Just for your info i've had this in an email from Thomas Higgins:
Whilst the majority of County Court Claims are undisputed, approximately 5% are defended.
When this happens your claim will be allocated to one of three tracks to be heard.
The Court Rules which came into effect on 1st April 2013 state that any disputed debts up to £10,000 will now be heard in the Small Claims Court – an increase from £5,000. Debts over £10,000 - £25,000 will still be heard in the Fast Track and debts over £25,000 go onto the Multi track.
The Small Claims has its advantages as the case should be heard relatively quickly, usually within 30 weeks. In addition the County Courts offer a free mediation service. However, where settlement has not been possible and the case proceeds to a hearing it will be held in a fairly informal setting in comparison with other court proceedings and the strict rules of evidence do not apply. In fact the whole Small Claims process is designed towards people representing themselves as opposed to instructing solicitors.
The drawback is, should you wish to appoint a solicitor to represent you at the hearing, their costs (which you pay them for representing you) are not recoverable from the defendant even if you win!
Whilst the District Judge has the discretion to award additional costs against a losing party where they have acted unreasonably, this is rarely granted, so it is you who will be footing the bill. Therefore, for smaller debts you may not consider it cost effective to have legal representation for the hearings and deal with them yourselves.
In future, to avoid being unable to recover these costs, you may wish to consider reviewing your contractual terms of business. With a view to include a clause stating that in addition to the amount due under your agreement any legal costs you incur as a result of a breach (non-payment) will be payable by your customer. The new Civil Procedure Rule 44.5 confirms that the small-claims procedure may be used to recover both debt AND reasonable contractual costs.
If you decide to attend the hearing personally and represent yourself, we will send you our useful Small Claims Guide and advice notes to assist you with the process. Although, we can if you wish to have legal representation act for you, we will charge between £750 - £1000 +vat depending on the value and complexity of your claim.
The Court rules place great emphasis that the parties should make every effort to settle their case. Where a party unreasonably refuses to enter into meaningful negotiations the court has the power to penalise that party with adverse costs sanctions. To avoid any delay in your matter being heard, we would recommend that at an early stage you should ensure that you have provided all the necessary information to the defendant so that they are fully aware of your claim and if appropriate enter into negotiations. Keep a record of all the efforts you have made to try to settle the matter so that you can demonstrate to the court that you were left with little choice but to take the court proceedings.