well as the good. I would review the bloke on appropriate sites, show pictures, keep it straight. Nothing emotional, you don't want to get sued. Of course, if he is a 6ft, 18st beast then perhaps best left alone.
 
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