The small claims court limit in England and Wales is £10,000 for most disputes, including unpaid invoices, contract breaches, and debt recovery. Personal injury and housing disrepair claims have lower limits.
What falls within the small claims limit
The £10,000 limit covers the most common types of civil dispute:
- Unpaid invoices and debt recovery — the most frequent use of the small claims track
- Breach of contract — where the financial loss is under £10,000
- Consumer disputes — faulty goods, poor workmanship, or services not delivered
- Deposit disputes — landlord/tenant deposit disagreements
The limit applies to the total value of your claim, which includes the original debt plus any interest and late payment charges. If adding interest pushes your claim over £10,000, you may need to reduce the interest claimed to stay within the small claims track, or accept that your case will be allocated to a higher track.
Lower limits for specific claim types
Not all claims share the £10,000 threshold:
- Personal injury claims (non-RTA): £1,500 limit for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA). Other financial losses like medical bills or lost wages still fall under the £10,000 general limit.
- Personal injury claims (RTA): £5,000 limit for most road traffic accident injuries. However, vulnerable road users — pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and horse riders — remain under the lower £1,000 limit.
- Housing disrepair claims: £1,000 limit (for the disrepair element — rent arrears or other losses are assessed separately)
- Harassment or unlawful eviction: Claims for a remedy for harassment or unlawful eviction relating to residential premises cannot be allocated to the small claims track, regardless of the financial value of the claim.
What happens if your claim exceeds the limit
Claims over £10,000 are allocated to a higher court track under the Civil Procedure Rules:
| Track | Claim value | Key differences |
|---|---|---|
| Small claims | Up to £10,000 | Informal, limited costs recovery, designed for litigants in person |
| Fast track | £10,000–£25,000 | Stricter procedures, more costs at risk, trials limited to one day |
| Intermediate track | £25,000–£100,000 | Greater procedural complexity, higher costs exposure |
| Multi-track | Over £100,000 | Full formal litigation, significant legal costs |
The main practical difference is costs risk. In the small claims track, even if you lose, you generally won't be ordered to pay the other side's legal fees. In higher tracks, you could be ordered to pay thousands in the other side's costs if you lose. This makes the small claims track significantly lower risk for claimants.
Can you split a claim to stay under the limit?
No. Artificially dividing a single debt into multiple claims to gain a procedural advantage — such as staying on the small claims track — is an abuse of process, and the court can strike out such claims under CPR 3.4(2)(b). If someone owes you £12,000 from a single transaction, you cannot file two separate claims for £6,000 each.
However, if you have genuinely separate debts from different transactions (e.g., two unrelated unpaid invoices), these give rise to distinct causes of action and can legitimately be filed as separate claims.
Can you claim less than you're owed?
Yes. This is different from splitting. You can voluntarily limit your claim to £10,000 and abandon the excess to stay in the small claims track. Using the same example, if you're owed £12,000 you could choose to claim £10,000 and forfeit the remaining £2,000. It is not an abuse of process to deliberately limit the value of a claim in order to benefit from a particular costs regime.
For debts slightly over £10,000, this can be a pragmatic choice since the costs risk in higher tracks may well outweigh the extra amount you'd be claiming.
How Garfield helps
Garfield automatically calculates your total claim value, including interest and statutory compensation, and tells you which court track your claim falls into. If your claim is within the small claims limit, Garfield handles the entire process — from Letter Before Action to court filing — ensuring everything is legally compliant.