Further to our article ‘Increased Court Fees on the Way’ on 29 January 2015, the government have now confirmed that the proposed increases to civil court issue fees will come into effect on Monday 9 March 2015 following approval from The House of Lords on 4 March 2015.
The result for claimants is that for money claims above a value of £10,000, the court issue fee will now be based on 5% of the value of the claim with a maximum fee of £10,000 for claims with a value greater than £200,000. The maximum issue fee will also apply to money claims of an unspecified value.
Issue fees for claims below a value of £10,000 will remain at their current levels and there will be a discount on issue fees for all money claims where the claim is initiated by the Money Claims Online facility (‘MCOL’).
A table of court issue fees is set out below:
Perhaps now, even more so than before, claimants should consider other forms of dispute resolution, including mediation, as these are generally more cost effective than litigation.
Sharon Auton, Head of Dispute Resolution, has extensive experience of mediation and to date has 100% track record of mediations settling, without the need to go to trial. Mediations have to be agreed by all parties and a mediator is appointed whose job it is, not to judge, but to explore avenues for settling disputes. It is a very valuable tool in seeking to resolve disputes and can be undertaken before proceedings are issued, or indeed at any time before trial.
For more information on how the TSP Dispute Resolution team can help with your dispute, whether you are an individual or a business, contact Sharon Auton.
