Be Small Claims Wise guides › How small claims work in England and Wales

How small claims work in England and Wales

A start-to-finish overview of a county court small claim in England and Wales for someone who is owed money: what counts as a small claim, how it is started, what the other side can do, and what happens if they ignore it, defend it, or lose and still do not pay.

Checked against official sources on 30 September 2026. Court fees from 13 July 2026; enforcement agent fees from 1 May 2026.

What a small claim is

A ‘small claim’ is not a separate court. It is a county court claim that has been allocated to the small claims track, the simplest of the court’s tracks. Under CPR 26.9(4) the small claims track is the normal track for any claim with a value of not more than £10,000. When the court works out the value it disregards any claim for interest, costs and any amount that is not in dispute (CPR 26.13(2)).

Some claims have lower limits. A personal injury claim is a small claim only if the damages for the injury itself are not more than £1,500 (or £5,000 for most road traffic accident injuries), and a tenant’s disrepair claim only if the repairs are estimated at not more than £1,000. Be Small Claims Wise is written for the more common case: an unpaid debt, loan or deposit, goods or services paid for and not delivered, or a bill for work done.

The track is designed so that people can run the case themselves. Hearings are informal, the strict rules of evidence do not apply, and the costs one side can be ordered to pay the other are tightly limited (CPR 27.8 and 27.14). That cuts both ways: a winning claimant recovers court fees and a few fixed expenses, but not a solicitor’s bill.

Before you start

The court expects the parties to have tried to sort the dispute out first. That means a letter before claim setting out what is owed and why, with time to reply (14 days in a straightforward case under the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct; 30 days under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims where a business claims from an individual). Skipping this step can lead to a stay, a costs order or reduced interest.

Two other checks come first. Is the claim in time? A claim on a simple contract must be brought within six years of the cause of action (Limitation Act 1980 s.5); see time limits. And is it worth it? A claim against someone with no income, no assets or no known address may produce a judgment that cannot be turned into money; see is it worth suing?.

Starting the claim

There are three ways to issue a money claim, and the same court fee applies whichever you use:

• Online Civil Money Claims (the gov.uk ‘Make a money claim’ service): for a fixed sum up to £25,000, one claimant against one defendant, where both have a postal address in England or Wales. This is the usual route and the only online route that accepts a Help with Fees application.
• Money Claim Online (MCOL): for £25,001 to £100,000, or a claim against two defendants. Help with Fees cannot be used.
• Paper form N1, posted to the Civil National Business Centre, St Katharine’s House, 21–27 St Katharine’s Street, Northampton NN1 2LH: needed where the amount is not fixed, there are three or more defendants, a party has no address in England or Wales, or interest is claimed at more than one rate.

The issue fee depends on the amount claimed including interest: £35 for a claim up to £300 rising to £455 for £5,000.01 to £10,000. See court fees and where and how to issue a claim. Interest is usually claimed at 8% a year under County Courts Act 1984 s.69; the interest and fee calculator works out the figures.

In every route the court serves the claim form on the defendant by post.

What the defendant can do

The defendant has a fixed time to respond. On a paper or MCOL claim it is 14 days after service, or 28 days if they file an acknowledgment of service first (CPR 15.4). In Online Civil Money Claims it is 28 days from the date of issue, which the parties can extend by agreement by up to a further 28 days (PD 51R 5.1). The defendant can:

1. Pay in full.
2. Admit the claim and ask for time to pay, giving a statement of their income and outgoings; you decide whether to accept the offer, and if not the court fixes the rate.
3. Admit part and dispute the rest.
4. Defend the claim, with or without a counterclaim.
5. Do nothing, in which case you can request judgment in default once the deadline passes. Online requests are processed automatically; see default judgment.

In April to June 2026, 94% of county court judgments were default judgments. See after you issue.

If the claim is defended: mediation and the hearing

A defended claim goes through three stages:

1. Directions questionnaire. The court sends a notice of proposed allocation and a questionnaire (form N180) asking about the hearing, witnesses and availability. Ignoring it leads to a further seven-day notice and then the claim or defence being struck out (CPR 26.4).
2. Mediation. Under Practice Direction 51ZE, a pilot running to 6 April 2027, a defended claim for a fixed sum is referred automatically to the free HMCTS Small Claims Mediation Service once the questionnaires are in. A mediator speaks to each side separately by telephone for up to an hour. A party who does not attend without good reason risks sanctions at the hearing, including costs. A settlement reached at mediation is binding, and if it is broken you can apply for judgment for the unpaid balance. See mediation.
3. Allocation and hearing. If there is no settlement, the court allocates the claim, gives directions (usually that each side files and serves its documents at least 14 days before the hearing) and fixes a hearing date with at least 21 days’ notice. A hearing fee of £27 to £346 falls due before the hearing. Hearings are informal, often in the judge’s room, and you normally get the decision on the day with brief reasons. See the hearing.

The median time from issue to trial for small claims was 41.0 weeks in April to June 2026, and longer in London and the South East. See how long a small claim takes.

Costs: what you can and cannot recover

CPR 27.14 lists the only sums the court may order one party to pay the other on the small claims track: the fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim, court fees paid, reasonable travel and overnight expenses for attending a hearing, loss of earnings or leave up to £95 a day per person, an expert’s fee up to £750, and further costs against a party who has behaved unreasonably. Solicitors’ fees and the hours you spend preparing are not on the list. Rejecting a settlement offer is not of itself unreasonable behaviour, but the court can take it into account. See costs in small claims.

After judgment

A judgment orders the defendant to pay, either immediately or by instalments. It does not collect the money. If the defendant does not pay, you choose an enforcement method and pay a further fee: a warrant of control for an enforcement agent (bailiff) to take goods (£96), an attachment of earnings order, a third party debt order or a charging order (£139 each), or an order requiring the debtor to attend court and answer questions about their means (£69). Judgments of £600 or more can be sent to a High Court enforcement officer instead. See enforcing a judgment and the enforcement chooser.

A default judgment or a judgment on admission goes on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines straight away and stays there for six years; paid within one month it is removed, paid later it is marked satisfied. For many debtors that entry is the strongest reason to pay. See the CCJ register, or ask ClaimsBot about any stage.

Sources

• Civil Procedure Rules Part 26: allocation and the small claims track (rule 26.9)
• Civil Procedure Rules Part 27: the small claims track
• gov.uk: Make a court claim for money
• Practice Direction 51ZE: small claims automatic referral to mediation pilot
• Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008, Schedule 1 (court fees)
• Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly, April to June 2026
• Practice Direction: Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols