Civil Claims
A claim is a legal action to obtain the enforcement (rispetto) of rights protected by law against
another party or to obtain money or property. The legal document which carries a claim is called a
“Statement of Claim”. It can be any communication notifying the addressee (che notifica al
destinatario) of any alleged faulty execution (di una presunta cattiva esecuzione) which resulted in
damages, often expressed in amount of money that the party should pay or reimburse.
Claiming compensation
Civil claims arise when an individual or a business believes that their rights have been infringed in
some way. So that when a dispute arises for injury or loss, normally many solicitors who specialises
in any sort of claims help the aggrieved parties to make a claim for compensation. The claim may
have to be decided by a court. This process is called “suing a claim” (chiamata in giudizio) or
“filing a claim” (avviare una causa).
Going to court
Issuing a claim (emissione di una causa) in a court can be very expensive and should be regarded
as a last resort. People must pay for the solicitor’s fees and other expenses. If they lose the case,
they may also have to pay the costs of the person or organization they have claimed against. It is
likely that some form of negotiation will take place as alternative dispute resolution to sort out
complaints (risolvere reclamo) and legal problems without going to court.
The most usual situation is that the person making the complaint will write a letter to the other side,
setting out the complaint (definendo la denuncia).
Many cases will be resolved at this stage by the other party agreeing to refund money.
If the other party will not settle the claim, the next stage is to get legal advice ( ottenere parere
legale). Lawyers generally attempt to settle disputes out of court before advising litigation (cercano
di risolvere le controversie in via extragiudiziale prima della consulenza del contenzioso)
Starting a court case
However if the other side refuses to pay the debt, this may involve starting a court case. This
process is called “filing a claim” or “issuing a claim”. In England most civil claims (cause civili)
are filed in the County Court and the High Court.
In the UK the person starting the claim is called the claimant (attore). The other party, instead, is
called the defendant (convenuto) who is found liable (responsabile) or not liable.
A claimant starts a claim for a lot of reasons:
Bad workmanship (cattiva lavorazione)
Housing disrepair (danno domestico)
