As discussed in our recent blog, a small claim is a simple, comparatively low-value legal claim brought in the County Court (small claims must be worth less than £10,000 excluding interest). For example, you may be claiming that your supplier has not sent goods you have paid for, or a customer has not paid for a product or service you have provided. When deciding how to proceed with your dispute, it’s important to know how much it will cost to bring a small claim, and we set this out below.
The court will charge you various fees to bring your small claim, and if you hire a lawyer to assist with your small claim, you’ll need to pay their fees regardless of whether you win or lose your case (except in very rare circumstances).
It’s always a good idea to try to resolve your claim by negotiating with the other party first, to save you time and money. However, if you can’t resolve your dispute, the small claims process is intended to be quick and straightforward to deal with lower value claims.
How much does it cost to bring a small claim
If you bring a small claim, you will have to pay:
- a fee to start your claim (known as an issue fee); and
- a hearing fee.
You may also have to pay additional court fees depending on how your case progresses and/or some legal costs.
Court fees to bring a small claim
Issue fee
You will always have to pay an initial court fee to bring a claim (known as an issue fee). The amount of the fee depends on the value of your claim (including interest) and ranges from £35 (for a claim worth up to £300) to £455 (for a claim worth £5,001 to £10,000). If you are claiming for more than £10,000, you won’t normally be able to bring a small claim and will need to take other legal action. See Taking legal action for further guidance.
Hearing fee
If you are the one bringing the claim, you will have to pay a hearing fee when the court sets a trial date for your small claim. The cost of this fee depends on the value of your claim and ranges from £27 (for a claim up to £300) to £346 (for a claim of more than £3,000).
Other court fees
Aside from the mandatory issue fee to start the claim and the hearing fee to get a trial, there may be other fees for you to pay depending on how your case progresses. For example, the cost of filing for appeal if you wish to appeal a decision, or the cost of having a court enforce its decision if the other side is ordered to pay you money and does not do so.
How much does it cost in legal fees to bring a small claim?
Each side pays their own lawyer’s fees
If you hire a lawyer to assist with your small claim, you usually have to pay all of their fees yourself, even if you win.
Unlike in bigger court cases, in a small claim, the loser is not normally ordered to pay the winner’s legal costs. There is one exception to this, which is where the other side has behaved unreasonably, but it’s very rare that the court will decide that this applies. For example, refusing generous offers to drop the matter is never considered unreasonable by itself.
The flipside to this is that if you lose your case, you won’t normally be required to pay the other sides’ legal fees. The losing side can be ordered to pay limited expenses to the other side, as listed below.
Limited expenses may be covered by the losing side
If you win, you can only get the losing side to pay a limited amount to cover some expenses, usually this is:
- your money back for any court fees you have paid;
- if you were the one who brought the claim, a token sum (known as fixed costs), usually between £50 and £100 depending on the value of the claim;
- travel expenses for you and any witnesses attending hearings; and
- up to £95 per day for loss of earnings for you or any witnesses when attending hearings.
Deciding whether to represent yourself or hire a lawyer
You can represent your business in a small claim instead of hiring a lawyer. You must be an officer or employee of your company to do this, or you can represent yourself if you personally are named as a party to the claim.
A lot of people represent themselves to save money on legal fees. However, going to court without any legal representation or advice does mean mistakes are more likely.
Note that even if you don’t hire a lawyer, you are usually allowed to have someone accompany you to court to help you at hearings, for example by taking notes, handing you papers or giving quiet advice to you directly during hearings. A person acting in this capacity is sometimes called a McKenzie Friend. They cannot normally speak in court on your behalf or conduct your case for you, although some judges allow a little latitude on this for efficiency. If you wish to exercise your right to assistance from a McKenzie friend, you should inform the judge as soon as possible to get their consent. Note that McKenzie Friends may not have any legal qualifications and/or professional indemnity insurance, so using a McKenzie Friend will not give you the same protections as engaging a lawyer. For access to a specialist lawyer in a few simple steps, you can use our Ask a Lawyer service.
How long it takes for a small claim to be heard
This depends on whether your claim is defended or not. If the defendant does not dispute the claim, it can be decided within as little as six to eight weeks.
On the other hand, if the defendant does dispute the claim and a hearing is required, it will generally take longer as the court will have to give you a trial date, but will usually be concluded within twelve months. This is only an estimate, however, and the backlog resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has extended the time it takes for many cases to reach court.
For more guidance how much it will cost to bring a small claim, and how to proceed with the small claims process, see our Q&A.
The content in this article is up to date at the date of publishing. The information provided is intended only for information purposes, and is not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Sparqa Legal’s Terms of Use apply.
Marion joined Sparqa Legal as a Senior Legal Editor in 2018. She previously worked as a corporate/commercial lawyer for five years at one of New Zealand’s leading law firms, Kensington Swan (now Dentons Kensington Swan), and as an in-house legal consultant for a UK tech company. Marion regularly writes for Sparqa’s blog, contributing across its commercial, IP and health and safety law content.