Court Fees to Increase on 22 April 2014

UPDATE (22/04/2014): The new 2014 court fees have been announced & are listed here.

Some wholesale changes to the Court fee structure will come into effect on 22nd April 2014. It is anticipated that additional reforms will follow.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the series of changes are imminent and will affect the following:

• There will be an increase in fees for money claims with a value over £1,500. However, claims made online via Money Claim Online will still benefit from a 10% discount.
• Fees for compensation claims with a value of between £5,000 and £10,000 will almost double from £245 to £445;
• An extra £200 fee has been added to all claims up to those in excess of £300,000. However, a maximum fee payable has been capped at £1,870;
• Non-money claims will now fall under one generic fee of £270. This will include claims for declaring someone bankrupt and property repossessions will replace the current mixture of fees.
• Fees to apply for judicial review will more than double from £60 to £135.
• A standard fee for applications will be charged, namely £155 for applications on notice or £50 for those made by consent or without notice.

Whilst there appear to be a significant increase in the fees payable in the majority of Court claims, there are also a number of reforms which see a stalemate or even a reduction.

• In money claims, Allocation (£220) and Listing fees (£110) will be removed.
• In matters relating to family issues, fees will remain the same for cases involving child contact, divorce financial disputes and adoption applications.
• It has also been confirmed that a reduction in the fee for local authorities to apply to take a child into care is planned.
• Domestic violence cases will see the application fee of £75 abolished for those seeking injunctions for non-molestation and occupation orders. The removal of this fee was confirmed following applications levels reaching in excess of 20,000 in one year.

The changes to the Court fee structure follow a period of consultation earlier this year. The consultation also included further proposals to set fees for some civil and commercial cases as a percentage of the amount under dispute. The Ministry of Justice is said be still considering that part of the consultation and will provide further updates on this point in the near future.

Full details and a comparative view on the new fee structure is now available here.