Malaysia Small Claim Court

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What is ‘small claim procedure’?

  1. Small Claim Procedure is where an individual (not agent or company or person holding power attorney or etc) wants to claim from someone else (debt) using court procedure, i.e. suing in court of law.
  2. The total amount of claim must not exceeding RM5,000
  3. The claim must be made through summons in Magistrate Court
  4. No lawyer can get involve in this small claim proceeding , everything is done by the plaintiff himself with the guidance of court (staff).
  5. To illustrate, if B owes A RM 5,000 and B refuses to pay, A can sue B in Magistrate court under this ‘small claim’ procedure.

How to initiate this small claim procedure?

  1. Small Claim Procedure is governed and provided under Order 54 of Subordinate Court Rules, 1980.
  2. Go to court (registration office) and ask for Form 198 (remember it is FREE) or you can download it here, and start fill in the form (type it nicely)
  3. Rename KUALA LUMPUR and WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN in the header to your local court location
  4. Prepare in 4 copies (at least, you may want to prepare more for ‘spare’)
  5. In the form indicate clearly, the amount of claim (not exceeding RM5,000-00) and other details of your claim
  6. Once finished, sign the form yourself
  7. File the form in court (at the registration counters) and pay a small amount of court fee (RM20).
  8. Once you got a seal copy from court, go and serve the form to your ‘defendant’
  9. You may serve by yourself (by hand) or by AR registered post

So what’s next?

  1. Once the defendant receives your claim, he may defend himself or just admit the claim
  2. Assume that defendant defend himself and deny your claim, now the defendant should file his defend in form 199 explaining why he denies the claim
  3. If the defendant fails to file his defence, the court may give judgement for you! On the first or next mention date (the date stated in the form for parties to attend court)
  4. If the defendant chooses not to attend at all the proceeding, the court may also give judgement for you.
  5. Now, say for example you got a stubborn defendant who wants to fight your case, don’t worry, because the judge will guide you and defendant through out the proceeding collecting all relevant facts and evidences.
  6. The court then will decide and give judgement after the proceeding.

Some Important Info

  1. Filing must be done at magistrate court within the same district / state as the defendant address. Example, if the defendant is located at Putrajaya then small claim must be filed at Putrajaya small claim court and not in any other states such as Selangor or WPKL

38 thoughts on “Malaysia Small Claim Court”

  1. One person made a false police report and police charged me in court. And court discharged me. Now, can I sue the person in small claim court for damages?

  2. hi thurisingam,

    You cannot sue the complainant (the person who made the police report) as the complainant has absolute privilege from being sued. If a false report is lodged by a complainant, he is liable to be prosecuted for making false report under s 177, s 182 or s 203 of the Penal Code. What you can do is, make a police report against that person, then it is depends on Public Prosecutor whether to prosecute the complainant.

  4. My land is occupied by a person for more than 15years without my consent, when I approach and ask for rent he said he is looking after my land. I decided to sell the land and already got a buyer and waiting to sign only after the is cleared.. I told him to clear my land he refuse and I made a police report asking police to take action. Police meet him and told him to clear the land, he promise to clear in a week but till today after more than 3months he didn’t. Again now I made a police report and police said they can’t do much and advice me take to court. Can I bring this matter to small claim court to claim damages and how?

  7. Hi

    I have proceed with the claim and sent the notice to the defendant so what should I do if the defendant willing to pay off before the hearing date set by the court?

  8. If the defendant were to offer to settle out of court before the hearing. Ask the defendant to put his offer for settlement in writing then write to the defendant, accepting the offer. Send a copy of his offer and your letter to the court as well.

  9. Hi Sir,

    I had bought a sub-sale house last year with paid of 3% deposit to my agent.
    However, on last oct this house was listed in auction.
    As per my agent the 3% meant for agency not for the vendor.
    So now, can I go through small claim courts in order to claim back my 3% from vendor.

  10. hi,

    I would suggest you to contact your sales and purchase lawyer first or KPDNKK https://www.kpdnkk.gov.my/kpdnkk/hotline/ to see if they can assist you as it depend on the terms & conditions of the Letter of Offer you signed.

    Normally after you sign the Letter of Offer and pay the 3% earnest deposit, the money should be kept by the agent (in escrow) and only release to vendor upon signing the Sales and Purchase Agreement (usually within 14 days) and payment of further 7% for balance of the deposit (assuming the total deposit is 10%).

  11. Hi Sir,

    My ex-landlord is witholding our deposit for one month now. Is it possible to claim it back through small claim court. We have been paying the rents and bills on time. Landlord pays no heed to our text or calls. Please kindly advise. Thank you in advance.

    Don

  13. Hi Sir,

    Sorry interrupt you again. If this case goes to the court, will it cost a lot like the court fee? Please advise. Thank you in advance.

    Don

  16. hi Kun, my tenant owe me 3month rental fee and damange my house.. total number is RM4800,

    here the problem,
    court’s officer request his current address to send the saman,
    but,
    my tenant moved to his parent’s house without provide his address, what should i do?

  18. Hi sir, sorry to disturb you, say i bought something used online and then the police officer contacted me and tell me to return the item as it was stolen item and they have caught the thief, i have returned the item to the police officer, is it possible to get my money back by file a small claim against the thief ? thanks

  19. you can but even if you get judgement from court will the thief able to pay up? you may want to consider if it’s worth your time / money.

  20. i won consumer tribunal award but the opposition appeal and other judge dismissed my award. what shall i do ?

  21. The Magistrate’s decision is final, and no appeal to a higher court can be made by either party, unless it is on a point of law bu you can always double check with registry of the court if you can further appeal.

  22. this is not in the magistrate court but in the consumer tribunal court and by different judge each month

  23. Hi there

    I am a supplier of services to a customer who has not paid up. The amount owed is more than rm5000 (about rm15k) . What recourse do i have in this matter? I have all the evidence necessary to show the amount owing and the party refusing to pay so i am confident that i can win this. I just dont know what options i have available.

  24. only option is to engage a lawyer if the claim amount is more than RM5k

  25. Hi, Deposit Matter.

    I m father for two sons enroll with a Tuition Center. The Tuition center insist to collect the one month in advanced as deposit. We had paid and obtain the resit in Jan 2016.
    Every month we settled the Tuition Fees in advance without any delay due to we understand that this is the hard earning money for the tuition teacher.
    Last year, November 2017 we informed the Tuition Center person in charged that we stopped continued for the tuition and request for Deposit refund. The tuition center refuse to refund. Reason was the extra money paid is used to deduct the previous month tuition fee. We had prompt to paid the Tuition Fees for every month and they should honor to refund our tuition deposit fees. (at that moment we tried to find out the resit)

    Recently, l managed to find out the original resit of the paid deposit. Can you please advice me on how to claim this amount from this Tuition Center of amount about RM400++. Under the law, do we have the right to get refund back from the deposit whatever we had paid?(no any contract signed and only with the original resit with their tuition center company stamp) If yes, can l file it to the small claim court immediately or shall l wrote a demand letter with registered post to the Tuition Center to request for refund for the deposit ?(Most of my request refund is verbal with phone) How many demand letter should we write in order we can file to the small claim court? Please advise.

    Thank you for your helps.

  26. hi, you can immediately file at small claim court and after obtained a sealed copy of the form. You may serve the form to defendant by hand or registered mail.

  28. Dear Sir/Madam,

    I have submit small claim on car insurance claim related matters, where i repair my car at the insurance company appointed workshop, the workshop stole my car part and replace with counterfeit part, aging part, recycle part and purposely hold my car more that the required time. I have file 2 claims to the insurance company and the workshop.

    the claim make to the insurance is the claiming the parts stole by workshop, and replaced by counterfeit part, aging part and recycle part. I also claim loss of usage for the extra time hold by the workshop vs the actual repair time. I have ask for the stolen part return to me but they refused.

    the second claim is on the workshop, they hold and dismental my car before i agreed with the quotation. and also they charge me RM120 for my own recycle bumper that they never told me i need to pay. the workshop also damaging my car door by grinding and welding on the small dent i ask them do not do anything.

    i have prepared all the photos and related document (whatsapp record, insurance issue repair list), and submitted to court. on the first hearing day, the majestic call us to have mediation, she told me i cannot proceed the case because I’m the one bring the case to court and no one to talk on the evident/photo/documemt. If i proceed with the claim i will get zero. Is that true?

    Now she ask me to get quotation on those items stolen from other workshop, and those quotation still subject to the acceptent of the insurance company or the workshop.

    How can I work around from here?

  30. Hi Kun,

    Would like to check what can I do if my company has non-paying customers with outstanding invoices (less than RM5000), those customers ignored our email, messages and calls when we asked for payment, can I seek help from Small Claim Court, without hiring lawyer?

    Thank you in advance!

  31. no, you can’t. small claim court only handle disputes between individuals or an individual making a claim against a business.

  32. Hi Kun – seek your humble legal input as follows :

    Summary :

    I have a superbike which parts were stolen within my Condo premises in broad daylight (2 bikes on same day)

    I have made a report to seek compensation from the JMC due to the guards negligence which I have proof of photos of them sleeping on 2 diff occasions even after theft incident day.

    JMC said they are not liable as house rules states park at your own risk and they put up a disclaimer all around the condo stating “they are not liable even if due to JMC’s employee/servants/agents negligence in carrying out the duties.

    This similar incident has happened last year to another resident which died a natural death as he moved out.

    Since, the JMC is adamant and not very helpfull in providing me documentation such as security company registration/insurance/cctv/etc,i am very upset the way they handled my case, not to mention being to rude to me.

    Clarifications
    1) I have already filed a case in Small Claims Court and awaiting for the writ summon to be approved(Claims for RM 3500)

    2) Do I have a chance even though the JMC will stick by the house rules and Deed of Mutual Coventants which does not favour the residents.Reference to Article Section 21A of new Consumer Protection Act has made an exception for the above.

    3) Read some articles,over the past few years,Judges have stated “park at your own risk” does not apply to complex/residence that imposes a fee, eg : Maitenance fee for security as its the duty of the operator to provide such security.

    4) Assuming the defendant(JMC), does not come to terms to compensate during my hearing, can he sue me back and take me to a Higher level > Magistrate Court..Is this possible or should this just be under the jurisdiction of the small claims court.

    .
    Looking forward for your positive reply. I thank you.
    Shanks

  33. 1) I have already filed a case in Small Claims Court and awaiting for the writ summon to be approved(Claims for RM 3500) -> OK

    2) Do I have a chance even though the JMC will stick by the house rules and Deed of Mutual Coventants which does not favour the residents.Reference to Article Section 21A of new Consumer Protection Act has made an exception for the above. -> It will depend on how you present your case and which court you are in. Small claims court will not have the power revoke house rules but strata management tribunal will have jurisdiction over this.

    3) Read some articles,over the past few years,Judges have stated “park at your own risk” does not apply to complex/residence that imposes a fee, eg : Maitenance fee for security as its the duty of the operator to provide such security. -> You are correct, if it’s commercial purpose https://blog.kungroup.com/archives/1435

    4) Assuming the defendant(JMC), does not come to terms to compensate during my hearing, can he sue me back and take me to a Higher level > Magistrate Court..Is this possible or should this just be under the jurisdiction of the small claims court. -> Judgement from Small claim court (magistrate court) can always overturned at session court or high court etc.

    It will be easier to file claims from JMC / Security insurance policies, but if the JMC reluctant to assist to provide information for insurance claim etc. You may file your claim at Strata Management Tribunal by filing in at least 5 copies of borang 1. Jurisdiction of strata management tribunal, include order to pursue an insurance claim, order to revoke by-law (house rules), order to compel JMC to supply information or documents (policy or security company details etc)

  34. Hi Kun – seek your humble legal input as follows :

    The judge already give me the judgement on my small claim (RM3000) due to the defendant failed to appear in the courts for two times. but the problem now is i can’t locate the defendant as the address he provide to me was not reachable. And now the defendant no longer reply my whatapps and email. Is there anyway i can try to locate him? For my case can i request help from police to locate him?

  35. the best you can do is submit your case to CTOS or engage a licensed debt collection agency.

  36. Hi Kun,
    would like to know whether small claim procedure applicable to a company, and who shall represent it?

    thank you

  37. No. small claim court only handle disputes between individuals or an individual making a claim against a business.

  38. Dear Kun,
    With reference to my earlier note to you on 7/9, I attended my court hearing at the small claims court in Shah Alam on 5th October .I had all the evidence and witness with me but was so shocked when the magistrate did not even allow me to present my case but just bluntly told me off that damages for neglience cannot be heard in Small Claims court.I was advised to engage a lawyer and file again in magistrate court.I was asked to show proof of neglience and witness of which I had both on hearing day itself.
    So..why in the first place did they collect all my documents,surat akuan ,affadavits..etc and fix a date and later to inform me on the hearing day that this case is not valid in small claims? Not to mention the time and money wasted back forth to court located in Shah Alam.

    I am wondering if whether there was unfair judgement being passed or the other reasons that t am not aware off ?

    Appreciate if you can advise me what is the best or next course of action to recover the cost for my stolen superbike parts within condo premises (RM 3000) due to security negligence coz of sleelping and lack of control with evidence.

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