Taking a customer to the small claims court over an unpaid invoice

Which court, and which limit, depends on where the work was

In England and Wales, money claims are filed through the county court, and claims for a fixed sum can be issued online through Money Claim Online. A claim is normally allocated to the small claims track if it is worth £10,000 or less, and the small claims track is the informal one: relaxed rules of evidence, a short hearing, and no expectation that anyone has a lawyer.

In Scotland the equivalent is Simple Procedure, used for claims up to £5,000, filed through the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service's Civil Online. In Northern Ireland the small claims limit is £3,000 and claims go through the Small Claims Online service.

The limits matter because they change the character of the thing. Below them you are in a process built for people representing themselves. Above them you are in the fast track or the multi-track, where costs follow the event and the losing side can be ordered to pay the winner's legal bill, which raises the stakes on both sides considerably.

What it costs to issue

The court charges a fee to issue the claim, on a sliding scale set by the value of what you are claiming. Small claims start at a modest fixed fee and rise in bands; above £10,000 the fee becomes a percentage of the claim. There is a second fee later, the hearing fee, payable only if the case actually goes to a hearing.

We are deliberately not printing the fee table here. Court fees are reviewed and increased periodically, and a stale figure on a page like this would be worse than no figure, because you would budget from it. The current scale is published by HM Courts and Tribunals Service in the leaflet EX50 on gov.uk, and Money Claim Online shows you the fee for your exact amount before you commit to anything.

Two things soften the cost. Both fees are added to what you are claiming, so if you win, the defendant is ordered to repay them. And if you are on a low income or certain benefits you may be able to get help with fees, which is applied for separately.

What you need in front of you before you file

A small claim is decided on the paperwork far more than on the argument. Judges on this track hear a lot of trade disputes and they are unimpressed by two people disagreeing about what was said on a doorstep. Assemble this first.

• The quote, and evidence the customer accepted it. An email saying "yes go ahead" is evidence. A verbal yes is a much weaker position.
• The invoice, with a number, a date and a due date on it.
• Every reminder you sent, with dates.
• The letter before action, and your proof of posting.
• Photographs of the finished work, and of anything you were asked to change.
• Messages between you, exported in full rather than screenshotted selectively. A judge who suspects you have shown only the flattering half will discount all of it.
• Any certificate, sign-off or building control notification the job required.

How the case actually runs

Once you issue, the claim is served on the defendant and they have a short window, normally 14 days, to respond. They can ask for more time, which extends it to 28 days in total.

If they do nothing, you can ask the court to enter judgment in default. This is a common outcome with customers who have simply decided not to engage, and it needs nothing from you but a request.

If they admit the debt, they may offer instalments, and you can accept or ask the court to decide the rate of payment.

If they defend it, the case is allocated to a track and you both get a directions questionnaire. You will be offered the free Small Claims Mediation Service at this point, which is a telephone mediation with no fee attached. Take it seriously. It settles a large share of cases, it costs nothing, and it removes the risk of losing.

If it goes to a hearing, it will be short, informal and probably in a room rather than a courtroom. You will be asked to explain what happened and to point at your evidence. Bring three copies of everything: one for the judge, one for the other side, one for you.

From filing to hearing is typically several months. It is not a fast route to money and should not be sold to yourself as one.

Winning is not being paid

This is the part missing from most articles about small claims, and it is the part that decides whether the exercise was worth doing. A judgment is a court's statement that the money is owed. It is not a transfer. If the defendant still does not pay, you have to enforce it, and every method of enforcement costs another fee.

The county court can issue a warrant of control, which sends county court bailiffs to take goods. For judgments over £600 you can instead transfer the judgment to the High Court for enforcement by a High Court Enforcement Officer, who tends to be more effective and is paid by the debtor if the recovery works. There are also attachment of earnings orders, which take it from wages, third party debt orders, which take it from a bank account, and charging orders, which secure it against property.

The uncomfortable conclusion is that a judgment against someone with no money and no assets is a piece of paper. Before you file, ask honestly whether this customer is broke or just unwilling. Unwilling is very winnable. Broke is not, and the fees you spend finding that out are gone.

When not to bother

If the sum is small and the customer is difficult but solvent, a letter before action usually does the work and a claim is disproportionate to the money.

If the customer has a real complaint about the work, deal with the complaint. A claim turns a fixable dispute into a contested hearing where a judge with no trade background decides whose account of the tiling is more credible, and that is a genuine coin toss however sure you are.

If the company that owes you has stopped trading, check its status at Companies House before spending anything. A company in liquidation or already dissolved cannot be sued in the normal way, and you would be joining a queue of creditors rather than starting a claim.

And if the answer is that you should file, file. The most expensive option on this page is the one most people choose, which is to leave it in a folder, complain about it for two years, and write it off without ever having sent anything with a date on it.

Common questions

How much does it cost to take someone to small claims court in the UK?

There is an issue fee on a sliding scale set by the value of the claim, starting low for the smallest claims and becoming a percentage of the claim above £10,000, plus a separate hearing fee if the case reaches a hearing. Both are added to your claim and repaid by the defendant if you win. The current scale is in leaflet EX50 on gov.uk, and Money Claim Online quotes your exact fee before you commit.

Do I need a solicitor for a small claim?

No, and there is a reason most people do not use one. On the small claims track you generally cannot recover legal fees from the losing side, so a solicitor's bill comes out of your own recovery. The track exists to be usable by people representing themselves.

How long does a small claim take?

Several months from filing to hearing is normal, and longer if the defendant asks for extra time to respond. If they ignore the claim entirely you can get judgment in default much sooner. Treat it as a slow route, not an emergency one.

Is there a time limit for claiming an unpaid invoice?

Generally six years from the date the debt fell due in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland. After that the courts will not enforce it.

What if the customer has no money?

Then a judgment will not produce one either, and every enforcement step you take after it costs a further fee. Check whether you are dealing with someone unwilling to pay or someone unable to, because the first is very winnable and the second is throwing good money after bad.

Can I claim for the time I spent chasing it?

Not as such. On a business-to-business debt you can claim statutory interest and a fixed compensation sum per invoice under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and you can add the court fee. Beyond that the small claims track allows only limited costs, and your own time is not usually recoverable.

Do the maths

Free, no signup, works in the browser.

More on getting paid

• Letter before action for an unpaid invoiceA free letter before action template for UK tradespeople owed money, what the pre-action rules require you to enclose, and how long to give them to pay.
• Charging interest on a late invoiceUK statutory interest is the Bank of England base rate plus 8% on business debts, with a fixed sum per invoice on top. When you can charge it, when you cannot, and how to work it out.
• Payment terms for a one-person trade businessWhat payment terms to use as a UK sole trader, why they belong on the quote rather than the invoice, and the home-visit cancellation rule most tradespeople miss.
• How to chase an invoice without losing the customerThe wording and timing that get an overdue invoice paid without damaging a customer relationship, plus what to do when the invoice is stuck inside a company.
• When a main contractor will not pay youThe Construction Act gives subcontractors payment notices, a right to suspend work and adjudication in 28 days. What it covers, what it does not, and how to use it.
• Retention, and how to actually get it backWhat retention is, the usual 3% to 5% and when each half is released, why subcontractors lose it, and the practical steps that get it paid back to you.
• Checking a customer will pay, before you startThe free Companies House checks that take five minutes, the red flags worth walking away from, and how to protect yourself on domestic work where no credit check exists.
• Stage payments, and how to structure themHow to split a job into stage payments a customer will agree to, what makes a milestone enforceable, and why the money should always be slightly ahead of the work.
• Should you put an unpaid invoice with a debt collection agency?What debt collection agencies charge, when a third-party letter works better than yours, and when a free letter before action does the same job for nothing.
• Writing off an unpaid invoiceWhether you can claim tax relief on a bad debt depends on which accounting basis you use, and most sole traders are now on the one where there is nothing to claim.

All of it, in the order you need it, on the getting paid hub.

SoloDesks for your trade

• Plumbers
• Electricians
• Painters & Decorators
• Landscapers
• Handymen
• Cleaners
• Tilers
• Carpenters
• Bathroom Fitters