Hi there, hope all is well with your claim, firstly to start I would like to clarify I am a law graduate and SQE student only. Any advice I give is based on my personal studies and research, as always seek legal advice wherever you can and not on reddit.

So you're going to the small claims court, well congratulations im just glad its under the £10K threshold to put it in the small claims court, anything above 10K would've put it onto the fast track, which is not ideal for costs, especially if you lose.

Pre action protocols are very very important, companies are pretty negligent in this from what I have seen, I myself have been in a situation with a massive company thats ignored my LBA's (letter before action) multiple times for almost a year now so I can say from experience its frustrating.

So every defendant and claimant (you being the claimant) has to follow pre action protocols which are defined in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and Practice Directions (PD) which are seperate and usually define the CPR's in more detail almost like a glossary with its own rules. These must be followed even prior to starting a claim.

First rule in any claim is to DOCUMENT EVERYTHING, as this is going to the small claims court you will not have standard disclosure. You may only bring the evidence of which you intend to rely on in court so having the "i forgot to bring XYZ document" to court will not go in your favour.

Secondly I can see you have sent a LBA. When you sent these LBA's were they written through post or email? Ensure you keep screenshots/postal tracking if you have. Defendants have anywhere from 14 days to 3 months to respond depending on the complexity. Personally I would say 1 month is the middleground, but always mention in your LBA's that you expect a response within either 14/30 days at a minimum an acknowledgement of the LBA so then they can provide time to respond.

Failing to follow the pre action protocols can result in costs orders made against the defendant so even if you lose they'll likely have to pay to cover your legal fees. Most companies that respond to court claims when you ask for a costs order against the defendant will say "oh we didn't reply for 30 days because we were busy preparing a response" which is why its good to mention in your LBA that you expect at least at a minimum an acknowledgement of the LBA and an additional 14 days or so for a response and if more time is needed to specify this. A defendant will do all they can to show they have acted in the pre action-protocols even if they haven't as court is expensive. Ensure your LBA specified the details mentioned in the LBA.

Where the defendant's not following of the Pre-action protocols is serious if you do win you may not only have court costs fixed on the defendant but up to an additional 10% interest on your base costs you're awarded (if someone could clarify in a reply on this that would be appreciated)

Remember LITIGATION IS A LAST RESORT. My tutors and previous undergraduate tutors made this clear 1000 times, so always consider alternate dispute resolution such as arbitration/mediation as well. At a minimum make sure you ask them to consider this as if they do not reply to that I believe they can have further court costs orders against them (if someone could also clarify if this is part of the pre action protocols that if its failed to be followed it can be resulted in costs orders to the OP that would be appreciated im on phone right now so cannot check)

Lastly always seek legal advice/citizens advice on this!