Frequently Asked Questions

The first step is to always communicate with the individual yourself and to set out clearly and in writing why you say money is owed to you from the individual. If an invoice is unpaid then a copy of the outstanding invoice should be provided with any letter/email you write and a reasonable period of time should be provided to the individual to make the payment requested.

Absent a reply or an acceptable response, S&J Pardesi Solicitors will review the correspondence and advise you on your next steps. This could include drafting a comprehensive Pre-Action Letter on your behalf where clarification of any point is required/necessary or drafting a detailed Claim Form and Particulars of Claim on your behalf so that your claim can be lodged/issued with the Court.

Again, communicate with the company yourself initially and set out clearly and in writing why you say money is owed to you from the company. If an invoice is unpaid then a copy of the outstanding invoice should be provided with any letter/email you write and a reasonable period of time should be provided to the company to make the requested payment sought.

Absent a reply or an acceptable response, S&J Pardesi Solicitors will review the correspondence and advise you on your next steps. This could include drafting a comprehensive Pre-Action Letter on your behalf where clarification of any point is required/necessary or drafting a detailed Claim Form and Particulars of Claim on your behalf so that your claim can be lodged/issued with the Court.

Unfortunately, only estimated timescales can be provided and even then the estimated timescales are merely estimated/predicted timescales only. Every claim/case is different and there are a number of factors to consider in relation to the timescales of a case/claim to include the value of the claim, the complexity of the issues to be resolved, applications to the Court to address certain issues, the number of witnesses involved, whether expert (third party) evidence is required, the Court’s availability, Judicial availability, Covid 19 issues etc.

Claims up to the value of £10,000.00 may proceed to a final hearing known as a Trial between an estimated timeframe of 6-12 months and claims of a value exceeding the sum of  £10,000.00 can take much longer.

Every claim/case is different. An estimate as to the costs involved in your claim/case is dependent upon a number of factors such as and without limitation, the complexity of the issues involved, the value of the claim, the level of witness evidence required , applications to the Court to address certain issues, whether expert (third party) evidence is required or not etc.

At S&J Pardesi Solicitors we will work with our clients in relation to the costs involved in a claim/case. We will discuss various funding options with you including fixed fees for certain stages of the case, exploring legal expenses insurance options etc.

To be successful in a civil claim/case the party bringing the claim known as the ‘Claimant’ must prove their claim/case to the Court on a balance of probabilities being at 51% or more. It is only when a case has been reviewed and detailed evidence has been obtained to support your claim/case that advice can be provided about your chances/prospects of success. It should be noted that certain evidence may not be available until the later stages of the claim/case and this could potentially impact upon advice provided earlier on in the claim/case.

At S&J Pardesi we will always attempt to recover your legal costs where possible. Unfortunately, the recovery of legal costs is dependent upon a number of factors and it is rare that even if you win your case that your full legal costs will be recovered.

In small claims matters in particular (claims up to and under the value of £10,000.00) the legal costs involved are unlikely to be recovered or may only be recovered on a fixed basis.

At S&J Pardesi Solicitors we will explore various funding options with you. Work may be carried out on a private paying hourly rate basis.  A fixed fee for certain work may also be agreed. Work may be capped at stages of the claim or may be carried out on a Contingency Fee basis, through any insurance policy of yours or on a Damages Based Agreement. Please see our Services pages on our website or the other frequently asked questions for more details/information.

Subject to a review of the papers and a prior agreement with you in writing, fees can be agreed to deal with particular stages of your claim/case.

If you have won your case/claim and the Court has ordered the other party to pay you a sum of money and the other party has not paid the amount ordered then you may have to take further steps to actually obtain the money owed to you under the Court Order or Judgment. This process is called enforcement which can be undertaken using various methods including instructing Bailiffs, Bankruptcy Petitions etc.

A Section 21 notice under the Housing Act 1988 (as amended) is a notice served onto a tenant from a landlord or on behalf of a landlord seeking possession of residential property let under a tenancy agreement.  This form of notice is considered to be a non -fault based notice.

A Section 8 notice under the Housing Act 1988 (as amended) is a notice served onto a tenant seeking possession of residential property. The notice is served onto a tenant who has breached the terms of their tenancy agreement. This type of notice is considered to be a fault based notice.

Under this agreement, if you win your claim, Solicitors’ fees (our fees/costs) are calculated as a percentage of the value of the compensation recovered on your behalf. At S&J Pardesi Solicitors we offer these types of agreements in limited circumstances following a detailed review/assessment of the case.

Under this type of agreement, you do not pay your Solicitors fees/costs unless your successful with your claim.  Should you be successful with your claim/case then some of your legal costs/expenses will be recovered from the other side and some of the legal costs will be subject to any agreement reached between  you and your Solicitors (from your compensation) or subject to any agreement reached between your Solicitors and any insurer of yours.