Fees and Costs
Courts are not an entirely free service and so when trying to do certain things in a court there are certain amounts of money to be paid. You can pay a court fee by cheque addressed to ‘H M Courts Service’ or by cash.
There are a generally three fees to pay when bringing a small claim:-
A. Issue fee – Money paid to the Court to start a claim.
B. Allocation fee – Money paid to the Court to put a case onto an appropriate ‘track’ Hearing fee
C. Money paid to the Court to hear the case
You should be aware that a hearing fee is refundable in full if the parties confirm that the hearing has been vacated (cancelled) at least seven days before the final hearing date.
Other fees that arise on special events are –
D. Application fee – paid to the Court when a party makes any form of application (i.e. an application for summary judgment).
.
|
COURT FEE AMOUNTS |
|
|
Claim |
Fee |
|
Up to £300.00 |
£30.00 |
|
£300.01 – £500.00 |
£45.00 |
|
£500.01 – £1 000.00 |
£65.00 |
|
£1 000.01 – £1 500.00 |
£75.00 |
|
£1 500.01 – £3 000.00 |
£85.00 |
|
£3 000.01 – £5 000.00 |
£108.00 |
|
ALLOCATION FEE AMOUNTS |
|
|
Claim |
Fee |
|
£1 500.00 or less |
No fee |
|
£1 500.00 – £5 000.00 |
£35.00 |
|
HEARING FEE AMOUNTS |
|
|
Claim |
Fee |
|
Under £300.00 |
£25.00 |
|
£300.00 – £499.99 |
£50.00 |
|
£500.00 – £999.99 |
£75.00 |
|
£1 000.00 – £1 499.99 |
£100.00 |
|
£1 500.00 – £2 999.99 |
£150.00 |
|
£3 000.00 – £5 000.00 |
£300.00 |
More information about Court Fees can be found at www.hmcourtsservice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex50.pdf
Money Claims Online
This is a new service introduced by the Government which is designed to speed up the Court process, make it more efficient and involves cheaper issue fees.
For further information visit www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/onlineservices/mcol/index.htm
Fee Exemptions
If you are in receipt of welfare benefits such as jobseekers allowance or income support or you have a low income you can apply to a senior Court Officer at the Court Office to reduce or even waive completely the money you have to pay. This is done using a Form EX160 which you can pick up from the Court Office.
If you have a proscribed means tested benefit or who’s total gross income of all members of their household would probably be entitled to get means tested benefits if they applied will be likely to qualify for exemption.
If you think you may qualify for the exemption you should pick up a Form EX160A from the Court Office which explains this further.
