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[adin55]

A company says I owe then some money and now they are threatning to send me to "small claims court" if I don't pay the amount they want, so what happens if I don't pay up? or don't go small claims court? thanks.

[thacher]

If you don't go, you can't fight your case. They will rule against you, and you will have to pay what the company is saying you owe, plus court costs.

[zadok]

If you are served and don't go, there will be a bench warrent out for you and you will be arrested.

[thacher]

You lose the judgment if you fail to show up, and they can then use other legal means to obtain the monies owed including attaching your wages until the debt and penalties (if any), are paid.

[gillian59]

If you don't show up then you don't get t defend yourself, and they will win by default. Once they win the case, and have a judgment against you, they can use many means to collect.

I see you are in the UK, which is one of the easiest places for a judgment creditor to collect a debt. They can garnish your wages, place a lien against your home, if you own it, or even send in bailiffs to seize your personal property to be sold at auction. Note too that in the UK, any money they have to spend to collect the money - such as bailiffs fees etc - is added to your debt.

Richard

[hackett]

If you don't go to court, you lose automatically.

After they receive their judgement, it's up to them to collect. Depending on your local laws, they can obtain a garnishment against your wages or put a lien on your assets such as a car or a house if they have a judgement against you.

[gobrwy]

If you don't pay up and the case goes to small claims court, but you don't attend, the other party will get a free shot at you by presenting their evidence with no challenge from you and no counter-evidence from you eithr. The court will almost certainly find against you and order you to pay the other side what they say you owe, plus costs. You will also get what is called a CCJ (County Court Judgement) against you. Try getting credit, a loan or a mortgage after that....

[newyddilyn60]

You lose. You pay. Don't want to pay? No problem. They can just garnishee your wages. You also pay the costs of the garnishment.

[breasal]

You will have a default judgment entered against you and will have waived many defenses you otherwise could have had by responding and showing up to the complaint.

You can still get the judgment reversed if the court lacked jurisdiction or certain other procedural issues

[hrafn]

no bench warrant for small claims. Basically, if you don't show up, you lose. A judgement will be entered against you and the company's claims will be accepted as they are presented, (unless they are extraordinarily crazy or outrageous - which when a company is involved, never occurs.) Once there is a finding, the company can then proceed to try to collect the judgement, by having a sheriff confisgate your property, attach wages or bank accounts, etc. etc. If you have any assets at all, then it would a big mistake not to appear and explain your case.