how do you go about taking someone to a small claims court? what is involved in the process and how much does it al cost, recently bought something off another forum and the guy has pocketed my money and not sent the item.

Cheers

You can fill in the forms on-line.

You have to make a reasonable attempt to sort it out amicably first. clicky here

Get advice from a solicitor. The slightest error on your part could put your claim in jeopardy. The system sucks.

It'll cost you £60 odd (Max) to get some educated advice. Some offer it for free for 30 minutes, and you might be able to hit him with costs as well.

I agree with make everything. The "online forms" idea is made to seem like the process is all too easy. You really need specialist advice to follow it through properly.

IIRC, it cost me just short of £300 in all, I took the paver who laid my drives for £5K, won the case, but, he claimed he couldn't pay and is sending me £10 a month!!!

You need to gauge your chances of getting the lump sum back, a few quid a month isnt worth all the hassle in my opinion. I wish I'd given some dodgy mates £500 to sort it out.....

If you're using "moneyclaimonline" (what used to be "small claim track" ) , you don't need specialist advice from a solicitor, if you need help with the forms, ask at your local court for a clerk to help.

The sitting magistrate/judge won't expect you to know the ins and outs of law, he'll listen to your case and make a judgement based on common sense. From what I've heard it's all rather painless and simple.
Especially as its a relatively simple case (bought something, it didn't arrive. Judge will be wanting some proof that he posted it).

If you use usenet, I can highly recommend the uk.legal.moderated newsgroup


[Edited on 20/12/09 by UncleFista]

is it something for the astra Alex?

Uncle thats basically what the solicitor told me.

In my case its over around £1500 worth of tools missing out of the the shed I rented that I wasn't allowed into for a year

You could always name and shame on here. Bad press goes a long way. I would recommend that you send out a letter to the individualgiving a reasonable amount of time for him / her to respond 14 days from receipt would be reasonable (make sure u send by registered post. set out in the letter your complaint and what you expect.
If there is no response or the response is none favourable start the action, make sure the individual is aware of the lengths you will go to to recover your losses..

Check your household and car insurance as they often have a policy withing for legal advice and representation, I know my home insurance does. I also believe that DAS on car insurance can also cover general legal issues