Court Fee Increases Proposed: Claim Now to Avoid!

The government is proposing to increase the fees for starting money claims worth between £10,000 and £200,000, to 5% of the sum claimed. This means: 

• on a claim for £15,000 the current fee of £450 would increase by 77% to £750

• on a claim for £200,000, the fee jumps by 660% from £1,315 to £10,000!

The idea is that whilst the courts now pay for themselves, the Treasury would like it to make a profit.

The proposals have been widely criticised by the legal community, for a number of reasons:

• Access to justice will be severely affected
• Smaller businesses and litigants in person will struggle to pay these huge up front fees
• Litigants in person could go bankrupt as a result
• The cash flow of smaller businesses is likely to suffer, leading to a higher number of companies going out of business
• Late payers will have even less incentive to pay on time. 

In the face of criticisms about earlier proposals the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has changed his mind but there is no guarantee that he will listen this time.

If you have debtors you need to pursue, do not delay. Samuels has a comprehensive debt recovery service, with a low fixed-fee initial demand letter to your debtors. Contact us today, to discuss how we can help.