Taking a company to court is much like playing a game of chess. You need to look at the board, decide how to make your first move, look at all the responses the defendant can make to each of your actions.

Of course you can help yourself with the first move by ensuring that you have put as much communication in writing as possible prior to action. Don't rely on phone calls, and if you are forced to speak on the phone, always make notes of the call during or immediately after the call. You should then put the notes in the form of a fax and send them to the other side to confirm what you have just discussed.

With all of this information, your claim will be much stronger. Remember that judges are ordinary people and the test in the County Court is on the balance of probability rather than beyond all reasonable doubt as in the higher courts.

Court is nothing to be scared of. It is your right, as a citizen, to get justice using the legal system of this country. Solicitors and barristers are not necessary. Of course the other side may use these, especially if they are large companies, but in most cases this will only help your claim as judges tend to help you along more if you are representing yourself in person.

This page aims to show you how to make a claim, from issuing the County Court Summons, to dealing with a defence (if filed), hearing and responding to the other side when they send documents to you.

Important note: This site, in no way, assumes responsibility for any action taken by readers. It is merely designed to inform. We also, can not provide any specific legal advice to readers.

On this site, we have included most of the forms and guides you will need to bring an action. We aim to take you through making a claim the 'old-fashined' way, that is to say using hand-completed forms. The Courts Service have introduced a relatively new way to make a small money claim on-line. If you prefer that route, or just want to see more about this way of commencing proceedings, click here.

The first thing you will need to do is find out which court to commence the action in. Usually, this is the court nearest to where you live. As a small claimant, you can also pick any court which is convenient for you, but remember that the defendant can ask for the court to be moved. Generally, if you bought goods, for example, and they were delivered to your home the court will deem the contract of sale to have taken place there. Click here to find your nearest court address. This is the address to send your completed Summons forms to.

When you make a claim, you are known as the Claimant. The person or company receiving your claim is known as the Defendant. We'll be referring to these terms throughout what follows.

Click on the links on the left to see each stage of the claim process.