Small claims

Often individuals and businesses will find themselves having to deal with matters for which seeking legal advice may not be cost effective.

In these instances, alternatives to litigation can be considered. For instance, having a mediated meeting may allow a better resolution without incurring legal costs.

However, if all discussions have failed, the nature of the dispute may mean that is dealt with in Court. If the cost of lawyers is going to be greater than the value of the claim itself, and the matter is not a serious one, guidance is available from the Courts service website (www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk) to allow the matter to be handled without lawyers.

In general, the process of making a claim through to obtaining judgment takes the following course. The claim is made by filing a document called the claim form with the Court. The document will then be sent to the defendant who must respond by filing a response called the Defence with the Court within a certain period of time. Once this has been done, the matter will be allocated to the “small claims track” and the Court will provide guidance on providing evidence (such as a witness statement, receipts etc) so that a date can be set for a hearing. At the hearing the Court will decide whether the claim has any merit and will make an award or order accordingly.

However, in all other cases, where matters are of a high value or are complicated it is necessary to get legal advice. KK Solicitors deals with all manner of legal disputes: landlord and tenant matters, commercial contract disputes, debt recovery, amongst others. In all cases we give sensible, practical and cost effective advice.

If you require further advice, please contact Mr Khalid Khan of KK Solicitors