Making a Complaint About the Small Claims Court

I took my ex son in law to the small claims court over an unpaid car loan he defaulted on and I had to pay as the guarantee. I won my case and a decree issued to recover my money approx £2750. He refused to pay and I had to use the EOJ in Belfast in attempt to get my money. After paying more money to the courts (£350) we ended up in front of the master who rejected my son in laws appeal but in areas of dealing with the case sent it back to the small claims court to see if we could come to an agreement. At the small claims we were told to speak and come to an arrangement which we did. He accepted full responsibility. We agreed a payment plan. The decree was set aside and I was told if he defaulted I could apply for the decree to be reinstated and the case would continue with the EOJ. He defaulted I got a new decree and now I have to pay another £350 for the EOJ to process my case and may still get nothing in the end. I've gone round in circles if I'd seen told this would happen first time I'd never have agreed to anything and made or asked the master to make a ruling in areas of passing the buck.

I was in Edmonton county court the day of the hearing the judge never had my defence papers or my witness statement and to make it worst my counterclaim with no reason why I was asked to do another counterclaim form which I did again sent it in phoned the courts they told me they had it. But this wasn't the case on the day of hearing the judge Carried on with the case all one sided for the claimant I wasn't allowed to defend my case that the claimant never paid me and I had a signed agreement from the claimant saying she owed me money I wasn't allowed to bring that up. The judge just carried on with the claimant there was no reason for me to be there I wasn't allowed to defend my side of the case. So I had no papers there because the courts lost everything the judge wasn't interested in anything I had to say and even tho the claimant owed me over £2500 I've now been told I have to pay the claimant £1250. It doesn't make any sense to me my human rights to fair trail was completely ignored. The judge won't let me appeal but I been told by the courts I can still appeal but I have no money to pay for legal advice to help me fill the forms. I feel let down by the justice service and don't know what to do. Can anyone help.

I had cause to take a grandson to court to claim money loaned to him during university of about 2 and half to 3 years I gifted him £300 per month but he was telephoning me for extra money as he was always short but that aside I appeared in a small claims court in Birmingham City Centre my legal representative with ne. at the last minute the group of people with my grandson had employed a barrister at the last minute we was advised of this 10 minutes before appearing in court ( all through the letters and emails we was told that the grandson would not be able to have legal representation my question to you is : do we as a human being have to agree to the behaviour from a Judge as follows: 1) my legal representative was showing me the page where the Barrister was referring he was told off for helping me 2) the judge over a couple of times said answer the question on both counts I said I couldn't hear so with a big huff both the judge and barrister repeated the question (although most of the time the barrister was making a statement) the barrister never looked in my direction which I found most rude statement from a witness for the other side the judge told me to stop 'eyeballing' the witness (don't even understand the meaning of this word) the judge kept TELLING me to read my statement before answering the question put to me by the barrister winding up she advised that due to time lapse I had forgotten most of the conversations/events between my grandson and myself my legal adviser was treated like a naughty school boy and I was treated in the most awful behaviour one would expect from a person in that position I have looked through the network but can only see complaints against solicitors not judges which is a pity as I would like an apology off this particular judge who may I add had quite a conversation with the barrister not including my legal representative she (the judge awarded my £200 the amount that my grandson had from me was over £3K which was in addition to the £300 paid into his bank each month when in University. the crux of the matter was that I didn't get it in writing therefore they two women treated it as a gift on top of the £10K he had as a gift

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I'm afraid we cannot comment upon the judge's decision.

I have just been to the County Court to claim back money owed by an ex friend I have tried to get this back in person, by letter and then mediation (which she missed). However, the judge blamed me for bringing the claim saying the breakdown of a friendship was not the courts business I had carefully prepared the documents, which were lost and hand delivered a second copy which the judge didn't have. This showed receipts, messages asking to borrow money, promises to pay back and requests for me to book event tickets. The case was decided in my favour. I was awarded £50 of a £975 debt. The rest being the cost of friendship. The other party could not provided eveidence when asked for it and simply said to every question she had paid cash. To which she had bought no proof of ever withdrawing cash (even admitting at one point to not having her bank card, but had withdrawn money). When asked to leave so the judge could make his verdict she stayed in the room to charm him. After this the fact she had no evidence, had lied in her defence statement and I had proof of expenditure and promise to pay went out the window. No costs were awarded despite the case being decided in my favour. Surely I should have at least got these back?

I have just been to the County Court to claim back money owed by an ex friend I have tried to get this back in person, by letter and then mediation (which she missed). However, the judge blamed me for bringing the claim saying the breakdown of a friendship was not the courts business I had carefully prepared the documents, which were lost and hand delivered a second copy which the judge didn't have. This showed receipts, messages asking to borrow money, promises to pay back and requests for me to book event tickets. The case was decided in my favour. I was awarded £50 of a £975 debt. The rest being the cost of friendship. The other party could not provided eveidence when asked for it and simply said to every question she had paid cash. To which she had bought no proof of ever withdrawing cash (even admitting at one point to not having her bank card, but had withdrawn money). When asked to leave so the judge could make his verdict she stayed in the room to charm him. After this the fact she had no evidence, had lied in her defence statement and I had proof of expenditure and promise to pay went out the window. No costs were awarded despite the case being decided in my favour. Surely I should have at least got these back?

I would like to make a complaint against three judges that say I have no right or merit to bring a New claim against mr John Martin of the most beautiful people in the world Peterborough county court I hope you will be able to help me in this matter kind regards Andrew

Hi the question that I have is can I act as a "third party" for my wife in a Small Claims Court? She does not feel up to appearing before a Judge

I have draught a letter that I will be sending to our local county court that may be of some help to readers of this page. Of course names have been removed for obvious reasons but anyone who wants to make a complaint should not be frightened to do so as these courts are paid for by our council tax and the people who work there are supposed to provide a professional service without bias. please see my draught letter below for some tips. This is now the beginning of my complaint against Gloucestershire county court and the judges that work there. The actual case this refers to has been finalised as I have now paid Mr C**** the money the Judge ordered me to pay. This is not a claim that the order should be reversed because I know that this establishment will not allow such a thing even if the judge was wrong or failed to do his job. I do however feel that there must be some form of complaint that can be made in this case as it will be proved that the judge in this instance did not act without bias or taking sides. This judge did quite obviously and deliberately take sides and even had a chuckle with the claimant at our expense. Our treatment during this horrid bungled case has been disgusting and the outcome of this case is disputed the way this outcome came about most definitely is disputed and a full investigation into my points raised here should be taken very seriously. I make this claim as a starting point to request compensation for the way this entire proceeding has been handled and the undue stress it has caused both myself and Miss Y****. Gloucestershire county courts and the judge who heard the case need to be investigated for bad practices and unfair biased behaviour. The ombudsman should be informed about this disturbing case and the full weight of my complaint needs to be investigated to the highest level. I will require any information needed to take this as far as the ombudsman and make this request to the county court. The reasons for this are clear and will be pointed out below. The judge did not allow me to present any defence instead he concentrated his questioning on a completely irrelevant wrong date query on a document that had no real significance with the case being tried. He continued to bombard me with questions about this date which had no relevance to the case in any way yet never allowed me to point out the documents that would indeed prove my case. and when I tried to present my defence he interrupted me and said it was now his turn to do his bit. The judge was very happy to listen to Mr C***** and his claim he was also not offended when Mr C**** interrupted him during his final summary even engaging in jovial conversation yet I was hushed down instantly. Crucial evidence to support the fact that Mr C***** did not work all the hours he was claiming for and even copies of his own diary proved he was lying yet still the judge did not take any notice of these. I pointed out that on the day Mr C***** claims he s

I used the small claims service filed a complaint against r v hall and co brokers who received a commission from Northern Rock which they did not declare. I sought advice from Counsel who said I could proceed without legal help and did so, I sent the claim to the brokers private addressand in the absence of a response asked for Bailiffs to attend his premises. I then took notice but then claimed not to have received the Summons. He asked for the claim to be set aside which he cold do so as there is a legal precedent that allows up to five weeks after Judgement to have this done so.His solicitors asked that I should agree to have the Judgement set aside and having taken legal advice I was advised to agree to this. I made the claim against the partnership as it was at that time in 2004. However, I then received no notice of a hearing date where the judge accepted the Defence that the services were supplied by the Limited Company which in fact was not created until 2015. I have a Judgement that has an error of fact , and I have been told it will cost as much to rectify this as the costs that have been awarded against me. Ive been told to take the "commercial decision" to pay the Judgement. Put simply Defence have misrepresented the facts and the Judge has missed a very basic error in that the company reference that was quoted on the Judgement cold only refer to a company formulated in 2015 and not 2004. Justice !!!

Why is it always the people that rip you off always get away with it? The court system stinks and seems to work for them not the innocent party.

All that has to be done is paperwork.as humans most of us live our life as best as we can . the courts make everything so complicated .then laugh when your defending yourself .then all certain people can say is they aren't to make it easy for you it's a court room.example.you walk in for a simple divorce . walk out doing community service. The courts are so rude the courtsprotected by working in a court office. where is my human rights to protect me from the court office.when is the courts going to do community service for disturbing my peace.

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A specified in the article, if you are unhappy about the way in which your case has been handled, you can complain to the court that has conduct of your case. However you can expect the court process to take up to six months if your claim is disputed. I'm afraid, we cannot add to the article's information as we have included all the relevant options within the text.

Hi am a one man band who recently had to employ my local county court ( Aldershot County Court) to recover a debt on my behalf. The papers were filled in November 2015 monies paid etc. Its now Feb 2016 and I'm still waiting to hear from them, you can spend hours on the phone waiting for them to answer but they don't. iv emailed them twice but they don't reply. I'm becoming very frustrated with the whole system. This is supposed to be a life line for small business. I beginning to feel its a waste of money and i seemingly have no comeback for the money iv lost or the money iv paid in fees. Very disappointed in the whole system. Antiquated, under investment and poor customer relations. Where can i or should i go now.

Debtor owes £1,450. April 15 - he offers to pay in two halves. He doesn't. May 15 - I offer to settle for £1,250 to avoid court. He agrees then doesn't pay. June 15 - I get my solicitor involved. Debtor agrees he owes me £1,450 and emails solicitor offering to pay in two halves. Then doesn't. July 15 - having given adequate and sufficient notice I pay to issue proceedings £115. Debtor defends saying I haven't done the work (which I have and can prove) and its not him but his Ltd company. All emails to/from him plus correspondence to/from him do NOT mention Ltd company.Previous payments to me from him were from him and NOT a Ltd company. August 15 - Solicitor asks for Court Directions. Sept 15 - Court say matter is 'in process". Oct 15 - I happened to walk past Debtors offices and see debtor has moved offices without telling anyone. I tell solicitor. By fluke (total fluke) I speak to someone who knows where debtor has moved to. Oct 15 - solicitor chases Court for directions. November 15 - solicitor chases Court. Nov 24,15 - solicitor formally complains to Court. results: £1,450 + £115 + £200 solicitors bill = £1,765. Not a lot of money to the Courts but as a one man business a FORTUNE to me!!!!!!!!

Debtor owes £1,450. April 15 - he offers to pay in two halves. He doesn't. May 15 - I offer to settle for £1,250 to avoid court. He agrees then doesn't pay. June 15 - I get my solicitor involved. Debtor agrees he owes me £1,450 and emails solicitor offering to pay in two halves. Then doesn't. July 15 - having given adequate and sufficient notice I pay to issue proceedings £115. Debtor defends saying I haven't done the work (which I have and can prove) and its not him but his Ltd company. All emails to/from him plus correspondence to/from him do NOT mention Ltd company.Previous payments to me from him were from him and NOT a Ltd company. August 15 - Solicitor asks for Court Directions. Sept 15 - Court say matter is 'in process". Oct 15 - I happened to walk past Debtors offices and see debtor has moved offices without telling anyone. I tell solicitor. By fluke (total fluke) I speak to someone who knows where debtor has moved to. Oct 15 - solicitor chases Court for directions. November 15 - solicitor chases Court. Nov 24,15 - solicitor formally complains to Court. results: £1,450 + £115 + £200 solicitors bill = £1,765. Not a lot of money to the Courts but as a one man business a FORTUNE to me!!!!!!!!

Debtor owes £1,450. April 15 - he offers to pay in two halves. He doesn't. May 15 - I offer to settle for £1,250 to avoid court. He agrees then doesn't pay. June 15 - I get my solicitor involved. Debtor agrees he owes me £1,450 and emails solicitor offering to pay in two halves. Then doesn't. July 15 - having given adequate and sufficient notice I pay to issue proceedings £115. Debtor defends saying I haven't done the work (which I have and can prove) and its not him but his Ltd company. All emails to/from him plus correspondence to/from him do NOT mention Ltd company.Previous payments to me from him were from him and NOT a Ltd company. August 15 - Solicitor asks for Court Directions. Sept 15 - Court say matter is 'in process". Oct 15 - I happened to walk past Debtors offices and see debtor has moved offices without telling anyone. I tell solicitor. By fluke (total fluke) I speak to someone who knows where debtor has moved to. Oct 15 - solicitor chases Court for directions. November 15 - solicitor chases Court. Nov 24,15 - solicitor formally complains to Court. results: £1,450 + £115 + £200 solicitors bill = £1,765. Not a lot of money to the Courts but as a one man business a FORTUNE to me!!!!!!!!

When I commenced acting as a litigant in person some 25 years ago I met a gentleman on my way to the courtroom - I remember his words so well "Abandon all hope ye who enters here" How right he was and still is! Nothing has changed and now we hear that there is to be a 40% reduction in court staff with closure of some county courts! From time to time we need to pursue matters via the court system but is it really ever worth it - only the "honest defendant" will ever pay as demanded - the others know how to wriggle out of their obligations and hide their assets! Although our claims are very personal to ourselves we are but a claim number to the courts. They get paid via our taxes and again from the fees which are ever increasing. Value for money - doubtful!!

I have recently gone through the whole county court procedure to get a claim against a garage that sold me a car that wasn't as described. The garage now has the car and the money. I won the court case and the defendant was asked to pay back. Nothings happened and the bailiffs were appointed. They went to the company house which turns out to be a private property and I apparently can not claim against that. I'm stuck now with no money and the defendant getting off scott free. Can anything else be done too get my money back? I don't think the small claims court system has helped me at all and I am now more out of pocket than when this all started. Any suggestions? Thanks

@Betty - I'm afraid you will have to contact whoever has issued the court order in order to sort this out directly.

I had a spurious claim put on my LLP & as my LLP partner has passed away which this is effectively against I am dealing with it.I believe there isnt a case but the defendant has pursued.May 2013 was when it started in july last yr I had a letter saying that unless the court got the papers from the defendant by Aug it would be closed.I tried calling Lambeth & emailed twice with no answer during end Aug and Sept so have assumed case is closed.The LLP hasnt been trading since really last summer & i was going through the process of closing it down.It has no debts or assets.I can't believe I have received a letter 2 yrs after the first papers now saying there is a court date set for Oct this yr.It is almost a year since the last correspondence is this allowed does anyone know?

A ccj was made against us due to claimant lying in court. This was because the documents (2) which would have proved the lies were not submitted with our bundle. What can we do in retrospect? Can we appeal? Can we make a new claim against them and prove in a new hearing that they lied? Also, the judge told us at the star,t that appeals could be made within 30 days, but when making the judgement said we had to make payment within 14 days? was this correct? We would be pleased to hear your comments. Thanks

In the small claims court a claimant got judgement by lying. We did not have the evidence to prove this in our bundle. What can we do. Can we make an appeal? The judge made a judgement on what was produced in court. What action, if any, can we now take against the claimant? Also, at the start of proceedings the judge said we had 30 days to make an appeal, but when giving the judgement ordered us to pay in 14 days. This has now passed and we are threatened with bailiffs. Was the judge right in this? Thanks for listening.

@bastien - Sorry to hear this. I hope you have found the information in the article useful.

My complaint is in regards to a directions Hearing i had at Bromley County Court. I was the Applicant that put in a claim against the council for falsely summonning me to Court for council tax and also charging me council tax and refusing to reimburse my overpayment.On entering the Court The female judge openly said that she would not want to waste further time on my case unless i told her "what law i thought the council was breaking"? I replied that we had a contract via council tax and they broke the terms and conditions. She then listened to the account of the Respondents and then never asked me or the council if this was a valid contract or even proof of contract.She just dismissed my account.She made a verdict and then refused to listen to my claim for my overpayment and threw out the case.I felt she took advantage of me by using her powers as i did not have legal representation.

Dont waste your time and money using the not fit for purpose out of date County Court System. Its geared to force people to use money grabbing Solicitors and to employ staff who dont give a damn about claimants and the stress they endure whilst trying to find their way through the many unnecessary pit falls of the County Court System. Clearly its in favor of the Defendant from start to finish. TIME FOR RADICAL CHANGE ?. Promised but never happened. Even if (AND THATS A BIG IF) you get your Judgement chances are that with today's system the Defendant will wriggle out of paying you.Then if you expose the Defendant for what he is, you might get sued in the same court for slander because he has rights. So whats the answer ? You tell me because with Solicitors fees at over £200 an hour I most certainly will give them a miss. Incidentally,.I had 14 minutes advice from my own Solicitor on this matter and was billed £90 +vat. I REST MY CASE. Total Despair. Case I yr, Still waiting for trial date.

Anyone that is considering using small claims court unless you are part of the council or a large company just forget it now as you'll just be throwing your money away. It took me 6 months of chasing bailiffs and listening to lame excuses such as staff sickness and understaffing before they even visited the premises. Another two months of them wasting time, lying to the CAB and filing a false report with the court low and behold I'm told at that point the company which owed me the money has moved on and I should basically forget the money owed and paid as they can't do anything! Contacted court to be told to make my complaint about the bailiffs in writing to the bailiffs! Two months later not a whisper. Contacted court again to be told to put it in writing to themselves which happened same day. Six weeks on guess what, not a whisper. Point is they quite frankly don't give a toss as you're no one special. In essence save your money people as you're not getting anywhere through the legal channels.

@wongie - This is very inconvenient and I can understand your frustration. As specified in the article you can complain if you are unhappy about the way in which your case has been handled.I have also included a CAB link herewhich should explain what other action you as a creditor can take. I hope this helps.

My landlady refused to return my rental deposit and I tried to use small claim court to recover the money. A default judgement was issued to her which she ignored. She then also ignored the summon for appearing in court for questioning which resulted in a suspended committal warrant issued which she also ignored. The last straw was the baliff was unable to execute the arrest warrant because she refused to open the door. She even gave a mouthful of abuses to the bailiff. The county court wrote to me saying that there was nothing they could do which I found absolutely unbelievable. She was blatantly ignoring every summon and surely she was in contempt of court!! The court says "The court is unable to do anything further at this time; you may wish to consider the forms of enforcement available". My questions are: 1. The amount is less than £600 so I cannot use high court, what would other enforcement be available? 2. Is it true that she can get away with this? if so that really make a mockery of the whole legal system. 3. Do you think I have a case to complain about the county court in quesiton for their handling of the case?

My landlady refused to return my rental deposit and I tried to use small claim court to recover the money. A default judgement was issued to her which she ignored. She then also ignored the summon for appearing in court for questioning which resulted in a suspended committal warrant issued which she also ignored. The last straw was the baliff was unable to execute the arrest warrant because she refused to open the door. She even gave a mouthful of abuses to the bailiff. The county court wrote to me saying that there was nothing they could do which I found absolutely unbelievable. She was blatantly ignoring every summon and surely she was in contempt of court!! The court says "The court is unable to do anything further at this time; you may wish to consider the forms of enforcement available". My questions are: 1. The amount is less than £600 so I cannot use high court, what would other enforcement be available? 2. Is it true that she can get away with this? if so that really make a mockery of the whole legal system. 3. Do you think I have a case to complain about the county court in quesiton for their handling of the case?