How to take a claim to the county court

Before Court
You should send a "letter of claim" to the proposed defendant(s) in sufficient time to allow them to investigate and make proposals to avoid litigation before you file a claim at court. You must make sure that you leave yourself enough time to file a claim within the time limit if you cannot resolve matters. You should include in your letter:

• a clear summary of the facts on which your claim is based
• any legal arguments justifying the claim
• an estimate of financial loss (if any)
• you could attach the section: 74 questionnaire
• You should enclose copies of any relevant documents
• Ask the defendant to acknowledge receipt by a reasonable specified date and to provide a detailed reply by a later reasonable date. If time limits allow, 14 days for an acknowledgment and 4 weeks for a detailed reply may be reasonable. If you cannot give this amount of time, explain why. Warn the defendant that if you do not get an acknowledgment or a detailed reply by the dates requested, you would start court proceedings.

An Example of a Letter of Claim

Claims about discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services are brought in the county court. You should start proceedings in the county court for the district in which the defendant resides or carries on business or in the court for the district in which the act or any of the acts in respect of which proceedings are brought took place. The court can transfer proceedings to another court if it is defended.

Claims about discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services must be begun within 6 months (less one day) from the date of the alleged discriminatory act. Proceedings are started when the court issues the claim form. The date the claim form is received by the court office (if earlier) is the date on which the claim is "brought" for time limit purposes. If you are proposing to start a claim near the end of the time limit, you must make sure that the claim is received by the court within the time limit and make arrangements to have a record of the date when it was received.

To bring a claim, you must send or take to the county court:

• One copy of claim form (N1) for the court, for you and for each defendant
• One copy of the particulars of claim for the court, for you and for each defendant
• The fee
• A stamped self addressed envelope if the proceedings are being issued through the post
• A copy of the notice to the EOC (see below).

The claim form must include a statement of value. If a precise figure cannot be included (which will usually be the case where compensation for injury to feelings is claimed), the value should be estimated as up to £5,000, between £5,000 and £15,000, or more than £15,000. The claim form or separate particulars of claim must also contain a signed statement that the facts stated in the particulars are true.

If you start proceedings under the SDA, you must send a notice of commencement to the EOC and file a copy of this in the court office. There is no prescribed form. Notice could be by letter informing the EOC of the type of claim, your name and the name of the defendant, and the county court in which you are starting the claim.

Legal aid
You may be eligible for legal aid to pay for a solicitor to prepare your claim and to represent you in the county court if you satisfy the financial means test and your case has a reasonable prospect of success. You can get advice on whether you may be eligible for legal aid from a solicitor, who can also explain the implications of this if you succeed or fail in your claim. If your claim is dealt with under the small claims track, legal aid will not pay for you to be represented by a solicitor at the hearing although you may be able to get some help with the preparation. If you are not eligible for legal aid, some solicitors may be prepared to act on a "no win, no fee" basis. Law centres and citizens advice bureaux may be able to give you free advice.

What happens after I have filed a claim?
Normally, the court will serve the claim form on the defendant by post. The defendant then has 14 days to either:

• file an acknowledgment of service or
• a defence at court

If the defendant files an acknowledgment of service, the defendant must then file a defence within 28 days of service of the claim form. The court will send you a notice that an acknowledgment of service has been filed and a copy of the defence when filed. The time limit for filing a defence can be extended by written agreement between the parties or by the court. If the time limit has expired and the defendant has not filed a defence, you can apply to the court for judgment. Compensation would be assessed by the court.

If a defence is filed, the court will normally send you and the defendant an allocation questionnaire which must be completed and returned within the time specified on the form with the appropriate fee. A judge will then allocate your claim to either:

• the small claims track is the normal track for claims worth no more than £5,000
• the fast track will be the normal track for claims between £5,000 and £15,000 where the trial is likely to last for no longer than one day.
• the multi-track deals with all other claims

Which track your claim is allocated to will depend on its value and other matters such as the legal or factual complexity of the claim, the remedy sought, the views expressed by the parties and their circumstances. You will be sent a notice telling you which track your claim has been allocated to and what you must do to prepare your case for trial or final hearing.

The Small Claims Track
If your case is allocated to the small claims track you will be sent Form N157. This will tell you what you must do to prepare for the final hearing ("directions"). For example, you may be told to send copies of all the documents you intend to use to prove your case to the court and the defendant 14 days before the hearing is due to take place. The notice will also usually tell you the time, date and place when your hearing will take place and how much time has been allowed for it.

The judge could decide to hold a preliminary hearing e.g. if the judge feels that you or the defendant has no real prospect of winning or defending the claim and wants to dispose of the claim as soon as possible.

The judge could propose that your claim be dealt with without a hearing. If you or the defendant objects to this, there will be a hearing.

What happens at the hearing?
Small claims hearings will generally be 'public' hearings, which members of the public can sit in on. The judge decides how to carry out the hearing. Normally, the judge will first want to hear what you have to say and then hear the defendant's reply. The judge may ask questions to you, the defendant and any witnesses. You may be given a chance to ask the defendant or their witnesses' questions or you can ask the judge to ask questions for you.

At the end of the hearing the judge will tell you the decision reached (the judgment) and give brief reasons for this. You should make a note of the decision and reasons in case you later wish to seek advice on whether you could appeal against the decision. If the court has mechanically recorded the decision, you can get a copy of the transcript by paying the transcriber's fee. You are not allowed to make your own recording. After the hearing, the court will send you an order, or judgment, setting out the decision.

You can take someone with you to the hearing for moral support or a solicitor or lay representative to speak for you. A lay representative can be anyone you choose. You will have to pay the fee of any representative yourself, even if you win the case.

What happens at the hearing?
You must pay court fees unless you are entitled to fee exemption or remission or you can show that paying the fee would cause undue hardship because of the exceptional circumstances of your case.

You must pay a fee to start your case and a fee on allocation. No fee is payable for the hearing. If you call witnesses, you may have to pay their travelling and overnight expenses and loss of earnings. You may incur further court fees if you need to make other applications to the court e.g. to enforce a judgment.

If you decide to get professional advice or representation, you will usually have to pay the fees yourself, even if you win the case.

If you win the case, the defendant will be required to reimburse you for the court fees as well as pay any damages. The judge could order the defendant to pay towards the travelling and overnight expenses and loss of earnings of you and your witnesses on the hearing date (there are maximum amounts which apply).

If you lose the case, you may have to pay the travelling and overnight expenses and loss of earnings of the defendant and their witnesses on the hearing date. You will not normally be required to pay legal fees incurred by the defendant unless the court considers you have acted unreasonably.

What can I do if I lose and I disagree with the decision?
You can appeal against the decision in very limited circumstances. The time limit for appealing is 14 days from the date of service of the order. You cannot object to the judge's decision on what the facts were. You must show:

That there was a serious irregularity affecting the proceedings; or

That the judge did not use the law correctly;

If you are unsuccessful in your appeal, you may have to pay the defendant's costs.

The Fast Track
If your case is allocated to the fast track, you will be sent form N154. This will tell you what you have to do to prepare for the trial ("directions"), give you the date to return the completed listing questionnaire (Form N170) to the court, and give you the trial date or trial period.

Directions will normally be given for disclosure and inspection and exchange of witness statements. A typical tiMETAble might be:

• Disclosure (followed by inspection) - 4 weeks
• Witness statement - 10 weeks
• Listing questionnaires filed - 22 weeks
• Trial - 30 weeks with dates running from the date you receive form N154.

Disclosure and inspection
Disclosure means telling the defendant about any documents you have, or have had, in your possession that you are required to disclose. The court may order standard disclosure or it may direct that no disclosure take place or specify the documents or classes of documents which the parties
must disclose. Standard disclosure requires you to disclose documents that support your claim, undermine or oppose your claim; and those which support the defendant's case. You must make a reasonable search for these documents. You should disclose documents by listing these on Form N265.

Inspection is when you look at the documents on the defendant's list or the defendant looks at documents on your list. You must provide each other with copies of documents if requested, on payment of the copying charges. You do not have to show the defendant documents that are "privileged". These include documents created in contemplation of litigation or because they are correspondence between a party and his or her solicitor about the case.

Other steps to obtain more information about the defence
If any aspects of the defence are not clear, you can ask for additional information or clarification. You should first write to the defendant with your request, asking for a response within a specified reasonable time period. If you do not get a response, you can apply to the court for an order to give
the information. If you make the request in a letter, the letter should not also deal with other matters. The Request must be headed with the name of the court and the title and the number of the claim and in its heading state that it is a Request made under Part 19 CPR, identify the first party and the second party and state the date on which it is made. Each request should be in a separate numbered paragraph. If a request relates to a document, you must identify that document and (if relevant) the paragraph or words to which it relates.

Listing directions
The court will send you form N170 (listing questionnaire) and Form N171 (notice of date for return of listing questionnaire). The listing questionnaire will ask for information to help the court fix a date for trial, to confirm the estimated length of trial and to set a tiMETAble for the trial itself. You must complete and return this to the court by the date given on the notice together with the appropriate fees. You must also send a copy of the questionnaire to the defendant. The court will send you an order setting out any further directions the judge gives. You will be sent a notice of trial date not later than 21 days before the trial is due to start.

What happens at the hearing?
The hearing is normally in public. A judge will hear your claim. You may speak for yourself or be represented by a solicitor or barrister. You cannot be represented by any other representative but the judge may allow you to be accompanied by a friend to take notes, quietly make suggestions and give advice (sometimes referred to as a "McKenzie friend").

Witness statements must have been exchanged before the hearing for any witnesses to be called. Only evidence in the statement can be given unless the judge gives leave for other evidence to be given. Witnesses must normally be called in person.

At the end of the procedure, the judge may give his or her decision on the spot or can decide to give the decision later. If ordering one party to pay costs to another, the judge will normally assess them summarily. You should exchange details of costs with the defendant before the trial and try to agree these. The costs that can be claimed for attending the trial are limited. After the trial, the court will send you an order (judgment), setting out the judge's decision and any order for costs that was made.

How much will it cost?
You must pay court fees unless you are entitled to fee exemption or remission or you can show that paying the fee would cause undue hardship because of the exceptional circumstances of your case.

You must pay a fee to start your case. You must also pay a fee on allocation and when you return the listing questionnaire. Other fees are payable if you make other applications to the court.

If your claim is not dealt with under the small claims track and you win your claim, you will normally be entitled to have some of your costs (including costs of legal representation) paid by the defendant.

If you lose your claim, you will normally be ordered to pay some of the other side's costs. If you are legally aided, the costs order will only be enforceable with leave of the court. Leave will usually be given only if your situation changes and you can now afford to pay the costs in whole or in part.

What can I do if I lose and I disagree with the decision?
If the case was heard by a district judge, there is a right of appeal to a circuit judge. If the case was heard by a circuit judge, you may appeal to the Court of Appeal but you will need formal permission from the county court or the Court of Appeal to do so.

The Multi-Track
What happens before the hearing?
If your case is allocated to the multi-track, you will be sent form N155. There is no standard procedure for multi-track cases. Each claim will be managed by a judge according to its individual needs.

The judge is likely to give directions for disclosure and inspection.

The judge may hold one or more case management conferences that are informal meetings of all the parties and the judge to review the progress of a case and to order any necessary steps.

Listing directions
This process is the same as for the fast track.
Pre-trial review
The judge may decide to hold a pre-trial review, normally after the listing questionnaire has been filed. This will decide a tiMETAble for the trial, who will give evidence and in what order, the content of the 'trial bundle' (papers required for trial) and the date it has to be delivered to the court and the time to be allowed for the trial.

What happens at the hearing?
This is largely the same as for the fast track. At the end of the trial, the judge may summarily assess costs in an appropriate case. Costs are not subject to a fixed limit for attendance at the trial. Where costs are not summarily assessed, the judge will order a detailed assessment but can also order an amount to be paid on account.

How much will it cost?
This is the same as for the fast track except that there are no fixed costs for the day of trial. Multi-track cases are likely to be longer, and therefore more expensive, than fast track cases.

General
What will I get out of taking a claim?
If you are successful, a county court can give you:

A declaration that discrimination has occurred

Compensation (known as "damages") for any actual financial loss and for injury to feelings incurred because of the act of discrimination (however, compensation will not be awarded for unintentional indirect sex discrimination)

An order that the defendant stop discriminating against you, known as an "injunction" (this is at the discretion of the court)

Interest on damages.

What can I do if I win but the defendant does not pay me?
The court will not automatically make sure that the defendant pays you the money. If there is a problem, you will need to ask the court to take more action. Court fees are payable for enforcement action but you will be reimbursed by the defendant if you are successful in getting the money you are owed. You can get leaflets on enforcing your judgment from the county court.

Settlements
You can agree to settle your case with the defendant at any time before the hearing. But if you reach an agreement with the defendant to settle your claim, you cannot then change your mind and ask the court to hear the complaint. If the defendant does not pay you in accordance with the settlement agreement, you can bring a claim in the county court for payment of the sum agreed, based on that contract.

If you discuss the possibility of settlement with a defendant on a "without prejudice" basis, neither you nor the defendant can tell the court about these discussions if you do not reach an agreement.

 

This Page Was Last Updated

Friday 23 February, 2007 13:03

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