Breach of contract

A failure to do what a contract required — the foundation of most small claims, and generally worth six years to bring a claim over from the date it happened.

What counts as a breach of contract?

Any failure to do what the contract required — not paying an invoice, not delivering goods or delivering them late, doing agreed work badly or not at all, or failing to meet a specific term the parties agreed. It does not need to be deliberate; even an accidental failure to perform can be a breach.

Does the contract have to be in writing?

No. A contract can be verbal, written, or a mixture of both, as long as there was an offer, acceptance, and something of value exchanged (consideration). A written contract, or even an exchange of emails or texts confirming what was agreed, makes it much easier to prove what the terms actually were.

How much can I claim for a breach of contract?

Generally, the aim of damages is to put you in the position you would have been in if the contract had been performed properly — not to punish the other side. That usually means your direct financial loss, plus reasonably foreseeable consequential losses, but you also have a duty to take reasonable steps to keep your losses down (mitigation).

How long do I have to bring a claim?

Under the Limitation Act 1980, you generally have six years from the date of the breach to start a claim for an ordinary contract, or twelve years if the contract was made as a deed. Waiting close to the deadline is risky, since gathering evidence and following the pre-action steps takes time.

What if the contract does not say what happens if it is broken?

Most contracts do not spell out every consequence of a breach, and the law fills the gap through the general rules on damages, and sometimes through terms implied by statute — for example, that goods sold must be of satisfactory quality, or that services must be performed with reasonable care and skill.

Can I get out of the contract myself if the other side breaches it?

It depends on how serious the breach is. A breach of a fundamental term (sometimes called a condition) can entitle you to treat the contract as at an end and claim damages. A breach of a less important term (a warranty) usually only gives you a right to damages, not to walk away from the whole agreement.

Small Claims · Glossary

Last reviewed: August 2026

occurs when one party fails, without a valid excuse, to do what was agreed under a contract — whether that is paying money, delivering goods, or performing a service to the standard promised.

Where this comes from

Limitation Act 1980, s.5

— sets the six-year time limit for bringing a claim founded on simple contract.

Consumer Rights Act 2015

— implies terms about quality, fitness for purpose and reasonable care into many consumer contracts.

Make a court claim for money

— gov.uk overview of bringing a claim for breach of contract in the small claims track.

What has to be proven

To succeed in a breach of contract claim, you generally need to show four things: that a contract existed, that it contained the term you say was broken, that the other side failed to comply with it, and that the failure caused you a loss. The contract does not have to be a single formal document — a chain of emails or texts confirming a price and scope of work can be enough, though clear written terms make a dispute far easier to prove.

Not every failure is a breach, however. If a term was never actually agreed, or if performance was genuinely made impossible by something outside either party's control (sometimes covered by a force majeure clause, where one exists), there may be no breach at all, or a valid excuse for one.

How damages are calculated

• The starting point is putting you in the position you would have been in if the contract had been performed properly — not to punish the other side for breaking it.
• Check foreseeability.
• You can generally only recover losses that were a reasonably foreseeable result of the breach at the time the contract was made.
• Apply the duty to mitigate.
• You are expected to take reasonable steps to limit your own losses — for example, finding an alternative supplier rather than letting costs run up unnecessarily.
• Add interest, where appropriate.
• Statutory interest under s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 can often be claimed on top of the underlying loss.

How it works in practice

A customer pays a builder £3,000 upfront for kitchen work under a written quote. The builder does half the agreed work, then stops responding. The customer pays a second contractor £1,800 to finish the job to the original specification.

Amount paid to original builder

Reasonable value of work actually done

Plus cost to complete elsewhere

Because the customer got a competitive quote to finish the work rather than overspending, the loss is reasonable and easy to justify. The claim covers both the overpayment for undone work and the additional cost of completion, since both flow directly from the original breach.

• Not knowing what was actually agreed.
• Vague verbal agreements are harder to prove. Gather any written record, however informal, before making a claim.
• Claiming for losses that were not foreseeable.
• An unusual or indirect loss the other side had no way of anticipating may not be recoverable.
• Failing to mitigate.
• Letting a problem drag on and costs escalate, when a reasonable alternative was available sooner, can reduce what you recover.
• Leaving it too close to six years.
• Evidence gets harder to find and memories fade the longer a claim is left, even within the limitation period.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Limitation Act 1980, s.5
• (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015
• Make a court claim for money

Think you have a breach of contract claim?

Start My Claim helps you work out your loss, gather evidence and prepare your case.

Last reviewed: August 2026.

References checked against the Limitation Act 1980 and Consumer Rights Act 2015 as in force on 5 August 2026.

This page is explanatory only and is not legal advice. Start My Claim is self-service software, not a law firm — its tools help you build and run your own case.