Small claim costs

richie2

Hi,

I am taking a car dealer to small claims court, claiming around £2000. The fees are clear in terms of applying but after that I can’t see how much the fees are if it actually gets a hearing. It’s not on the government web site. I need to know how much I stand to lose if it doesn’t go my way. It’s £115 in this claim bracket to apply but nothing else is shown. Anyone know?

elsien

It’s probably in here somewhere if you can be bothered ploughing through it.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66867be9d9d35187868f447d/EX50A-civil-and-family-court-fees_May_2024.pdf

Alderbank

elsien said:

It’s probably in here somewhere if you can be bothered ploughing through it.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66867be9d9d35187868f447d/EX50A-civil-and-family-court-fees_May_2024.pdf

It probably is, but much easier to look at the relevant page here on MSE where staffer Amy Roberts has helpfully done that ploughing for you!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court/#cost

In 'How much are the fees for court claims?' she says that in addition to your initial claim fee of £115 which you know about, there is a £40 Court allocation fee – to get the claim to the court (if claim is over £1,500) and £25 - £335 Hearing fee – paid if and when your case gets to court (when done online).

Lots of useful money-saving tips there also when bringing your case to court.

richie2

Thanks, I’ll check this out! 

richie2

£25-£335 I assume depends on the value of the claim ? there’s no more info in this ( useful) article unless I’ve missed something , so it’s tricky to quantify. 

Alderbank

Not that tricky - a five-second Google for 'small claims costs' brings up

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-in-the-civil-and-family-courts-main-fees-ex50/civil-court-fees-ex50

...which tells you that for small claims between £1,500.01 and £3,000 the hearing fee is £181.

richie2

No, I’m aware of that part , it’s fairly clear, as I said, it’s the hearing fee that is on a sliding scale but no indication of what the range is.

Alderbank

Yes the range is stated.

It's simpler than a sliding scale, the hearing fee for small claims has 6 levels ranging from £27 for a claim of less than £300 to £346 for a claim in excess of £3,000.

As above, the hearing fee for your claim of 'about £2,000' would be £181 which is the level for claims between £1,500.01 and £3,000.

If you still find it tricky you can ring the court officials tomorrow (the lines are busy so you might have a wait).