Small Claims – Step 2 – Prepare a Defence

As always, the information provided is the result of the experiences of defendants who have been in dispute. It is NOT intended to replace professional legal advice and you should always see a solicitor about any claim against you. Remember to take the skeleton argument (in the Court Bundle section) with you.

Your defence will largely depend on the circumstances of your case and this cannot be put into a template document but the following 2 documents can be used as a guide.

It is important to remember that your defence must be based on solid LEGAL reasons so you need to research this.  Use the pointers in the template documents and research what they mean to determine whether they are appropriate to your case.  IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE WITH THIS THEN PLEASE CREATE A POST IN THE ‘HELP WITH DEFENCE’ SECTION OF THE FORUM AND SOMEONE WILL BE ALONG TO HELP.

At this stage you DO NOT need to send evidence documents such as copies of letters, etc.  You just need to send a defence document which outlines your reasons for defending the claim.

When you received the court summons you will have been given a document entitled Particulars of Claim which details what RTA are claiming and why.  This document will be set out in the form of numbered paragraphs.

On a basic level you will need to admit or deny each of those numbered paragraphs.

Here is an example of a Particulars of Claim and you can see the numbered paragraphs and the general layout.

Here are a couple of methods you can use to formulate a defence;

1. This is a short form defence which just simply admits or denies each of the paragraphs in the Particulars of Claim
2. This is a full defence which is more complicated. You don;t need to use this method because you are a litigant in person (ie you are not represented by a solicitor) so you can provide your full legal arguments at the hearing.
3. If you wish to make a counterclaim then you can use this form of defence to lodge your counterclaim.

Send your defence document back to the court within the specified timeframe and make sure you get proof of posting.