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Small Claims Track

• Small claims upto £10,000 can be filed in court by businesses that have disputes with othersThey cannot recover solicitor’s costs. The Small Claims Track handles cases in a less formal way and in general civil claims.

Costs

• In cases allocated to the small claims track, each side bears most of her/his own legal costs. Small claims procedure enables individuals to litigate on their own with no requirement to use a lawyer. Due to its special status, some of the usual rules do not apply, such as the rule that the loser pays the winner’s costs.
• Small claims generally don’t allow costs. Small claims cases require that the losing party pay charges incurred by the other side, however.
• When this situation occurs, the losing party would only receive the fixed costs and reimbursements for some disbursement costs, such as the issue fee depending on the amount claimed, hearing fee, experts fee(up to £750), travel expenses(second class train fare), loss of earning for a witness or party (up to £95), Miscellaneous costs for attending a hearing.

Debts in small claims track

• If the dispute is between two businesses and relates to non-payment of commercial debt, the Late Payments of Commercial Debts Interest Act 1998 (the ‘Late Payments Act’) enables a claimant to seek Statutory compensation for each late invoice (£40-£100 depending on the amount of the invoice) and statutory ‘reasonable costs’ (described below).

• In some cases, a party may be ordered to pay costs if they:
  • File redundant petitions,
  • Cause a delay in the hearing,
  • Refuse to negotiate, or
  • Do not follow procedure.

Breach

• A breach of contract would result in the award of costs based on contract terms. Often, contracts stipulate that only business disputes will bear costs of breach of contract or statutorily mandated costs.

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