Find accurate, official guidance on making a small claims court claim from GOV.UK and Citizens Advice.
Need free advice? Citizens Advice — citizensadvice.org.uk or call 0800 144 8848 in England (free).
Need a solicitor? Law Society — Find a Solicitor.
What is the small claims limit?
In England and Wales the small claims track is for claims of £10,000 or less (personal injury and housing disrepair claims have lower limits). In Scotland, simple procedure is for claims of £5,000 or less. In Northern Ireland, the small claims court is for claims of not more than £5,000.
Can I recover my legal costs?
In England and Wales, costs on the small claims track are limited: for example fixed issue costs, court fees, travel expenses, limited loss of earnings or leave, and experts' fees, or more if the other side behaved unreasonably. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules: the checker uses the guide for your nation.
How do I start a small claim?
In England and Wales, use the online Civil Money Claims service on GOV.UK, or fill in form N1 and send it to the Civil National Business Centre with the court fee. In Scotland, use Civil Online or Form 3A at the sheriff court. In Northern Ireland, apply through the Civil Processing Centre at Laganside Courts.
Is there free help to settle before a hearing?
In England and Wales, if the other side disputes a claim of £10,000 or less, both sides must attend a free mediation appointment by phone first. An agreement reached at mediation is legally binding.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
In England and Wales, a claim founded on a contract, or on a wrong such as negligence, cannot usually be started more than 6 years after the cause of action arose (Limitation Act 1980). Time limits are different in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and for personal injury: if your problem is old, ask Citizens Advice (Advice NI in Northern Ireland).
⚖ UK Work Rights provides free AI-assisted guidance on employment, housing, benefits and consumer rights. View all our free tools and checkers.
The small claims process is designed to be accessible without legal representation, for claims up to £10,000 in England and Wales — covering everything from unpaid invoices to faulty goods disputes that couldn't be resolved directly.
Courts generally expect to see evidence you gave the other party a genuine final opportunity to resolve things before filing a claim — skipping this step can affect how your claim is viewed, even if you ultimately win.
The other party has an opportunity to respond, and many claims settle before ever reaching a hearing — if it does proceed, hearings are generally informal and specifically designed to be manageable without a solicitor.
UK Work Rights provides free, plain English guidance to help you understand where you stand. Each checker answers only from its own guide for your part of the UK, checked against official sources. We cover 67 free AI rights checkers, with guides for each part of the UK, across employment, housing, benefits, consumer, driving, family and more.
Our guidance covers many common situations, but complex or high-stakes cases need professional advice. Official information: GOV.UK (England), GOV.WALES (Wales), mygov.scot (Scotland) and nidirect (Northern Ireland). For free help, contact Citizens Advice (England 0800 144 8848, Wales 0800 702 2020), Citizens Advice Scotland (0800 028 1456) or Advice NI (0800 915 4604), or speak to a solicitor.
Describe your situation and we will explain the process
Tip: Focus on one issue at a time for the clearest answer. If you have multiple issues, run them separately for a full picture on each one.
Include what the claim is for, how much it is, who you are claiming from, and what you have done so far to get paid.
Pick the closest one — any boxes you need will appear below.
Free · Guidance only, not legal advice
Analysing your situation...
Checking against current UK law
Generating...
The checker answers only from the guide for the nation you choose, plus what you tell it. If your question is not covered there, it says so instead of guessing. Each guide was checked against primary sources on 24 September 2026.
Spotted something missing, wrong or out of date? Tell us, or comment on the guide.
Directed and published by Matt Thompson, founder of UK Work Rights. Guidance checked against GOV.UK, ACAS and legislation.gov.uk. This is general rights guidance, not legal advice.
UK Work Rights is completely free and always will be. If this guidance helped you, a small donation helps keep the site running and updated for everyone.
100% goes to running and maintaining this free service. No pressure — the guidance is always free.