Small claims through county courts

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scevsc

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Has anyone been through this process? It looks as though I'm going to have to do so to get my deposit back from the last yard I was at. I'm owed £150. I've contacted the yard owner by text - twice, email and left a phone message asking for it to be refunded and have had no response. I then sent a letter giving her ten days to repay it or I would start the court process and I've had no response to that - and no money so far.
 
It's easy to do it online. You just need all the details of the person (or business) you are claiming from and the details of the case, including dates of texts and letters etc. They will then get a letter and you'll get a copy. They'll have the opportunity to dispute it and if they don't do anything, a CCJ will be recorded and it's up to you if you want to pursue it.

Did you send the letter recorded delivery? If not it's wise to send a letter before action by this method, then you can prove they received it.
 
It's straight forward enough. Really not difficult and it's likely that one she gets the court letters she'll pay up to avoid the hassle.

Unless she hasn't got the money. Might be worth seeing whether she already has outstanding ccjs.
 
www.gov.uk

Make a court claim for money

How to take legal action if someone owes you money (small claims court), how much it costs, what happens next. Includes information from withdrawn guidance EX303, EX304, EX306, EX321, EX325 and EX350.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

It's very straight forward to do. And for the amount your are claiming it's £35 for the fee's. You do have to pay this up front when you make your claim, but can add it to the costs that you are claiming within the form.

You do have to show that you have made sufficient efforts to recover the money before resorting to the court process. So make sure you have everything noted down, conversations and text messages all count as long as logged correctly.
 
Very simple to do via Money Claims Online, I once had to take a customer to court (they had been paid by their client for our work but chose to spend the summer in France and not pay us) it was super easy to do online, we then got a High Court writ and sent the bailiffs from "Can't Pay, We'll Take it Away" in who turned up at their home. Their original £3k bill was about £1000 more once they had to pay interest and all of our fees.

To be honest it was worth it for the moral high ground alone!
 
I am glad that others found it easy - I found it very stressful and it ended up with mediation. I did getquite a lot of money back from my (so called) plumber, but not the whole amount.

The only problem with recorded delivery letters, as I found, that the Postman is supposed to hand them over to the person, but if they have already left the house for work and they get a note to say that the letter can be collected from the Sorting Office. But if they suspect trouble they will not go and collect it, so they haven't seen it. I backed mine up with letter and email too.

I had one Recorded Delivery letter back 12 months after.
 
Yes! I am doing this right now to get back a £2k deposit to a roofer who didn't turn up to do the job so after 18 months we are in this scenario. He didn't respond to the initial communication so now we have a County Court Judgement going on. I am really impressed by the smooth running of this process so far.
 
Orangehorse said:
The only problem with recorded delivery letters, as I found, that the Postman is supposed to hand them over to the person, but if they have already left the house for work and they get a note to say that the letter can be collected from the Sorting Office. But if they suspect trouble they will not go and collect it, so they haven't seen it. I backed mine up with letter and email too.

I had one Recorded Delivery letter back 12 months after.
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Genuine question - can you take a photo of you putting it through their door?

presumably local if it was the OP's yard.
 
Polos Mum said:
Genuine question - can you take a photo of you putting it through their door?

presumably local if it was the OP's yard.
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Yes you can. Keep a copy of the letter on file for evidence and then a date stamped photo of it going through the letterbox to back up delivery.

As it's a deposit held against damages (I assume) OP will need to have evidence that the stable etc was handed back in the same condition as when horse moved in and confirmation that YO agreed that too.
 
Took a tenant to the small claims court many years ago. They ruled in our favour but allowed them to pay the outstanding rent at something pitiful like £5 or £10 a month. After a while they stopped paying even that. The next step was getting the bailiffs in but I don’t think we bothered as it was highly unlikely they would have any assets. So they got away with it 😡
 
My friend went to the small claims and the person owing money disputed it. Loads of hassle and court in the area of the defendant's address as claimed they couldn't travel. The judge gave them time to pay but no money at £5 per week, so bailiffs but then they paid. Took about 2 years altogether. Obviously not the same for everyone.
 
dorsetladette said:
Yes you can. Keep a copy of the letter on file for evidence and then a date stamped photo of it going through the letterbox to back up delivery.

As it's a deposit held against damages (I assume) OP will need to have evidence that the stable etc was handed back in the same condition as when horse moved in and confirmation that YO agreed that too.
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My pony was on grass livery so there was no stable. There was field shelter but that was in a state of near collapse when we arrived. I have a contract that says the deposit will be refunded and a text from the YO confirming receipt of my final payment and that the deposit would be refunded within 30 days. I am very angry about this as YO made a big deal about being different from others and went on about what a professional yard she would run.
 
scevsc said:
My pony was on grass livery so there was no stable. There was field shelter but that was in a state of near collapse when we arrived. I have a contract that says the deposit will be refunded and a text from the YO confirming receipt of my final payment and that the deposit would be refunded within 30 days. I am very angry about this as YO made a big deal about being different from others and went on about what a professional yard she would run.
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What area of the country are you in? Sounds like someone who owes me money for a livery deposit.
 
scevsc said:
My pony was on grass livery so there was no stable. There was field shelter but that was in a state of near collapse when we arrived. I have a contract that says the deposit will be refunded and a text from the YO confirming receipt of my final payment and that the deposit would be refunded within 30 days. I am very angry about this as YO made a big deal about being different from others and went on about what a professional yard she would run.
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That's perfect evidence!

It's not a yard local (ish) to me is it? I have a feeling someone who only set up in the last couple of years is closing down - selling stables (temporary ones), jumps, trailers and giving away ponies they have bought cheaply to turn around and sell on. It looks like financially it didn't work for them. I doubt this particular person would have means to pay deposits back until she's sold a few things if I'm honest.
 
Re the photo of the letter - that's a good idea, I just did what I was told to do and sent it through the Post Office as a Recorded Delivery letter. I could have put it through the post box at the house I suppose, but I was sticking to the legal process.
Also a bit nervous of going to the house.
 
Ring them on a different mobile or landline number that they dont recognize, they may then answer be very strong and firm, tell them they have 48 hours to repay you or IMMEDIATE county court action will commence.
 
neddy man said:
Ring them on a different mobile or landline number that they dont recognize, they may then answer be very strong and firm, tell them they have 48 hours to repay you or IMMEDIATE county court action will commence.
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I wouldn’t advise this, as you’ve got no proof of any conversion.

Also if they know you’ve got their phone number they may well change it. If you have a phone number for them, it can help with address finding later if you need to serve paperwork.

If the debtor has done this kind of thing before they know the get out clauses; don’t answer the house door, don’t sign for mail, move houses every year or so
 
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