Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

[N.T]

I'm wondering if anyone here has ever had to seek payment of locum fees via a small claims court. I've used this as a final 'threat' on a written request for payment owing, after months of not being paid and being reasonable and polite about it. The court procedure seems fairly simple, as it is designed for lay people. I'm just wondering if anyone's had any experience of this i.e. what evidence they submitted to the court and what the questioning by the judge was like?

Also, I remember someone mentioning on here that they ask for interest on payment if they still haven't been paid after one month. What rate of interest do you ask for, and what legal reference (if any) do you use to back this up?

[johnep]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

Claiming unpaid fees is a PDA speciality. At the conference they said had recovered more than £200K for PDA members.
johnep

[Linnear]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

I claimed back over £5000 in bank charges last year.

I know that it's a different legal matter but if you look at:

Consumer Action Group - Welcome then it explains about claiming back interest.

(I believe it's 0.00022 x no. of days)

There are lots of forums on there and if you can't find what you need then you could post a request for help.

[N.T]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

(I believe it's 0.00022 x no. of days)

Well..that comes to £7 in my one case!! I'm not going to break by back getting that, but, useful to know nonetheless.

[Linnear]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSSS!


It's 0.00022 x no. of days x amount owed

I knew I'd missed something out!

Does that make the amount any better NT?

[N.T]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSSS!


It's 0.00022 x no. of days x amount owed

I knew I'd missed something out!

Does that make the amount any better NT?

No! That's what i'd already done!

[admin]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

I claimed back over £5000 in bank charges last year.

How did you manage to rack up 5k worth of bank charges????

[Linnear]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

£30 every time I went over my limit for 6 years!

£60 for unpaid DDs if over my limit!

It soon mounts up!


The banks are only allowed to charge for service costs run up because of returned DDs etc. they are not allowed to fine you for it.

Yes I did agree to the payments when I joined the bank but you cannot be held responsible if the charges are illegal and you weren't informed.

So you can claim ALL your over limit and unpaid DD/cheques charges back for the past 6 years.

Try it, it's fun! (You may need to get a new bank account after.)

[N.T]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

Heh heh...the threat of court work and payment was finally received from a large multinational that isn't a shoe shop

If anyone needs info of small claims court procedures have a look here: Making a Claim
There's a charge of £30 (for claims of under £200) to start a claim....and that will be paid for by the debtor when you win. THe process seems quite simple (and maybe even fun!) - you put together a dossier of evidence to prove you're owned the money. The court procedure sounds quite informal - just the judge, you and the debtor in an office.

[johnep]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

And if the other party fails to turn up, you win!
johnep

[N.T]

Re: Anyone had any experience of a small claims court?

Update:

As I had cc. the agency in on all communication with the multiple they got involved voluntarily. They contacted Head Office and gave them a right rollicking about breaking the contract (states should be paid within 1 week normally, 1 month max) and respecting locums! It wasn't something the agency had to get involved in, they were surprisingly supportive. Very nice.

Alwasy nice to hear someone's got a rollicking for treating pharmacists badly. Made my day!