Court Fees (relevant to continuing with your claim) & Costs in small claims(under 5k)

[Amethyst]

N244 - application to amend claim - £75

Allocation, Pre Trial Check List and Hearing Fees may also apply.

For a Small Claims Track claim between £1500 and £3000 this will be Allocation £35, Hearing £150. These are reclaimable from the Defendant if you win.

Check http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/c...rms/ex50_e.pdf

For fee remissions see Her Majesty's Courts Service -Forms and Guidance



Also in certain circumstances you may be liable for costs should you lose; these are usually restricted unless the court feels you have behaved unreasonably.


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 44.9 and 44.11 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 the relevant practice direction 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 the relevant practice direction 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 the relevant practice direction for an expert’s fees; and


(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.




(3) A party’s rejection of an offer in settlement will not of itself constitute unreasonable behaviour under paragraph (2)(g) but the court may take it into consideration when it is applying the unreasonableness test.

(4) The limits on costs imposed by this rule also apply to any fee or reward for acting on behalf of a party to the proceedings charged by a person exercising a right of audience by virtue of an order under section 11 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 19901 (a lay representative).

(5) Where –
(a) the financial value of a claim exceeds the limit for the small claims track; but

(b) the claim has been allocated to the small claims track in accordance with rule 26.7(3),

the small claims track costs provisions will apply unless the parties agree that the fast track costs provisions are to apply.

(6) Where the parties agree that the fast track costs provisions are to apply, the claim and any appeal will be treated for the purposes of costs as if it were proceeding on the fast track except that trial costs will be in the discretion of the court and will not exceed the amount set out for the value of claim in rule 46.2 (amount of fast track trial costs).


ALSO

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.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court Fees (relevant to continuing with your claim) & Costs in small claims(under

Unreasonable Costs and Costs Schedules

In most types of cases parties prepare a detailed “Schedule of Costs”, setting out all the costs and expenses that have been incurred whilst preparing the case. The judge will refer to this when deciding what to do about costs. Costs schedules are not usually relevant in the small claims court because of the restrictions on the costs that can be recovered. Whilst an unreasonable costs order is to some extent punitive, the party who has behaved unreasonably is only ever likely to be ordered to pay costs actually incurred by the other side – not an additional penalty amount. For this reason it may be worth compiling a schedule of all costs incurred in preparing the case. If a judge does make an unreasonable costs order he can use the schedule as a guide.

What Constitutes Unreasonable Behaviour?

The Civil Procedure Rules do not contain a definition of “unreasonable behaviour”. It will, therefore, be up to the judge hearing the case to decide whether he thinks a party has behaved unreasonably; different judges have different views on the subject. Examples of behaviour that a judge may consider to be unreasonable:

• Defending a case throughout but failing to attend the final hearing, without any explanation;
• Pursuing a case that is purely speculative and cannot be supported by the evidence;
• A complete refusal by a party to respond to correspondence or to show any interest in negotiating followed by a failure to attend the final hearing;
• Making up a defence or pursuing a dishonest claim;
• A last minute request for an adjournment purely because a party has failed to prepare their case;
• Persistent failure to comply with orders of the court to correct procedural defects;
• Giving oral, or other, evidence at a hearing which contradicts a witness statement previously supplied to support the case.

In deciding whether a party has behaved unreasonably the judge may have regard to the relative financial positions and legal knowledge of the parties. The judge may also take into account the party’s behaviour before the claim was issued as well as during the court proceedings.