What is Start My Claim?

Software that runs a case with you, from the first question to the hearing. Tell it what happened in plain English and it works out which claim you have, which clock you are on, and what it is worth. It drafts the ET1, the Letter Before Action, the N1 or the bank complaint in the language the court expects. It reads the letters the other side sends you and tells you what they actually mean. It scores your case and shows you what would raise the score. It builds your evidence bundle, paginated and indexed, and it lets you practise the cross-examination before you have to do it for real. It is not a law firm and not a claims management company: you run the case, you make every decision, and you keep everything you recover.

Will Start My Claim represent me or act on my behalf?

No. Nothing here contacts the other side, signs anything, or files anything for you. You review every document, you sign it, and you submit it. That is what keeps 100% of any award with you.

Do I need legal knowledge to use it?

No. You describe what happened in your own words. Where a legal term is unavoidable it is explained on the spot, in the sentence where it appears.

Can't I just use ChatGPT to write these documents?

You can generate something that looks like an ET1. What a general chatbot will not do is know your deadline, hold your evidence, use the current version of the form, or tell you when the law changed. Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026 — a model trained before then will confidently tell you to respond to one.

How does charging work?

One flat fee, paid once, and only if you decide to continue: £49 to £399 depending on the track. Finding out where you stand is free and needs no card. We never take a percentage of what you recover.

What if my case fails?

You keep the documents and you have paid a flat fee rather than a share of nothing. Nobody can tell you a case will succeed, and anyone who does is selling you something.

Do I need a solicitor or claims handler?

Not for most straightforward claims. 59% of employment tribunal claimants at the hearing have no legal representation. If your case is genuinely complex, the honest answer is to get a solicitor, and we will say so.

How long do I have to make a claim?

It depends on the claim. Employment tribunal is three months less one day from the date it happened. Scam refunds run on two clocks — 13 months to report the payment to your bank, then six months from its final response to reach the Ombudsman. Small claims usually run to six years. Tell us your date and we will work out yours.

How much does it cost to file?

Employment tribunal claims carry no court fee. A money claim of £3,000 to £5,000 costs £205 to issue, and that fee is recoverable from the other side if you win. Rent repayment and Ombudsman routes cost you nothing to bring.

What if the other side has solicitors or a fraud team?

That is normal and it is not the disadvantage it feels like. Tribunals and the small claims track are designed to be used without representation, and the judge is used to it. What matters is that your paperwork is right and your deadlines are met.

Is my information kept private?

Your documents are encrypted and only you can open them. Nothing is sent to your employer, your landlord or your bank unless you send it.

Will a letter really be enough to get paid?

Often, yes. A Letter Before Action that sets out the debt, the interest running on it and what happens next is the cheapest possible ending for you — they pay and you never file anything. It also puts you in a better position if it does reach court.

Run your own legal case, without a solicitor.

Free to start. No card, no solicitor, and never a percentage of your award.

Scam & APP Fraud Refund

Self-service legal software for UK Employment Tribunal, Small Claims, scam refund and Renters’ Rights cases. Not a law firm, not a claims management company. Flat fee, no percentage.

I was sacked, or pushed out

Someone owes me money

I was scammed into paying

My landlord isn’t playing fair

Someone is claiming against me

Pick the one that sounds like you.

You do not need to know the legal name for it — that is our job.

Or the other way round

Free, and no card. You get a plain-English read on whether you have a case or a defence, what it is worth, and your deadline. An email is only asked for at the end, and only if you want it sent to you.

Nobody is contacted.

Your employer, your landlord, your bank — none of them are told you looked.

This is where the deadline is worked out. You can still stop at any point — nothing is filed and nobody is contacted.

Here is where you stand.

This looks out of time

. That doesn’t always mean the door is closed — there are exceptions worth checking before you assume it is.

What it would cost to run it

· keep 100% of any award.

Generating the Letter Before Action itself is a paid step, £49 — a free account gives you a blank Letter Before Action template to fill in yourself.

That’s everything — nothing has been sent and no account was created.

any time you’re ready.

Free to set up. Use every free tool for this claim — pay only if and when you choose a paid step.

Same claim. Same documents.

Three very different bills.

Run it yourself with us, hand it to a claims company that takes a cut of whatever you win, or pay a solicitor up front. Move the slider to your own figure and see what each one leaves you.

Which kind of claim?

your figure, not our estimate

Nothing here predicts what your claim is worth. It shows what each route would cost you on a figure you choose.

is what you would walk away with

Their cut, up to 35%

Runs the claim for you and takes a percentage of whatever you win. Nothing to pay if you lose.

You, with Start My Claim

You still run your own case. The difference is that the deadlines are tracked, the forms are drafted and the bundle is built — for

more than the claims company

more than the solicitor

What the fee actually buys

Every hard part of a case

already has a tool waiting.

Most people manage the paperwork. What stops them is everything around it — the letter that arrives full of words they have never seen, the offer they cannot value, the threat they cannot judge. Each row below is a real moment, and the thing that handles it.

What actually stops people

What Start My Claim does about it

Which of these you get depends on your claim.

tools across the four claim types.

You get the ones your case needs.

“I went in expecting forms and legal jargon. Instead it felt like having someone calmly walk you through what to do.”

the tribunal claim form

the county court claim

the reimbursement claim

rent repayment order

Four different clocks.

Each one runs to its own deadline, uses its own form, and costs a different amount. Miss the clock and the strongest case in the world will not be heard.

We write the actual forms.

Not a template pack. Your ET1, your N1, your rent repayment application or your bank complaint, drafted from your answers in the language the tribunal expects — then yours to read, change and send.

The part nobody else does

Every deadline, tracked.

Miss one and the case is over, whatever its merits. Four kinds of claim, four completely different clocks — and not one of them is the same shape. We work the dates out from what you tell us and keep saying what is due next.

Every one of these is worked out in code from the statute, not estimated — and we show the arithmetic.

Not ready to start anything yet?

Not sure where you stand?

Start with the free resources.

The four Survival Guides, and twelve shorter ones

Sixteen guides across the four tracks, written by us and updated when the law moves. Plain English, no jargon, and no obligation to do anything afterwards.

One email per guide, and a short series afterwards you can stop at any time. We never pass your details to anyone, and there is no card at any point.

Ready to find out where you stand instead?

The assessment is free too — no card, no guide required.

Answer a few questions about what happened. You will get a straight answer on whether you have a case, and what it would cost to run it.

Free to start · no card · about 15 minutes

Talk to Paul for 15 minutes →

Product conversation only — no legal advice.

Run your own legal case,

without a solicitor.

Find out where you stand

£49–£399 flat if you continue · free to find out if you have a case

“I built it for the person I was — kitchen table, 1 a.m., cold cup of tea, staring at a letter from a solicitor and not knowing where to begin.”

Self-represented twice: small claims, filmed for BBC One, then divorce court.

View Paul on LinkedIn

Book a free 15-minute call

This is a product conversation, not legal advice.

Does this actually work for people like me?

Normal people. Real cases.

From customer feedback. Surnames shortened where requested.

What do people ask before they commit?