Tools · Small Claims
Illinois Small Claims Checker (2026)
Enter your claim amount to see whether it fits under the Illinois small claims limit ($10,000), with the filing fee and whether a lawyer is allowed at the hearing.
Illinois small claims checker
The dollar amount you would ask the court for: the deposit, the unpaid bill, the repair cost. Interest and court costs usually sit on top of the limit, not inside it.
Enter your claim amount above to see it compared against the Illinois figures.
Where and how to file is procedure this page does not walk through; the official self-help resource is Illinois Courts. If your claim is a security deposit a landlord kept, the security deposit calculator shows the cap and the return deadline that apply to it.
- Your claim amount
- Not entered
- Illinois small claims limit
- $10,000
- Filing fee
- ~$90–$379
- Lawyers at the hearing
- Allowed
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
Informational only, not legal advice, and not a prediction that any claim would succeed. Limits change and some states carve out claim types this summary cannot weigh. See the full rule and the citations on the Illinois small claims reference, cited to Ill. Sup. Ct. Rules 281–288 (Rule 281 defines small claims).
How the Illinois small claims limit works
Illinois defines small claims by court rule, not statute: Supreme Court Rule 281 sets the ceiling at "money not in excess of $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs," and the rule applies in the circuit courts statewide. There's a wrinkle that catches businesses: an individual can represent themselves, but a corporation or LLC filing a small claim generally has to appear through a lawyer under Rule 282. That's a rule about who can stand up in court, not a lower dollar cap. The figure to double-check before you file is the fee: Illinois has one of the widest county-to-county spreads in the country, from around $90 to nearly $380, with Cook County using its own tiered schedule. Rule 281 hasn't changed since January 1, 2022.
This checker compares your number to the Illinois ceiling; it is informational only and not legal advice, and it says nothing about whether a claim would succeed. For where to file and what the hearing looks like, use the official self-help resource linked in the result. The full rule and the citations are on the Illinois small claims reference.
Small claims checkers for other states
Same tool, each with its own ceiling and fee.