Making a claim for compensation following an accident, trip, fall or slip is more straightforward nowadays than at any time in UK history.

While in decades gone by legal assistance was the reserve of the wealthy, it is now readily available to everyone who needs it.

Small claims

Making a small claim is the best, most hassle-free way of dealing with a court claim of limited value. The process of small claims is the appropriate path to take when seeking compensation of less than £5,000. When dealing with injury claims or claims against landlords due to disrepair of your rented accommodation, anything less than £1,000 is considered suitable for the small claims court.

The small claims court benefits all parties in that any procedures that go through it are, by their very nature, less expensive than those which pass through the standard courts. The small claims court procedure is also far less complex than the standard court procedure.

Getting help with your small claim

There is certainly no shortage of firms, individuals and companies who are only too eager to help you to pursue your small claim and help you gain access to the compensation you feel you deserve.

But it cannot be stressed too strongly that you should take great care in choosing the sources of any advice that you might take very carefully. There are firms out there purporting to offer legal advice when in reality their qualifications don’t give them license to do so. Fortunately there are others, like First4Lawyers, who can put you in touch with some of the very best legal professionals in the business to make sure that you are well advised every step of the way towards winning your claim.

You may choose to work independently to pursue your claim and the small claims court welcomes individuals who choose not to utilise the services of a solicitor to advise them or represent them in court. However, many people choose to seek out a solicitor to guide them through the necessary steps to making a successful claim.

Costs

Making a small claim does have a number of costs involved and it is important to take these costs into consideration at an early stage so that you can be sure you are not getting yourself into a situation that could prove financially difficult.

Legal aid is available from the government to help cover the cost of certain fees in particular situations. Legal aid exists to make sure that people’s basic rights are protected and that everyone who goes through a procedure in the courts of law gets a fair hearing. The reason legal aid was introduced was to ensure that disputes could be put through the courts even when the people involved couldn’t afford court fees, so as to reduce problems that lead to social exclusion.

Legal aid is not available in all scenarios, however, and many people turn to no-win, no-fee solicitors for assistance, as there are no up-front costs in such agreements.