The Enforcement of Small Claims Judgments

Abstract

Abstract This book ends on a somewhat sour note. While the study that has been described in these pages has shown that small claims procedures in England and Wales operate in the main to the satisfaction of the participants, the same cannot be said of the enforcement of judgments. If, after judgment, the defendant does not pay the plaintiff within the time period specified by the court, the plaintiff may seek to enforce the judgment by requesting that the court take action against the defendant. Many plaintiffs have such bad experiences at this stage that it causes them to re-appraise the value of pursuing small claims in the first place. Indeed, a number become so jaundiced and disillusioned as a result of their failure to enforce the court’s judgment that they say that they would not contemplate using the small claims procedure again in the future.