Complete your Notice of Dispute form
If you do not agree with all or part of the claim being made against you, you must complete your Notice of Dispute form. On the form, you will need to:
- Explain the reason(s) why you do not agree with all or part of the claim.
- Provide details about what happened and when it happened.
- Include evidence to support your dispute, for example a quote for repair or receipts.
Once you have completed your Notice of Dispute form, you must return it to the small claims registrar. You can do this by post or by visiting the court office the claim was sent from.
Once you have decided to dispute the claim, there are two potential outcomes.
Your claim is settled
Once you have disputed the claim to the small claims registrar, they will send your response to the claimant and ask for their response. The small claims registrar will speak to you and the claimant to try and come to an agreement and settle the case to avoid going to court.
A settlement between you and the claimant may include:
- The payment of an agreed sum.
- The payment of an agreed sum in instalments.
- The repair or replacement of a good or service.
The claimant must accept your offer for the claim to be settled. When a settlement is agreed and payment has been made in full or the goods or service repaired or replaced, the small claims registrar will mark the case as settled and closed.
Your claim goes to court
If the small claims registrar is not able to settle the claim between both sides, the case will be listed for court. It will be heard before a judge in the District Civil Court. Both sides will receive a Notice of Hearing in the post which includes the date, time and where the case will be heard. Under Irish law a business is required to be legally represented if their case goes to court. The judge cannot award costs or witness expenses in a small claims case.
Going to court can be a stressful experience, please see our preparing for Civil Law court pages for information on how to prepare.