Belief discrimination – take a “small claim”

This article relates to the law in England and Wales (in Scotland there is something similar called “simple procedure”).

There are four main types of unlawful discrimination: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) explains what these are, and the protections offered by the Equality Act against discrimination on the basis of any of the nine “protected characteristics”. 

This guide focuses on discrimination in the provision of goods and services on grounds of “gender critical” belief – that is, the ordinary understanding that there are two sexes, that people’s sex cannot change and that recognising and talking about people’s sex is important in a range of situations.

It is not about how to complain if a service provider doesn’t offer single-sex services or spaces, either because it has a “trans inclusion” policy or because it has replaced single-sex spaces by “gender neutral” (that is, mixed sex) ones. This may also be unlawful, but it will be harder to establish. Here, we are specifically focusing on discrimination on the basis of belief – which may perhaps be revealed to a service provider by you complaining about the lack of single-sex provision.

Here are examples of the four types of gender-critical belief discrimination:

• You are refused service in a pub because you are wearing an Adult Human Female t-shirt. This is direct discrimination on grounds of gender-critical belief.
• You go into a club and see a sign on the wall saying “TERFs not welcome here”. This is direct discrimination against gender-critical people. It is also harassment because it creates an intimidating or hostile environment for gender-critical people. 
• You go into a female changing room at the gym and find a man there who has been granted access. You are told he is allowed to be there because he identifies as female. This policy is harassment (related to sex) by the service provider. It is also likely to be indirect discrimination, on the basis that it puts women at a particular disadvantage and cannot be objectively justified.
• If you make a complaint that you believe something is discriminatory (for example you complain that a “trans-inclusive” changing-room policy is discriminatory or that being required to share a changing room is harassment related to sex), that is what is known as a “protected act”. If you are subjected to a detriment because you made that allegation – for example your membership of a club is terminated – that is victimisation.

1. Time limits 

For bringing a discrimination claim for goods and services, the time limit is usually six months minus one day from when the discrimination occurred (for example if you were refused service at a pub, this would be the date that happened). Even if you are hoping to settle out of court, are awaiting the results of a data subject access request or have made a complaint that is still being considered, this time limit is important. 

Where the claim relates to a series of discriminatory incidents, the court may accept that together they count as a “continuing act”, and the time limit will then run from the date of the last act. If in doubt, claim as quickly as you can, as once the time limit runs out the service provider has no incentive to settle with you. 

If the court agrees it is just and equitable, it may be possible to bring a claim out of time.

2. Prepare to make a claim

Write or record a note of what happened as soon as you can, including all the details you can remember. Email this to yourself or a friend so that it has a date stamp. If you have evidence that shows the impact on you, for example if you incurred extra expenses or saw a doctor about stress, include this.

Before you start gathering evidence, consider who is the correct defendant. It will be important to write to the right organisation, and to get this right on the claim form if you end up bringing a claim. (If the service provider has no funds or assets, it may not be worth bringing a claim.)

Then collect all your evidence. This could include receipts, contracts, emails, photographs or videos, screenshots of anything that took place on social media, any notes you made at the time or notes from phone calls afterwards, and any statements from witnesses you are in touch with. Make a note of any dates. 

Rename any computer files such as emails, screenshots and photos to describe the contents, such as “receipt for drinks 21st Jan 2026”. This will help you keep track of the documents and help the other party to understand the evidence you send them. If there are a lot of documents, make a “master document” listing them in date order with a timeline of events. 

If you are considering legal proceedings, you have a duty to preserve all documents relevant to the issues, including any that are unfavourable to your case, as you may need to share these during the litigation as part of a process called disclosure. Failing to disclose documents when ordered to do so, or destroying relevant documents, can have serious consequences. “Documents” includes emails, WhatsApp messages, voice notes and so on, as well as formal documents. 

It may be worth making a data subject access request for any personal data held about you by the organisation involved. That might include, for example, emails or other messages discussing you or relating to any complaint you have made. Find out how to do this at the Information Commissioner’s Office.

3. Decide what compensation to ask for

You can ask to be compensated for any financial loss you have suffered. You will need to provide evidence of that loss (for example in the form of receipts), and you may also need to show that you took reasonable steps to mitigate the loss.

Whether or not you have suffered a financial loss, you can ask for compensation for “injury to feelings”. The court decides this case by case, based on ranges known as the “Vento bands”. An award for refusal of a service is likely to be in the lower Vento band, but it will depend on the specifics of the case. The court will typically take into account the seriousness, the duration, the impact on you including the degree of hurt and distress, and how any complaint was dealt with. Read the EHRC’s guidance and examples.

If the service provider’s behaviour has been particularly high-handed, insulting or oppressive, the court will occasionally award “aggravated damages” to compensate for the additional injury. Examples might include trivialising wrongdoing, oppressive conduct of litigation and unjustified allegations against the person bringing the claim.

The award is intended to compensate you rather than to punish the organisation, so in considering how much to claim, focus on the impact on you. Bear in mind that if you ask for an amount that cannot be justified, the service provider may simply refuse to settle and wait to see if you go to court. 

4. Write to the service provider

Once you have got your evidence together and decided what compensation to ask for, write a “letter before action” to the service provider. In this you will set out what happened, how you would like it to be resolved and what you would require to settle the case. You can adapt the template below (based on a claim in respect of belief discrimination) for the specifics of your case.

Your letter should express your intention to go to court unless the service provider settles. What you require for settlement will usually include financial compensation. If a booking or membership has been cancelled and you would like it reinstated, you should state this. You might also want to ask for an apology and assurance that the service provider will change its policy or train staff so that such discrimination is not repeated. 

Make sure your letter is honest and concise. Don’t exaggerate. Ask a friend to read it and let you know if there are any gaps or things they do not understand. 

Include the evidence you have gathered with the letter. Send it as soon as possible and well before the six-month time limit is up, to allow two or three weeks for the service provider to respond.

Use our template email

Our template letter is based on a claim in respect of belief discrimination.

5. Reaching an agreement

Ideally, the service provider will respond and either accept your claim or make a counter-offer, and you will be able to come to an agreement. This will usually specify the compensation and any other agreed terms that the service provider is offering if you waive your claim and agree to take no further legal action.

If the service provider responds with a counter-offer, consider whether to negotiate further. Negotiations conducted with a view to trying to reach agreement are known as “without prejudice”, meaning they are confidential and not in most cases disclosable to a court. This allows you to negotiate and hopefully reach a compromise acceptable to both sides. 

The service provider may seek to include other terms, for example that you do not discuss what happened publicly, or do not mention the provider by name or state the amount of any compensation. Consider whether to negotiate further: for example you may be prepared to keep the amount of compensation confidential, but want the right to talk about the case or tell people that your case was settled (particularly if the facts are already in the public domain, as you will need to respond to people who ask). Confidentiality provisions should not prevent you from reporting to a regulator or law-enforcement agency or getting medical support or legal advice.

Bear in mind that if you do not settle and instead go to court, the court will not order an apology or order training (unlike in employment cases, where the Employment Tribunal can make recommendations). On the other hand, if the court agrees that you were discriminated against, it will make a declaration to that effect which will be public.

6. If you cannot reach an agreement

If the service provider ignores your letter or you are unable to agree on a settlement, you can take a case to the county court. This can be done quite easily and quickly online (read the government guidance). If your claim is worth less than £10,000 it will be managed on what is known as the “small claims track”, which is intended to be less formal. 

To lodge a claim, you will have to pay a court fee, which varies depending on how much money you are asking for. For the smallest claims it is £35; for larger claims of up to £10,000 it is several hundred pounds; and for very large claims that involve serious monetary loss rather than injury to feelings it is much larger again. 

When you tell the service provider that you have lodged a claim, it may try again to reach a settlement. If this happens, you may decide to ask for it to pay the court fee as well. If you are still unable to settle, you may be able to enter mediation. 

If all else fails, you will need to go to court: the process can take several months to a year from start to finish.

If (eventually) you win, the judge will decide what compensation, if any, to award and the court will order the service provider to pay you. If the provider ignores the court order, the court will seek to collect the payment on your behalf.

Lots of good general advice on how to pursue a small claim is available online, for example at Advice Now and Making a small claim – Citizens Advice. You could also ask your local Citizens Advice Centre.

If you get as far as lodging a claim with the county court (England and Wales) or sheriff court (Scotland), you will need to send the EHRC information about your claim.

7. Costs

Normally in a small claim each party bears their own costs, and so apart from fixed costs such as the court fee and witness or expert costs, you will not be able to recover legal fees or other costs. Equally you are unlikely to be liable for the service provider’s costs even if you lose. 

In rare cases, if a party has behaved unreasonably in the litigation costs may be awarded to one party; for example, if the other party lied, failed to comply with a decision of the court in a way that increased the first party’s costs or unreasonably refused an offer to settle during the litigation and the other party reserved the right to mention this in costs.

Tell us

We cannot provide individual legal advice, but if you try this, do tell us if it works for you (or if it doesn’t).