The Ministry of Justice has proposed to charge 5% of the value of the claim to all court cases worth more than £10,000, which it estimates will bring in an extra £120m a year.
A further consultation has also opened on extra charges for possession claims and general applications in civil proceedings.
Possession claim fees will rise by £75, which the fee for general applications will go up from £50 to £100 for applications made by consent and from £155 to £255 for contested claims. These increases will apply equally to all applicants.
We at Landlord Action are absolutely opposed to each and every one of the justifications given by the Ministry of Justice for enhanced court fees.
Our responses to each of these are details as follows:-
Consultation justification:
– The fee remains low, compared to the overall costs of litigation;
Landlord Action response:
The market place for practitioners carrying out possession claims is extremely competitive. As a result you will often find that the court fees exceed the amount paid for the practitioner for carrying out the legal work. More often than not, the court fee will make up approximately 50% of the overall cost of litigation.
Consultation justification:
– Costs are recoverable from the opponent in successful proceedings;
Landlord Action response:
In 99% of cases the costs are not recoverable because:-
a. The money order granted by the court is not a registered County Court Judgment. In order to make it a registered CCJ, the Claimant has to issue recovery proceedings which will involve further expense including court fees
b. The defendant often has no money or any means of paying
Consultation justification:
– Claims can be brought under conditional fee arrangements
Landlord Action response:
This only works if costs are recoverable
Consultation justification:
– Fee remissions are available to those who qualify.
Landlord Action response:
Very few landlord claimants qualify for fee remissions
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