Taking someone to court in Scotland

[res123]

Hi All- I am hoping to get some guidance on an issue where someone owes me about £4800. We had a contractual agreement where they agreed to terms and conditions over the email and promised to sign and return the documents, but besides my efforts the signed form was never forwarded but I do have emails confirming. I am owed £4800 for a lot of hard work.

 

I am not sure but there are certain restrictions of how much money can I retrieve through small claims court. It is my understanding that the amount is £3k which can be claimed through small claims, which is the cheapest route as I will know the costs up front. The downside being that I will have to let go £1800 of rightfully owed sums.

 

What are my options? Any thoughts.

 

Appreciate the help.

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

I used Summary Cause actions agains a couple of Banks, limits are between £3,000 and £5,000, forms are almost identical the only extra cost is having to pay Sheriff Officers to serve your court papers,

I would think this would cost you no more than £30.

 

The only down side, if you were to lose you would have to pay the other sides costs.

[res123]

Thanks for your input. In my case, I will be representing myself and I am almost certain that the other party will be represented by a solicitor. I am confident I will prevail, but the probability of failure always stands given that solicitor will have more "legal" experience despite whatever the facts may be.

 

Having said that, what do you think about this situation? Take the risk of representing myself and facing a solicitor whose costs can be quite a bit, if I were to loose my case. Is there an upper limit as to how much can I end up paying in their legal costs, if I were to loose?

 

Can I just decide to minimize my risk and take the small claims court route and let go of £1800.

 

Any thoughts?

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

I'll try to get someone else to have a look at this and advise if possible, as a general rule, court expenses are awarded to the person who succeeds in the case.

These expenses must then be paid by the unsuccessful party.

 

Expenses are normally calculated at the end of the case by the sheriff clerk, who then has his or her calculation approved by the sheriff.

 

Sorry I'm not sure if there's a limit to this, I'll have a look around.

[res123]

That would be great. I just want to make sure that if it goes against me then is it better to let go of £1800 at the outset or take a chance of getting hit with a big legal bill. Better to be prepared so I know I won't get stuck with thousands of pounds of counter party legal bills.

 

Thanks again!

[IdaInFife]

There is no limit as such with summary or ordianry cause actions but they have to be approved by the court.

[mcgu6240]

Hi

I recently took 2 people to summary cause court and won and we represented ourselves on both occasions. On one of those occasions the Defender hired a very expensive lawyer. I sympathize with your uncertainty, as you are taking a risk, but for me it was all about the preparation and, of course being very certain of your case. The costs are decided on by the court, so although if we had lost we would have been liable to pay towards his legal fees, I had to assume that we wouldn't have to pay every penny of them as he didn't have to have a £250 an hour lawyer! But the rules appear to be a bit muddy.

 

If you have your evidence to support your case; are reasonably articulate then I would give it a go. You can withdraw at any stage if the other side pull a rabbit out of the hat and you would hopefully limit your losses if the worst happens. £1800 is a lot to loose, but only you can make that call. Happy to help with more specific queries if I can.