[Closed] Small Claims (Simple Procedure) query

You don't need a solicitor for Ordinary (in fact for any court) but it is more technical.

You can sue for the £5K in the Simple Procedure no problem.

is there a dispute about whether the money is actually owed or is it just a case of extracting it?  And if the latter how sure are you that they have the money (or can get it)?

you can do ordinary procedure without a solicitor, but given if you win under ordinary procedure the court will usually award costs in your favour it’s often not a sensible choice; especially as if you make a mess of it the other sides expensive legal fees might be coming your way.

your problem is, even with a court decision that you are due five grand you may need to employ others to extract it (or there may be no unsecured assets to pay you).  If the case is straightforward and they have cash they will settle before reaching the courtroom for ordinary procedure and so you would get your full 6k plus the costs.  Going simplified procedure and losing a grand hints that you are more worried about losing or not being able to enforce?

He makes a good point - engaging a solicitor for an undefended ordinary procedure should be less than £1K.

Worthless if they've not got the £ though. You can enforce by Sheriff Officers (or whatever they are called these days) and it's not too pricey IIRC - most charges are put on to the debdtor (agains, assuming they can pay).

is there a dispute about whether the money is actually owed

no

Going simplified procedure and losing a grand hints that you are more worried about losing or not being able to enforce?

There's not a worry about losing.

The fact I've let it slide this long is because I'm not that worried massively about the money-  if I was out of pocket or exposed in any other way that would be different. The part payment I've received covers any outgoings /overheads from the job and probably a bit more. Whats outstanding pays for some (very hard) work, but that work was compressed into a very short timescale so it's impact in terns of income I could have been earning elsewhere doing something else is also pretty minimal. I can't see there being grounds for losing. I can see it being possible that they are maybe unable to pay - I don't know what they can or can't afford but they are still trading so they're paying for things in preference to paying me.

I'd favour an easy way of getting £5k back over a more longwinded method of getting £6k back. Regardless of what I might pay a solicitor or other agencies and whether or not those costs can be awarded/recovered my time is quite expensive at the moment and I expect I can probably earn £1k (doing things I'm good at) more easily that I can oversee a process (that I'm not good at) that would recover that additional £1k. Demand is pretty high right now so if it took up more that two days of my attention to get that extra payment its not worthwhile.

If a simple procedure is indeed simple then.. a letter before action might just resolve the issue, a judgement might resolve the issue or a judgement might yield some repayment.

Without knowing how readily they could pay there's an element of gamble in taking a more costly (ultimately for them) path if I never end up getting paid in full for either route. But I'd prefer for whatever they can afford to pay ends up in my pocket rather than only getting whats left after solicitor, court or enforcement fees.

But I guess you've answered my question in terms of whether can't or shouldn't use the Simple procudure - I guess the real question was whether it would be prejudicial to use it when the total sum involved is greater - whether it would invalidated the claim because I'm using the wrong tool, or whether not claiming the full amount made the claim more 'disputable'.

Write to them and offer a 10% or £1k  discount on the outstanding amount if they pay it by BACS by the end of the day / week before you proceed with the claim?

Make it clear it's a one chance deal and if they don't go for it you'll go to court, which you're planning on doing anyway.

Advantage to you is that you get your dough quicker, advantage to them is that it reduces their debt.

You might just get the same result without the hassle. It's always better to negotiate a settlement if you can.

If there is no dispute, is this not what (the threat of) a debt collection firm / agency is for? While I'm loathe to support the average parking ticket lot, I'd have thought that an agency that will collect on your behalf is what's needed, rather than establishing that they *ought* to pay.

Write to them and offer a 10% or £1k  discount on the outstanding amount if they pay it by BACS by the end of the day / week before you proceed with the claim?

Indeed - I guess there needs to be a 'letter before action' anyway.

Have you checked them out online to see if they are trading profitably? Have you turned up at their door? Any industry bodies that they blong to that could be used to leverage a result?

I’d favour an easy way of getting £5k back over a more longwinded method of getting £6k back. Regardless of what I might pay a solicitor or other agencies and whether or not those costs can be awarded/recovered my time is quite expensive at the moment and I expect I can probably earn £1k (doing things I’m good at) more easily that I can oversee a process (that I’m not good at) that would recover that additional £1k.

Ironically though if you go simplified procedure you will indeed be doing the effort, if you use the ordinary procedure then (unless feeling very confident/brave) you would hand it on to a solicitor who will do all the leg work for you.

If a simple procedure is indeed simple then.. a letter before action might just resolve the issue, a judgement might resolve the issue or a judgement might yield some repayment.

If a LBA is going to resolve it then it will resolve it for £6k just as likely as for £5k.  If you received a LBA from Mr J Smith threatening legal action would you take that as seriously as one from Grabbit & Grabbit acting on behalf of Mr Smith?

Without knowing how readily they could pay there’s an element of gamble in taking a more costly (ultimately for them) path if I never end up getting paid in full for either route. But I’d prefer for whatever they can afford to pay ends up in my pocket rather than only getting whats left after solicitor, court or enforcement fees.

Reasonable solicitors fees, collection costs and court fees are all recoverable; unless you (or you together with other debtors) force them out of business you'll get your money, with interest.  The unknown is always how long that might take or if someone else (like HMRC, a landlord or a bank) might loose patience first and kill off your chances.  A face to face visit may help clarify their position.  Offering a "discount" for quick payment seems weak to me - you don't need the cash now, so full value + costs + interest is what you are entitled to - they need to believe you will pursue that and that not agreeing payment now will result in them paying more.

There’s not a worry about losing.

You won't be the first person to go into a courtroom believing they will definitely win and walk out unsuccessful with costs awarded against you.  If you've not yet got to LBA stage I'd question if there is a clear, unambiguous, written record that the £6k is outstanding and the previous payment is not full and final.  I'd get a letter off by recorded delivery ASAP (copied to "the Directors" at the Reg office if different from who you are corresponding with).