Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about Start My Claim — Employment Tribunals, Small Claims, Scam Refunds and Renters’ Rights. Can't find what you're looking for? Start a free assessment and ask our AI directly.

About Start My Claim

Start My Claim is AI-powered software that helps people in the UK exercise their legal rights without paying a solicitor or a no-win-no-fee firm. We cover four tracks: Employment Tribunal claims (unfair dismissal, discrimination, redundancy, unpaid wages), Small Claims (debts and disputes up to £10,000), Renters' Rights (rent repayment orders, rent-increase challenges, possession defences under the Renters' Rights Act 2025), and Scam Refund (Authorised Push Payment fraud and bank-complaint claims under the PSR scheme).

Each track explains your rights in plain English, drafts the relevant letters and forms, tracks your deadlines, and answers your questions 24/7. No solicitor needed.

Start My Claim is for anyone in the UK who needs to bring an employment-tribunal claim, a small claims court case, a tenant-rights claim under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, or a bank refund claim — and who would rather represent themselves than hand the case (and a chunk of any award) to a solicitor or claims firm. You do not need legal training. The tool is designed for ordinary people who’ve been dismissed, treated unfairly, owed money, faced eviction or rent abuse, or scammed, and want a calm, structured way to do something about it.

You represent yourself.

Start My Claim is self-service software — every letter goes from you, in your name. We never act on your behalf, never receive funds, never take a percentage of anything you win.

That’s deliberate. The Employment Tribunal, the small claims court, the Financial Ombudsman and the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) are all designed for people to represent themselves. The trick has always been knowing what to draft, when, and how — which is what the system handles for you.

Because you’re doing the work yourself, with software. A solicitor charges by the hour and a typical employment case runs into thousands of pounds before it reaches a hearing. A no-win-no-fee firm doesn’t charge upfront — but they take 25–35% of any award if you win, often plus VAT.

Start My Claim is one fixed fee per case (£49–£99 for Small Claims, £49 for Scam Refund, £67–£269 for Renters’ Rights, £349–£399 for Employment Tribunal). No hourly billing, no commission, no percentage.

You keep 100% of what you win.

The trade-off: you do the work, with our system handling the legal heavy lifting.

No. Start My Claim is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Start My Claim provides legal

— helping you understand the law, your rights, and the process — along with document tools to draft letters and forms. For complex cases or if you want someone to represent you, you should seek independent legal advice from a qualified solicitor. Many employment solicitors offer free initial consultations, and Citizens Advice can also help.

hello@startmyclaim.ai

. We're a small team and we read every message. If you have a question about your situation, the best place to start is the free assessment — but if you need to reach a human, email is the right place.

Searching online gives you general information, but Start My Claim applies it specifically to your situation. You describe what happened, and Start My Claim tells you whether you have a case, which laws apply, what your deadlines are, and exactly what to do next.

A solicitor provides regulated legal advice and representation, which is more comprehensive — but can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds. Start My Claim bridges the gap: it gives you structured, personalised guidance and the actual documents you need, for a fraction of the cost or free.

Yes — and plenty of people try. But there’s a difference between a document and the right document. A general AI doesn’t know your deadline is running right now, won’t catch that your Section 13 notice is invalid because it was served too soon after the last increase, and can’t produce a Form 4 referral in the format the First-tier Tribunal actually expects. You’d need to know enough to prompt it correctly — which is exactly what most people don’t know when they’re in this situation.

You could use ChatGPT and spend three hours working out what Form 4A even is. Or use Start My Claim and have the right document in 20 minutes. We’re honest about what AI can do — Start My Claim is built on it. The difference is that ours is grounded in current UK law, knows the correct forms, checks your specific facts against the legal requirements, and guides you through every step.

Employment Tribunals explained

An Employment Tribunal is an independent judicial body that hears disputes between employees and employers. It is separate from the civil courts and is specifically designed for workplace disputes. Tribunals can award compensation, order reinstatement, make declarations of rights, and more. You do not need a lawyer to bring a claim — many people represent themselves successfully.

Employment Tribunals handle a wide range of employment disputes, including:

In most cases, you have

3 months minus one day

from the date of the act you're complaining about (e.g. the date you were dismissed) to submit your ET1 claim to the Tribunal.

This deadline is strict — Tribunals very rarely grant extensions. If you miss it, you may lose the right to claim entirely. Start My Claim tracks this deadline automatically from the date you enter.

Note: you must also notify ACAS of your intention to bring a claim before you can file. The time spent in ACAS Early Conciliation can extend your deadline slightly.

Before you can submit an ET1 claim to the Employment Tribunal, you must first notify ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) and go through a short process called Early Conciliation. ACAS will attempt to help you and your employer reach a settlement without going to Tribunal. This is free and usually takes up to 6 weeks. If no agreement is reached, ACAS issues a certificate allowing you to proceed with your Tribunal claim. Start My Claim explains this process and helps you prepare.

It depends on the type of claim. For unfair dismissal, you generally need 2 years of continuous employment with the same employer. However, there are important exceptions — you do not need 2 years for discrimination claims, whistleblowing, health and safety dismissals, or several other automatically unfair reasons for dismissal. Start My Claim checks your eligibility based on your specific situation.

Compensation varies widely depending on the type of claim and your individual circumstances. For unfair dismissal, the compensatory award cap is £123,543 (or 52 weeks' pay, whichever is lower) plus a separate basic award based on age and length of service. Discrimination claims have no statutory cap on compensation.

The average unfair dismissal award is £13,749 (median £6,746) — Ministry of Justice tribunal statistics, 2023/24. Start My Claim gives you an estimate based on your situation, but actual awards depend on many factors including your salary, age, length of service, and the Tribunal's assessment.

Using Start My Claim

The process takes about 5–10 minutes to complete initially:

Start My Claim includes the following tools:

You can still use Start My Claim. You don't need to have been dismissed to get help here. If you're dealing with a live workplace dispute — harassment, discrimination, unfair treatment, unpaid wages, or a disciplinary or grievance process — the free tools are available to you right now.

The Grievance Handler and Disciplinary Defence tools are completely free and designed exactly for this situation. They help you put your position in writing, prepare for internal hearings, and build a record — whether or not things ever go further.

Some claims (discrimination, harassment, unpaid wages) can also be brought as Employment Tribunal claims while you're still employed — you don't need to wait for dismissal.

The Rights Checker, Grievance Handler, Pay Calculator, Deadline Tracker, and Case Journal are free — no credit card required. For the full toolkit — ET1 claim form, witness statement, case intelligence, and more — you pay once per case: Build (£349) for filing your claim, or Full Case (£399) for complete hearing preparation, end to end. No subscriptions.

Start My Claim's AI is trained on and references current UK employment legislation, ACAS guidelines, and Tribunal case law. It is designed to give you accurate, relevant guidance for the most common employment disputes. However, employment law can be complex and fact-specific, and the AI may not capture every nuance of your particular situation. We always recommend seeking independent legal advice for complex matters. Start My Claim is a powerful starting point and guide — not a substitute for qualified legal representation in all cases.

Yes. Your case information is private and never shared with your employer, third parties, or used for advertising. Start My Claim stores your data securely and uses it only to power your case tools. You can delete your account and all associated data at any time.

No. Your employer has no way of knowing you have created a Start My Claim account or are using our tools. The only time your employer would see anything is if you choose to send them a letter or document that Start My Claim has helped you draft — that decision is always yours.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about Start My Claim — Employment Tribunals, Small Claims, Scam Refunds and Renters’ Rights. Can't find what you're looking for?

and ask our AI directly.

Start your free assessment.

Takes 2 minutes. No credit card. You'll know exactly where you stand and what to do next.