Step-by-step Guide: How Can I Start a European Small Claims Procedure?

STEP 1

Prepare your case

Answer the following questions before you initiate this procedure:

• Is the European Small Claims Procedure the best option?  
  Have you already tried to resolve the issue with customer services, through mediation by the European Consumer Centre, an arbitration board, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), legal expenses insurance, or another consumer organisation?
• Do you know what costs you can expect to incur to start the procedure? 
• Do you have enough supporting evidence for your claim?
• Do you know which court to file the claim with? And in which language?

STEP 2

Send your claim to the court

Fill in Form A from the European Commission's website. You must submit the form and supporting evidence in the language of the court. 

All forms for the small claims procedure are available on the European e-Justice Portal if you prefer to download and save the form on your computer.

Form A consists of the following sections: 

• Court/tribunal
  Before which court are you filing the claim?    
• Claimant
  What are your contact details? Are there multiple claimants with the same issue? Then you can fill in their details too. You can add a maximum of 20 claimants. The sum you are claiming collectively may not exceed €5000 in total.   
• Defendant   
  What are the defendant's contact details?  
• Jurisdiction   
  Why does this court have the authority to hear your claim? Is the court located in your country of residence, for example? Or is it in the country in which the defendant is located?
• Cross-border issue
  In which different EU countries are you and the defendant located?   
• Bank details
  How do you wish to pay the court fees? Bear in mind that not all courts accept the same payment methods. Be sure to first check with the court how you can pay.    
• Claim
  What sum are you claiming from the defendant? Or what is the estimated value of the products or services you are claiming? You can also state the costs you incurred to bring this claim to court. Say whether you would like to be reimbursed for these costs if you win the case.  
• Details of the claim
  What is the reason you are requesting a refund or require compensation for a product or service? What evidence do you have to support your claim? There is not much space for an explanation on the form, so explain exactly what happened in a separate statement. Send this statement and other supporting documents along with the form.
• Oral hearing
  Do you wish to speak to the judge? If the judge wishes to speak to you, do you want to travel to the court for this? Note: an oral hearing may incur additional costs.  
• Communication with the court
  Do you consent to electronic communications with the court and to receive documents electronically? Note: not all courts in the EU can facilitate electronic communications. Sometimes the procedure takes place by post.  
• Certificate
  Would you like to receive proof of the judgement in a language other than the language of the proceedings? This could be in Dutch or the official language of the defendant's country, for example. This can be useful to enforce the judgment in another EU country.

STEP 3

The court will assess your claim

The court will check whether your claim is complete and meets the conditions. The court will also look at whether you have provided enough evidence and explanations. There are various options:

• The court can hear your claim 
  The court then informs the defendant of the claim (see Step 4). Sometimes the court may not be able to hear your claim or may not be able to hear it yet:
• The court cannot hear your claim yet
  This may happen if you have filled in something incorrectly or because supporting evidence is lacking, for example. The court will then ask you to complete Form B. You can use it to amend your original submission.
• The court may hear your claim in another procedure
  Sometimes the court cannot hear the claim under the European Small Claims Procedure. The court can then deal with the claim under a similar national procedure.
• The court does not appear to have jurisdiction and cannot hear the claim
  Whether or not your court fee is reimbursed in that case varies by country and court.
• The court dismisses your claim for a particular reason
  Your best option depends on the reason for dismissal. In some cases, you can start a new European Small Claims Procedure with a few changes. Sometimes you can start a national procedure instead.

STEP 4

The court sends your claim to the defendant

The court completes the top section of Form C. The court sends this to the defendant along with your supporting documents. This happens within 14 days.

STEP 5

The defendant may respond

The defendant responds by completing the bottom section of 'Form C'. The defendant generally has 30 days to do this. They may request more time in exceptional cases. 

Different scenarios are possible, for example:

• The defendant fails to respond or does not respond in time. In this case, the case continues as usual and the court issues a judgment.
• The defendant chooses to ‘settle’. For example, the defendant agrees to pay the sum claimed after all. In that case, the judge does not need to make a ruling.
• The defendant admits fault and promises to pay (in part).
• The defendant requests a hearing.
• The defendant disagrees with your statement and submits their own statement. The defendant can also make a counter claim and demand a sum from you. Do they make a counter claim? Then you have 30 days to respond.
• The defendant opposes the claim. For example, they may argue that the case does not meet the conditions for the European Small Claims Procedure. The court will then reassess the claim. If it does not meet the conditions, the court will inform you and the defendant and explain what happens next. This will be within 30 days.

You will receive a copy of the defendant's response within 14 days.

STEP 6

The hearing (optional)

The parties are given the opportunity to speak to the judge at a hearing. A hearing is usually not necessary in the European Small Claims Procedure. It only takes place if you, the defendant, or the judge request it.

The judge decides how the hearing will be conducted. The judge tries to keep the costs as low as possible:

• The hearing usually takes place via a phone or video call
• The judge sometimes decides that additional written information or evidence is sufficient
• The judge sometimes decides that only one party needs to attend the hearing
• You can present your case yourself. You do not need to have a lawyer with you (although you can)

STEP 7

The judge issues a ruling

You receive the judge's ruling within 30 days of:

• receipt of the defendant's response. The judge will also issue a ruling if the defendant has not responded (in time)
• receipt of your response to any counter claim from the defendant
• A possible hearing
• Receipt of any additional evidence the court has requested

Is the court unable to issue a judgment within 30 days? In that case, the court must rule as soon as possible. Contact the court if you do not hear anything in a timely fashion.

STEP 8

After the judgment

Have you won the court case? Then you now have a judgment that is valid in all EU countries (except Denmark). You can use ‘Form D’ to request a certificate of judgment. Ensure you also have a translation of this certificate in the language of the country where you want the judgement executed. 

For example: do you want to engage a bailiff in Spain to get the defendant to pay a sum? Then you should obtain a Spanish translation of the certificate.

Contact the defendant in writing. Ask the defendant to comply with the judgement. Issue a warning too. Is the defendant refusing to comply with the judgment? Then, inform them that you will engage a bailiff at their expense. 

Do you disagree with the judgement or how the case has been conducted? Whether you can appeal varies from one EU country to another. Read more about this in the European e-Justice portal.