Breach of contract, or Debt | Loss or damage which is someone else’s fault (negligence) with no personal injury | Personal injury (including road traffic accidents) | |
Time limits (This is the basic time limit. For exceptions and special cases see our guide to time limits for small claims and fast-track claims) | 6 years | 6 years | 3 years |
Is it a small claim? | Yes, if the value is under £10,000. | Yes, if value under £10,000. | Yes, if
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Is it a fast track claim? | Yes, if the value is over £10,000 and under £25,000 | Yes, if the value is over £10,000 and under £25,000 | Yes, if
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Is there a pre-action protocol? | Yes,if your case is about debt or money owed. Otherwise No. You need to follow the guidelines for pre-action conduct. See section 4 of our guide to pre-action conduct and pre-action protocol | No. You need to follow the guidelines for pre-action conduct. See section 4 of our guide to pre-action conduct and pre-action protocol | Yes. Unless it is a small claim, when you need to follow the guidelines for pre-action conduct. See Things you need to know about court procedure before you start a civil case for more detail. If your claim is for personal injury caused by a car accident that occured on or after May 31st 2021, and the total value is under £10,000, and value of personal injury element is under £5,000 you need to use the new pre-action protocol. You do this by using the Official Injury Claim service. Please see How to make a claim about injuries caused by a car accident. |
Can I use Money Claim? (see How to start a claim for other limitations, e.g. if there is more than one defendent, it is against a Govt. body, or either party are under 18 etc)
| Yes, if the value is under £10,000. See our guide to how to start a small claim. | Yes, if the value is under £10,000. See our guide to how to start a small claims case. | No.You will have to complete the paper form. See how to start a civil case |
Can I use Money Claims Online (MCOL)? (See How to start a civil claim e.g. if there are more than two defendants, or they don’t have an address in England and Wales) | Yes, for debt or a fixed amount of money up to £100,000. See our guide how to start a civil case. | Only if you are claiming a fixed amount of money up to £100,000. See our guide how to start a civil case. | No. You will have to complete the paper form. See how to start a civil case. |
Will I have to pay the other side’s legal costs if I lose my small claim? | No, except for court fees, witness expenses, and any expert’s report, unless you have behaved unreasonably | No, except for court fees, witness expenses, and any expert’s report, unless you have behaved unreasonably | No, unless you have behaved unreasonably |
Will I have to pay the other side’s legal costs if I lose my fast track claim? | Yes. See our guide to legal costs for more information. | Yes. See our guide to legal costs for more information. | Not if your case started before 1st October 2023, unless you have failed to beat a Part 36 offer, or your claim was fundamentally dishonest. Yes if your case started after 1st October 2023. See Legal costs and who pays them for more information. |
What award can the court make if I win? | Debt: ● Amount of debt ● Interest on that amount Breach of contract: ● Usually, money to put you in the financial position you would have been if the contract had been carried out properly ● Occasionally, ordering the other person to remedy the breach of contract ● Interest on that amount | ● Compensation to put you in the position you would have been in if the person had carried out their duty ● Interest on that amount | ● Compensation for the injury itself, that is for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity ● Compensation for your losses and expenses ● Interest on that amount |
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The information in this guide applies to England and Wales only. The law may be different if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The law is complicated. We have simplified things in this guide. Please don’t rely on this guide as a complete statement of the law. We recommend you read the other guides in this series and try to get advice from the sources we have suggested.
The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.
This guide was produced by Law for Life's Advicenow project. We would like to thank everyone who has commented or helped with the guide inlcuding editorital teams at Thomson Reuters who kindly reviewed this updated version. This guide was updated thanks to funding from the Ministry of Justice.
Updated March 2024
