Time to pay your Trial hearing fee on time

Liam O’Shea, Director and Solicitor in Astle Paterson’s Dispute Resolution & Litigation department discusses the recent changes to Civil Court Trial fees.

Liam said “As well as paying to the Court a fee when a claim is started, the Claimant (unless where a counterclaim proceeds alone when the fees are payable by the Defendant) will also need to pay a fee for the listing of a Court Trial date.

The relevant Trial hearing fee depends on what value the case has and what track it has been allocated to.   In Small Claim track claims, the Trial hearing fee ranges between £25 to £335 depending on the value of the claim, for a Fast track claim the Trial hearing fee is £545 and for the more complicated high value Multi track claims the Trial hearing fee is £1,090.

It is of note that changes to the rules now means that the Trial hearing fee must be paid to the Court no later than 28 days before the start of the Trial and that failure to do so will result in the claim/counterclaim being struck out with immediate effect without further order and the Trial hearing removed from the list.   If the claim has been struck out, it will no longer exist.

Further, the Trial hearing fee is non-refundable.   In a change to the previous rules, now where the parties settle before the Trial, no part of the hearing fee will be refunded.”

Liam concluded, “The message from the Courts is clear – first pay the Trial hearing fee on time or face the consequences and secondly, if you are to reach an agreement with the otherside, then seek to do so prior to having to pay the hearing fee if at all possible.”

Liam O’Shea has substantial experience representing clients throughout the Courts on wide ranging legal disputes.   Should you be in dispute and require legal assistance, then please contact Liam on 01283 531366 or by way of email at loshea@astlepaterson.co.uk.