Court fee hike to take effect early

A sharp rise in civil court fees is set to take effect from Monday (9 March) after the House of Lords approved the Government's proposed increase in the cost of bringing civil claims of more than £10,000.

The implementation of the fee rises comes despite the commencement of judicial review preceedings brought by the Law Society, Bar Council, CILEx and other bodies last month. They claim that the increase is unlawful on a number fo grounds (see Law Society, Bar Council and others seek judicial review of hikes to court fees).

The Ministry of Justice said that from Monday, fees to issue proceedings for the recovery of money on both 'specified' and 'unspecified' claims worth £10,000 or more will be 5% of the value of the claim, capped at a maximum fee of £10,000. Claims submitted through Secure Data Transfer or Money Claims Online will continue to receive a 10% discount on their fee.

The old fee structure will continue to apply to claims received on or before Friday 6 March in a fit state to issue, even if the claim is issued after Monday. Applications received prior to the fee change but returned because of an error on the form will attract the new fee if they are subsequently resubmitted after the fee change. No fees other than those for the recovery of money on claims worth £10,000 or more will be affected.

The rises mean that some large claims will face 600%+ increases in court fees. A comparative sample of the new fees, prepared by the Law Society, is below.