Make a small claim online with? Money Claim Online?
Introduction
This article describes a new system of making a small claim. The new government service is called ‘Money Claim online’. It is a fast, efficient way to make a claim (sue someone) in order receive money due to you.
What is it?
Money Claim Online began in 2002. It is a government scheme run by a department called HM Courts Services which administers the court system in England and Wales.
It was introduced namely to reduce the time and money spent on administration for small claims. The chances of success are high. Money owed to you is of high importance; therefore you are willing to spend some time retrieving it. However, to the company or person you are suing (especially with the former), the time and effort required to defend the claim is less worthwhile than the money itself. 80% of claims go undefended, therefore the claimant gets a court order automatically in his favour - or the defendant admits he owes the money and offers to pay by instalments or in full. A few claims collapse because the claimant just gives up, perhaps if the defendant appears to have disappeared or gone bust.
Only 20% of claims are defended, which means they end up being heard by a judge in a county court.
The court service in Northern Ireland has recently started its own internet version of their small claims court. Would-be litigants in Scotland are out of luck. There is no online service there.
Suing banks
One reason for the rapid growth in the use of Money Claim Online is that thousands of people have started suing their banks for levying unfair overdraft charges.
The Consumer Action Group, which has been behind this campaign, claims that 45,000 people have registered with its own web site this year and that it knows of at least 750 claims which have been lodged with the county courts.
How does it work?
The online process is fairly straightforward. Click on the Money Claim Online web site and follow the menu of instructions. It takes about 15 minutes. There is a link at the end of this article.
You can sue for any amount below £100,000. You must have an address in England or Wales (or a service address here if you live abroad) and be online with an e-mail address. Likewise, the people you are suing must also live in England or Wales.
Once you have registered and written up your claim you submit it and pay a fee by credit or debit card. At this stage you do not have to prove your claim with evidence, you just have to state it with concise details.
It is important to note that the online service will not tell you if you have a valid claim. For that you will need to ask a solicitor or a Citizens Advice Bureau.
You must tell the truth; otherwise you could be prosecuted for contempt of court.
A bulk processing centre in Northampton then sends out the documentation to the defendants in the name of Northampton County Court, telling them you are demanding the money.
What happens next?
The defendant has 14 days in which to respond to the documents once they are ‘served’, which is generally 5 days after they were posted. If he ignores the claim you can use the online system to request judgement by default and even ask the court to enforce your claim immediately by sending round the bailiffs.
Alternative responses from the defendant are
Paying in full;
Admitting he owes all the money but fails to offer payment;
Asks for time to pay;
Admits he owes some money but not all of it;
Or denies the claim altogether, perhaps lodging a counter-claim.
In some of these cases the online system effectively comes to a halt and you will then have to write back to Northampton asking for the court to make a decision.
If you are met with a full defence of your claim, or do not want to accept a partial offer, then it will be transferred to a county court for a conventional hearing before a judge.
If you are suing a person, it will be heard at his or her county court; if you are suing a business, it will be heard at your local county court. This is because it is the party with more finances that usually has to travel.
Points to note
Where a claim is particularly complicated or detailed, there may not be enough space on the Money Claim website to fully describe it. The online claim form has a limit of 24 lines and 1080 characters. That is because the system is aimed at simple money claims.
If your claim will not fit, then you will have to lodge it at a county court with written documents.
It is a good system for people who feel confident in making their own small claim. Not everyone is - many want assistance at each stage of the process. Furthermore, the small claims courts are simpler than people imagine and are designed to be free of solicitors. They are more informal but you still have to prove your case to the satisfaction of the judge and to the same standard as other courts. It comes down to hard evidence.
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Do not provide a complete or authoritative statement of the law;
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