Know Your Rights – when buying tech and gadgets

SMALL CLAIMS COURT

Most of the time, problems can be resolved without the need to involve the courts, but when a retailer or individual won’t co-operate, it could be your last resort.

The Small Claims Court is the place to go for claims up to £5,000. It isn’t a separate court – it’s simply a process for making small claims in a County Court. You can make a claim for goods not supplied as well as faulty products. The procedure is fairly simple and you shouldn’t need a lawyer.

If you have a faulty product, bear in mind that the court is unlikely to order the retailer to carry out a repair or replacement. Instead, as long as your claim is successful, it will award you damages – a sum of money – as compensation.

Before you go down this route, there are several things you must do first. You’ll have to show that you’ve made an effort to reach an agreement. If you’ve not already done so, write to the retailer giving details of the problem, plus evidence that the fault is due to manufacturing defects if the goods are more than 6 months old. Also explain what you expect them to do about it and say that if you do not receive a detailed response you will start legal proceedings without further notice. You are required to allow a reasonable time for a reply – usually 30 days.

If the retailer suggests some form of independent assessment of your claim, sometimes called arbitration or alternative dispute resolution, you should consider it because failure to do so might restrict what a court eventually awards you.

You can find out more information about the process at www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk. If you’re after a template letter, simply search Google for “sample before action letter”.

There are risks to taking court action. If you lose the case, you won’t get the court fees back and you’ll probably have to pay the travel expenses of the retailer and the retailer’s witnesses.

How the process works

You start the claim by obtaining and completing a Claim Form. Either obtain one from a County Court or online at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk. The form has a space where you can describe your problem.

The completed form with all supporting documents and evidence should be taken or sent to the Court together with the court fee. Court fees vary from £25 to £120 depending upon the size of the claim. The court will send the claim form and documents to the retailer, the Defendant, who will be required to respond within a fixed time.

The retailer may respond by making an offer to settle. If so, take time to consider whether the offer is reasonable because, if you reject it and the case goes against you or the court awards you a smaller amount, you may end up worse off.

If no offer is made or you reject an offer you may have to attend a hearing and explain your case. In that event there may be an additional hearing fee but the court will tell you what’s happening and what you have to do.

At the hearing, if you are successful, the court will award you damages and make an order for payment. You should, at that moment, ask the court to also award you costs so that the court fees and other costs can be included in the damages.