As a result of the Enhanced Court Fees Consultation, published on 16 January 2015, HMCTS has announced an increase to court fees for claims over £10,000.
As of April 2015 the following changes are proposed:
•Claims between £10,000 and £200,000 will attract a court fee of 5% of the amount claimed (claimants issuing through Secure Data Transfer or Money Claims Online (MCOL) will be eligible for a 10% discount on the fee).
•Claims over £200,000 will attract a fixed court fee of £10,000.
Where a case proceeds to court, the difference in court fees for bringing the claim before April 2015 will be significant. For example, if your claim is for £150,000, under the current system, the fee is £1,115. From April 2015, the court fee will be £7,500. This may be reduced to £6,750 if your claim is issued through Secure Data Transfer or MCOL; however it is still substantially higher than the current rates.
Whilst it is possible that the changes described above are not implemented in April, this may we be something any potential Claimant should be aware of if they are contemplating making a claim as it may be more sensible to do so now as opposed to after the end of March 2015.