From Lawpack's Small Claims Kit.
There's a fee required to start a small claims case so it's important to have confidence that you can recover this amount of money before you think about going to court.
For non-monetary claims the fee is £150, but for money claims the exact amount you will be required to pay will depend upon the amount of your claim. At present, the fees for a claim are as follows:
Amount Claimed County Court Fee Moneyclaim Online Fee
up to £300 £30 £20
up to £500 £50 £50
up to £1,000 £80 £80
up to £5,000 £120 £110
Since the fees do change, it's best to have the court staff advise you what your fee will be when you issue proceedings. The defendant will be ordered to pay this fee if you win but remember that you still have to recover the money from the defendant.
Recoverable costs
You can recover the following costs if you win your case:
- The fees paid to issue the case, for lodging an Allocation Questionnaire and for any applications to the court.
- If you used a solicitor to issue the case or to help you, the fixed costs for issuing. Currently these are between £50 and £80 depending upon how much you recover.
- Any witness expenses, such as for travel, and loss of earnings limited to £50 per day per witness.
- The costs of enforcing your judgment, if the debtor fails to pay.
Apart from filing fees and possible solicitor fees, you may also have to pay witness expenses. This is necessary if a witness is needed to corroborate your story, testify as to events or give an expert opinion. You must at least pay their reasonable travel expenses to and from the court and also any lost wages. If you or your witness has taken annual leave to give evidence, the court may order the losing side to pay compensation for loss of that annual leave.
Expert witnesses will often expect a professional fee for their opinion and this may easily exceed any possible recovery from the case. If you use an expert, you can only recover £200 for his or her fees if you win.
Remember that the case can be transferred by the judge out of the Small Claims Track to the Fast or Multi Tracks in circumstances where the judge feels it's too complex, legally or factually. If this happens, from that date onward the winning party can recover the legal costs of instructing a solicitor.
It is worth checking your household insurance if you are considering starting a small claim; some policies include legal expenses insurance.
Conditional fees - personal injury cases
Solicitors are now allowed to act for clients on a conditional or 'no win, no fee' basis in personal injury cases. This means that if you win the case, you pay them their normal costs plus a 'success fee'; if you lose the case, you pay nothing.
The success fee varies; at most it can be double the amount of normal costs, but cannot be based upon the solicitor taking a percentage of the compensation. Remember that if you lose you may still have to pay the other side's fees if you are not within the small claims limit.
What if you cannot afford the court fees?
If you cannot afford to pay the court fes, you may be entitled to a remission (reduction) of the fees payable or you may be exempted from having to pay them at all. Ask your county court office for form EX160A or visit www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk to find out if you qualify for this help.
Law stated as at 1 February, 2006