'LAW WATCH' FREE VIDEO FOR JULY 26

Keep up to date with my latest video.

Those court and tribunal fee increases - including a 75% probate application hike-  which will be good to avoid but move fast.

New regime for data infringement complaints.

Unfair dismissals: upcoming changes.

Wives and others versus Bankrupts' creditors.

Creditors to be identified on the Register of Judgments Orders and Fines.

Just click away and have a fact sheet at the same time.

SUE AND SAVE

On 13 July 2026 a raft of court and tribunal fees will be increased, subject to parliamentary  approval. If the step you (or your client) will be taking triggers of them then you will make a saving by taking it before the increases come into force. 170 fees will be raised by 2.6% to take account of inflation and 27 by an average of 34%. 

But the eye watering hike relates to an application after a death for the grant of probate or letters of administration where the fee is up by 75% from £300 to £526 if the deceased's estate has a value of over £5,000.

Other fees on the increase are to start a case for a divorce, nullity or civil partnership dissolution which will cost £628, to make a county court claim for possession which will cost £415 and to issue a civil application on notice where the new fee will be £321. The fees for commencing money claims in the County Court or High Court are untouched. 

The "Help With Fees' scheme which could earn the waiver or reduction of any of these fees on the ground of low income and capital will continue to be available.

To check whether your fee will be caught by the changes, go to https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/642/contents/made  (SI 2026/642 as amended by SI 2026/665 which changes the start date).

MORE TIME TO SAVE ON COURT FEES

You haven't dipped into my 'Law Watch' video number 47? Shame on you. I there heralded a series of increases (and some decreases) in court and tribunal fees (and a couple of others) which were intended to take effect on 01 April 2025. The legislation required to give effect to the changes has since been published and will not come into force until 08 April 2025. That means you have extra time to save on the affected fees by rushing to take a step in proceedings which would be caught by the legislation or, in the case of a small number of decreases, going slow.

The legislation is the Court and Tribunal (Miscellaneous Amendments)  Order 2025 (SI 2025/351) which you can find here -

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/351/contents/made

'LAW WATCH' VIDEO FOR MARCH '25

The sunshine is out. And so is my latest video which, in response to numerous pleas, is shorter than usual.  Save some money by prudent timing as many court - and some tribunal- fees are set to go up.  Extraordinarily, a small number are going down! Legislation to give effect to the ups and downs can be expected to come into force - on 1st April 2025!

The video also summarises residential leasehold changes in the law. Claims by Right to Manage companies become less risky and the qualifying condition for mixed used buildings is altered. Also, qualifying for freehold acquisition and lease extension is now easier. 

Do click below for a shock and have a second click to download the free PDF fact sheet. 

LATEST 'LAW WATCH' VIDEO: KEEP ABREAST OF NEW LAWS

 In this month's free video, I go through-

• The increases in court, tribunal and probate fees which bite as from 01 May 2024 - and what happened to the threatened divorce fee hike.
• Changes to debt relief orders next month (effective on 28 June 2024) - the panacea for the amateur debtor - which make it easier to qualify.
• Increases in personal injury damages following publication of new guidelines.
• Why judges' gowns are back at the Central Family Court.
• The new so-called compulsory mediation system for county court small claims cases which will lead to any party refusing to co-operate being sanctioned at the end of the case and having to lose or pay one-half of costs that would otherwise have applied - if not worse.
• And that Book!

Enjoy.

COURT FEE INCREASES: PULL YOUR FINGER OUT

In my Law Watch video episode 33, I warned of proposed increases in various court fees for civil and family cases along with certain tribunal, probate and Court of Protection fees. Most of the proposals are to be implemented on 01 May 2024 (by statutory instrument SI 2024/476 which may not be readily available for public enjoyment for a couple of days). Some 172 fees are hit by a 10 per cent rise. 

But the proposal to increase the court fee for starting a divorce case has been dropped.

For those on benefits or low incomes, the Help With Fees scheme may lead to no fee or a reduced fee. 

For anyone about to take a step which involves payment of one of the fees hit by the changes, avoid the increase by taking that step before 01 May 2024. That's where the finger and its pulling out come in. 

And if you want to buy my book for a snip, it is still half-price on Amazon !

LATEST VIDEO: BEAT COURT FEE HIKE AND XMAS CONSUMER LAWS

Court, Tribunal and Probate fees look set to rise soon. Fancy beating the increases? Click below.

Want to ensure you make use of consumer laws for your Christmas purchases? Click below.

In fact, one click should do it! Fast.

COURT AND OTHER FEES: APPLYING FOR HELP CHANGES

I threatened a video on the big changes coming in on 23 November 2023. I'm as good as my word. Here it is. It won't sting or cost you a penny. Click below.

DISCOVER LATEST LAW ON VIDEO

 I'm back with a haircut and what's happening in the law which could affect - and benefit - YOU. Included are changes in during April 2023. 

It's free on video and won't hurt. Promise. Click below.

LATEST LAW IN 59 SECONDS (with a bit more 'cos I'm a lawyer)

Click on my video for the latest legal developments and tips. I promise it won't hurt.

BEAT COURT FEE RISES:UPDATE

I recently warned of imminent court fee increases. See https://www.breakinglaw.co.uk I can now report that those increases will be coming into force on 30 September 2021. They are introduced by the Court Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2021 (SI 2021/985) which were laid before Parliament yesterday 06 September 2021.

I have kept this update short so that you can get on with preparing paperwork to beat the rises instead of wasting time reading my attempts at humour. But, for the avoidance of any doubt, these rises are positively not a joke. 

BEAT COURT FEE RISES

As predicted in 'The Return of Breaking Law'  a wigful (to fit an enormous head) of court fees will soon be introduced. To be precise, 129 of them in civil and family proceedings as well as in certain cases in the Court of Protection. To avoid paying the extra, you need to take the step which will attract the fee as soon as you can. The Ministry of Justice has said that the increased fees will be brought into force in early Autumn 2021 which means we could be looking at the start of October 2021 or shortly after.  You can find full details of each and every increased fee at https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/increasing-selected-court-fees-income-thresholds/results/court-fees-increasing-consultation-response.pdf

Here are some of the increases -

To start a divorce, nullity or civil partnership dissolution case  - up £43 to £593

To issue a county court or High Court application notice (form N244) - up £20 to £275

To issue a county court or High Court application notice BY CONSENT (form N244) - up £8 to £108

Hearing fee (otherwise called trial fee) for county court small claims case for £300 or less - up £2 to £27

Ditto for case for more than £300 but no more than £500 - up £4 to £59

Ditto for case for more than £500 but no more than £1,000 - up £5 to £85

Ditto for case for more than £1,000 but no more than £1,500 - up £8 to £123

Ditto for case for more than £1,500 but no more than £3,000 - up £11 to £181

Ditto for case for more than £3,000 - up £11 to £346

Hearing fee (otherwise called trial fee) for multi-track case in county court or High Court - up £85 to £1,175

The Help with Fees system which can mean no fee or a reduced fee survives. It will benefit you if you are on benefits. If not on benefits but a low income, have a go. The income thresholds for applicants not on benefits will be slightly raised at the same time as the fees go up.

Court Fee Refund Scheme Announced

Around eighteen months ago, the Ministry of Justice coughed that some litigants had been overcharged the court fees they were being made to pay for taking certain steps in civil and insolvency cases. I told you about it in this blog and and what to expect at -

http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/court%20and%20tribunal%20fees

On the basis that it is better late than never, the promised refund scheme was  announced a few days ago and is now up and running. If eligible, you can make your refund claim on a special form which you can access along with guidance at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-court-fee-refund  Interest on the amount refunded will be paid at the grand rate of 0.5%.

The relevant fees must have been paid between 22 April 2014 and 31 March 2018 and the most common overcharges are likely to have been on issuing  certain insolvency applications and asking for Court of Protection bills of costs to be assessed.

But in so far as the overcharge in issuing a county court claim for the stage 3 procedure under either of the two pre-action protocols for low-value personal injury cases is concerned, the refund scheme notably overlooks these. They are still being considered. Don't hold your breath.

Court Fee Reductions and Refunds

Not quite winning the lottery but you might just be in for a few bob you weren't expecting by way of a refund for overcharged court fees. First, a warning. None of the fees overcharged relate to what had to be paid to the court on starting a case or close to the trial in the form of the hearing fee.

Here are the fees in question. The county court fee for a stage 3  low value personal injury pre-action protocol claim. In most cases that has been overcharged by £103. That's because the fee called for has been a 'sweep up' fee of £308 rather than a fee based on the amount being claimed.The other fees concerned were worked out on a duff basis and will be reduced as from next Monday 23 July 2018 under the Court of Protection, Civil Proceedings and Magistrates' Courts Fees (Amendment ) Order 2018 SI/2018/812. In the Court of Protection fees are down for making an application or lodging an appeal from £400 to £385 and £320 respectively. In insolvency proceedings, an application on notice to the other parties in existing proceedings will cost £95 instead of £155 and an application without notice or by consent in existing proceedings comes down from £50 to £25. There are also reductions in Commercial Court and Technology and Construction Court arbitration fees and in eight magistrates' courts' fees.

If you have paid any of the fees at the higher rates mentioned whether when acting for yourself or through your solicitor or barrister or even possibly when settling the costs of your winning opponent which have reflected the higher rate, then watch out for an announcement by the Ministry of Justice about how you can claim a refund. And I will keep you in the know in this blog.

Court Fees: New Regime

There are some important changes to the procedure in civil cases which mainly burst into action on 6 April 2017. The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2017 (SI 2017/95) are to be cursed or thanked, as the case may be.

I previewed the most impacting procedural change in my 8 December 2016 post Civil Hearing Fee Refunds Scrapped. The new rules cater for the change with this one coming in to force on 8 March 2017. The hearing fee is now called the trial fee. It will become payable by whoever is bringing the claim (or by the defendant if the claim has been knocked out and the case is going ahead on a counterclaim only). And it will be payable later in the case which will generally be by four weeks before the trial date. That's good. What isn't so good is that if the case settles in the run up to the trial, no part of the trial fee will be refundable as is presently the position. So you might be saying to your opponent something like -

"Be sensible. I am just about to pay the trial fee to the court. If you are going to settle with me, do it now. That's because once the fee has been paid, I won't get any of it back from the court should there be a later settlement and the trial be avoided. This being so, I will have to charge you up for the trial fee as well."

If the trial fee is not paid on time - and the court will notify you of the date for payment - the claim will be automatically struck out and you will have to pay the costs of the other side, unless the court orders otherwise. No period of grace and no reminder. It will be open to you to apply to the court for forgiveness and for the claim to be reinstated on condition you pay up or obtain remission (help with the fee). You certainly would not be able to bank on the success of such an application.

The new scheme for trial fees will NOT apply where before 6 March 2017 the court has notified to you the date of the trial or a trial window (the period during which the trial will take place).

Other changes which are somewhat technical and may send you to sleep unless you are a lawyer (or married to one in which event they will certainly send you to sleep)-

• the pilot scheme for legal advisers (barristers or solicitors) to deal with some of the more straightforward court box work is made permanent and tweaked.
• where costs budgeting applies in multi-track cases, the court is empowered on a detailed assessment to cut down the costs which were incurred before a costs management order was made notwithstanding that no point was taken on them at the costs management conference and the court can say nasty things about how high they are even at any case management conference, whether or not it makes a costs management order, and what is said can be taken into account on  a detailed assessment.
• if a case which started its life on the portal is later allocated to the multi-track, the costs will not be limited to fixed costs.

You can wake up now.

NOT AGAIN!

There was a time when you were given one or two weeks' advance notice of increases in court or tribunal fees. Then you could rush out to start your case and save a few bob. Not now. The legislation bringing in the latest raft of changes was made last Friday and operates from....today!!!

Most of the increases are above the rate of inflation. In the High Court and county court it will cost the same to start a case. There's just one exception to this which relates to the minority of cases where a specific fee is not otherwise set. It's swingingly called fee 1.5 and is up in the High Court by £48 to £528 and in the county court by £28 to £308. 

Those of you who have obtained a judgment in your favour and are enforcing it in the county court are the principal litigants to be hit. Putting in the bailiff to seize the debtor's  goods will cost £77 instead of £70 in county court business centre and money claim online case and £110 instead of £100 in other cases. Putting in the bailiff to carry out an eviction from premises sees a hike of £11 to £121 (I would have preferred £120 and then I could have remembered the new fee). There's an extra tenner to be paid bringing the fee up to £110 for enforcement by charging order, attachment of earnings or third party debt order. Getting your debtor before the court to answer questions about their finances will set you back by an extra fiver at £55.  There are similar increases in the High Court for enforcement steps and the fee on sealing a High Court writ of control, possession or delivery rises by £6 to £66.

There are other increases for judicial review cases and on enforcement of an award or other decisions by a tribunal and various bodies and on assessment of costs. Certain magistrates'  courts and tribunal fees are also increased but some fees in the first-tier property chamber in England are reduced. Surely some mistake.

If you are that way inclined, you can see chapter and verse in the Civil Proceedings, First-Tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and Employment Tribunals Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 SI 2016/807.