small claims court

[maimie]

i may have to raise an action through the small claims court. can anyone give me some pointers how to do this?

[Big G]

Citizens Advice Bureau hold papers and will help you fill them in.

[Heilandee]

Or download from here M, drag down to "Small claims in the Sheriff Court"

http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/library/publications/index.asp?grp=all&open=all

Edited November 12, 2012 by Heilandee

[SMEE]

Maime....unless the small claims proceedure has changed in the past few years....id think twice about raising a case, unless the person your looking to take action against is easily scared. When i had cause to look into raising a civil action....i was suprised to learn just how toothless the court is. Basically....all that will happen is the judge will make a call on who owes who what. AND...if they rule in your favour.....all it is is a verbal agreement....you still have to recover the debt/goods at your own cost. Hope that makes sense? BUT.....that was a few yrs back...could well be different these days. I find those who tend to rip off people are very knowledgeable of the system, hence why they do it

Edited November 13, 2012 by SMEE

[The Mantis]

Maime....unless the small claims proceedure has changed in the past few years....id think twice about raising a case, unless the person your looking to take action against is easily scared. When i had cause to look into raising a civil action....i was suprised to learn just how toothless the court is. Basically....all that will happen is the judge will make a call on who owes who what. AND...if they rule in your favour.....all it is is a verbal agreement....you still have to recover the debt/goods at your own cost. Hope that makes sense? BUT.....that was a few yrs back...could well be different these days. I find those who tend to rip off people are very knowledgeable of the system, hence why they do it

Surely the whole point is that it's not at your own cost. That's why it's for small claims only. You could just raise another case if he didn't pay. BTW it's a Sheriff in Scotland, not a judge.

On the other hand Maimie, I raised one a few years back. It costs you nowt apart from the fee which was about £35 (and refundable if you win) and the guy gave in a couple of days before he was due in court.

[caley100]

Jeez, the things you have to do to get Naelifts to pay his share of the petrol eh mantis !

[SMEE]

Maime....unless the small claims proceedure has changed in the past few years....id think twice about raising a case, unless the person your looking to take action against is easily scared. When i had cause to look into raising a civil action....i was suprised to learn just how toothless the court is. Basically....all that will happen is the judge will make a call on who owes who what. AND...if they rule in your favour.....all it is is a verbal agreement....you still have to recover the debt/goods at your own cost. Hope that makes sense? BUT.....that was a few yrs back...could well be different these days. I find those who tend to rip off people are very knowledgeable of the system, hence why they do it

Surely the whole point is that it's not at your own cost. That's why it's for small claims only. You could just raise another case if he didn't pay. BTW it's a Sheriff in Scotland, not a judge.

On the other hand Maimie, I raised one a few years back. It costs you nowt apart from the fee which was about £35 (and refundable if you win) and the guy gave in a couple of days before he was due in court.

Back when i looked into it.....you would make a claim for what it was you were disputing, and then you added costs into the equation. But i was suprised too....as i thought part of the service included would be recovery of the debt...but it wasnt, you would have to cover the initial cost of that and add it to your bill. As i say, back when i looked into raising a case, It was explained that you were basically paying for the Sherriff to make a judgement...that was all

Also, the defender doesnt even have to turn up to the court...its not obligitory, but in that case, the Sherriff will most likely make a judgement against them. I ended up writing off the £600 we were ripped off....as i knew, and the defendant knew...i didnt have the money to recover the debts....even tho i would technically claimed it back. Basically, I was relying on the fear factor of taking the guy to court. He was well versed in ripping people off, and knew he was likely to get away with it.

Edited November 14, 2012 by SMEE

[SMEE]

Just found this on a consumer website anout the small claims proceedure in Scotland

7. Resolution

If you win your case, the defender will have to pay you any amount the court has decided is due. This amount can also include expenses. If the claim is for less than £200, the judge will not normally award any expenses. Where the claim is for more than £200, you can claim for your court fee, any loss of wages and travel expenses. However, there is a maximum that can be awarded. For claims between £200 and £1500 the maximum normally awarded is £150 and for claims between £1500 and £3000 the maximum will normally be 10% of the total claim.

If the defender doesn't pay the money due, the court cannot help you enforce the order. You can employ a sheriff officer to do this, but you will have to pay them.

Edited November 14, 2012 by SMEE

[The Mantis]

Ok, fair do's. it worked for me anyway!

[SMEE]

I think it would work in lots of cases. The fear factor in being taken to court usually makes you sit up and play fair. Just in the case which involved me....the guy turned out to be a serial deceiver who was well versed in the whole procedure....as he had ripped off many people off in the past.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Feck that Maimie - tell is who he is and me and the boys will get yer feckin spondoolachs back