Small claims court - Do we have to pay their fees?

King_Mustard

We are having an issue with a MOT center.

We used the small claims court.

The MOT center's solicitor have replied to our claim.

Basically, if we respond/continue and lose, will we have to pay any additional fees (maybe their solicitors?)?

[Deleted User]

MSE guide here;
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court

steampowered

Costs would typically only be awarded to a defendant in a small claims court if you are shown to have 'behaved unreasonably'.

This only happens in a small minority of cases (either because the claim was completely hopeless, or it was conducted in a manner which needlessly increased costs or wasted the court's time or the other side's time).

bod1467

Solicitor costs are limited in small claims, to about £50. Unless their solicitor is working pretty much for free then this claim is going to cost the other party a fair amount, even if they're successful in defending.

steampowered

bod1467 wrote: »

Solicitor costs are limited in small claims, to about £50. Unless their solicitor is working pretty much for free then this claim is going to cost the other party a fair amount, even if they're successful in defending.

Hello,

This only applies to claimants - successful claimants can get 'fixed costs' which are about £50 for very small claims, but defendants don't even get that!

bris

Losing the case can still be costly as the defendants do have costs you would need to pay so you won't get off cheaply.

https://www.stephensons.co.uk/site/individuals/srvdisputes/small_claims_guide/if_i_lose/

akkers

I believe the above is true. However, if you were to appeal and lose then you are liable to much higher costs.

AReeves

The general position with regards to legal costs in small claims is that legal fees are not usually awarded except where there has been unreasonable conduct by a party in the way they have conducted the litigation, an example would be not turning up to a hearing. Another example is where a claimant or defendant discontinues just before a hearing without good reason. However, awards of legal costs for unreasonable behaviour are quite rare in small claims.

If you succeeded in a small claim you are generally only entitled to claim fixed legal costs (if you employed a legal representative) on the claim form on issue and the court fees you paid. The fixed legal costs on the Claim Form where the claim is issued by a lawyer are: £50 for claims up to £500, £70 for claims from £500 to £1000, £80 for claims over a £1000 but not exceeding £5,000 and £100 for claims over £5,000. The defendant would not be able to seek these costs if they won.

A winning Defendant could be able to claim the costs of an expert report if the court gave permission for it to be used at a hearing (the limit for expert reports is £750). Also, the winning party can claim fixed costs for attendance at a small claims hearing by a witness (£95) and also reasonable travel costs.

There is another situation where costs can be awarded in cases allocated to the small claims track. The Court of Appeal case of Chaplair Ltd v Kumari [2015] EWCA Civ 798 stated that contractual legal costs can be claimed where a claim is allocated to the small claims track.

Anthony Reeves
Lawyer

Ricardo1980

AReeves wrote: »

The general position with regards to legal costs in small claims is that legal fees are not usually awarded except where there has been unreasonable conduct by a party in the way they have conducted the litigation, an example would be not turning up to a hearing. Another example is where a claimant or defendant discontinues just before a hearing without good reason. However, awards of legal costs for unreasonable behaviour are quite rare in small claims.

If you succeeded in a small claim you are generally only entitled to claim fixed legal costs (if you employed a legal representative) on the claim form on issue and the court fees you paid. The fixed legal costs on the Claim Form where the claim is issued by a lawyer are: £50 for claims up to £500, £70 for claims from £500 to £1000, £80 for claims over a £1000 but not exceeding £5,000 and £100 for claims over £5,000. The defendant would not be able to seek these costs if they won.

A winning Defendant could be able to claim the costs of an expert report if the court gave permission for it to be used at a hearing (the limit for expert reports is £750). Also, the winning party can claim fixed costs for attendance at a small claims hearing by a witness (£90) and also reasonable travel costs.

There is another situation where costs can be awarded in cases allocated to the small claims track. The Court of Appeal case of Chaplair Ltd v Kumari [2015] EWCA Civ 798 stated that contractual legal costs can be claimed where a claim is allocated to the small claims track.

Anthony Reeves
Lawyer

Useful. But one question, let's say your claim is about unfair deposit deductions against a landlord. There are for instance 4 deductions, you win 2 and you lose the other 2, and the defendant had a witness regarding one of the deductions you lost.
Who wins or loses in that case? What happens in that case?
Thanks a lot.

AReeves

A very interesting question. There may not be a simple "Yes/No" answer. Normally the court will award any costs it is permitted to award to the "successful party". However, it has the discretion to make a different award.

It is very difficult in some situations, such as this, to decide who is "the winner". In my experience, the District Judge will weigh up all the circumstances. In this situation, the Claimant has won in part. As to the point that the Defendant won on and brought a witness to give evidence on that point, the District Judge I believe would look at all the facts and one being the conduct of the Claimant in respect of that point on which he/she lost. For example, was the Claimant pursuing an unreasonable point ? If they were, then the Judge might be more inclined to award the fixed costs of the witness who attended for the Defendant.

I may not have made it clear in my previous post that the winning party may claim the fixed costs of attending. It is also worth noting that the limited fixed costs regime of the small claims track apply to an appeal of a small claims decision. A few years ago before this was changed, you could claim costs of an appeal against a judgment in a small claims hearing. Now, the no legal costs rule (except for limited fixed costs) also applies to a small claims appeal to a circuit judge.

The provisions in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) regarding small claims are stated at Part 27.14:

Costs on the small claims track

27.14
(1) This rule applies to any case which has been allocated to the small claims track unless paragraph (5) applies.
(Rules 46.11 and 46.13 make provision in relation to orders for costs made before a claim has been allocated to the small claims track)
(2) The court may not order a party to pay a sum to another party in respect of that other party’s costs, fees and expenses, including those relating to an appeal, except –
(a) the fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim which –
(i) are payable under Part 45; or
(ii) would be payable under Part 45 if that Part applied to the claim;
(b) in proceedings which included a claim for an injunction or an order for specific performance a sum not exceeding the amount specified in Practice Direction 27 for legal advice and assistance relating to that claim;
(c) any court fees paid by that other party;
(d) expenses which a party or witness has reasonably incurred in travelling to and from a hearing or in staying away from home for the purposes of attending a hearing;
(e) a sum not exceeding the amount specified in Practice Direction 27 for any loss of earnings or loss of leave by a party or witness due to attending a hearing or to staying away from home for the purposes of attending a hearing;
(f) a sum not exceeding the amount specified in Practice Direction 27 for an expert’s fees;
(g) such further costs as the court may assess by the summary procedure and order to be paid by a party who has behaved unreasonably;

Anthony Reeves

Squirk21

Thanks for the information, it's all very helpful.

My current position is that due to a failure to pay a £75 ground rent fee on time, I'm now facing an additional £303 in 'administration charges' and £138 in 'legal fees'. Having called the acting solicitor I have been advised that the fee is non-negotiable.

I hold my hands up to the error and would be more than happy to pay reasonable charges but an further £441 over a period of 3 months and 2 proforma letter is nothing short of daylight robbery.

My initial thought was to simply offer them £150 and accept a fight if they wanted to push the matter to a Small Claims hearing, but then I discovered the decision in Chaplair v Kumari and am now wondering whether it is worth it.

I just don't know the extent of the contract implications of the terms of my lease (it's an all inclusive term ie liability for any charges). Are you still liable for the leeser's costs of recovery even if your reasonable offer is not beaten at a tribunal? Would a Part 36 offer make any difference?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks