 There are two types of court: High Court : More than £15,000
County court : Less than £15,000 or over £15,000 by agreement
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There are two types of litigant: There are three litigation ‘tracks’: The Small Claims Track : Less than £5000
The Fast Track : £5000 to £15,000
The Multi Track : Over £15,000
There are five basic types of response to a claim:
1) Admission
2) Part Admission
3) Default Judgment
4) Defended
5) Summary Judgment
There are two types of costs:
Court fee
Solicitor costs
High Court (Debt Recovery)
Claims over £15,000.00 can be started in the High Court.
You must consider a number of issues before proceeding in the High Court: 1) Will you win - do you have a strong case
2) Is your solicitor confident?
3) Are you likely to be awarded costs?
4) Can the Defendant pay your claim and costs?
5) Is your case viable - time and money?
6) Have you tried to settle before court action - important?
Issuing proceedings in the High Court can focus a Defendants attention on the real prospects of winning a trial in a very formal and intimidating venue.
County Court (Debt Recovery)
The County court (from 26 April 99) will be the automatic court for claims of £15,000 and under.
You can represent yourself in any case. For amounts of less than £5000, the court would prefer the Claimant and Defendant to represent themselves.
If you started a claim for £10,000, in a straightforward case, you may be tempted to represent yourself (and why not). My words of caution are: what appears to you as straightforward may not be from the Defendant's point of view, the Defendant may well employ a solicitor to expertly throw doubt on your claim, and finally, with the new rules a straightforward case should not get as far as a trial before the Claimant seeks Summary Judgment (see 4.14). If Summary Judgment is refused the court must believe there is sufficient argument to hear both sides. |
