Tag: Court Fees

Court fee consultation – have your say!

Ella WilkinsonLeave a comment

The Ministry of Justice have recently published an open consultation regarding the proposed implementing of increases to various court and tribunal fees, citing factors such as the rise in the consumer price index and the running costs of HMCTS. The intended increases are 10% across a range of court and tribunal fees in several jurisdictions, to support the continued delivery of services and to reduce the level of subsidisation required from taxpayers.

Within the proposals, there is an intention to also establish a routine approach to reviewing and amending fees every two years, to take into account any changes in the running costs of HMCTS, as well as the wider financial position in respect of the economy and pricing.

The consultation began on 10 November 2023 and will end on 22 December 2023, so we would invite you to review the proposals and submit your views ahead of this deadline, as Court of Protection fees are included within the changes being considered. The Court of Protection specific proposals are set out in the below table:

ItemCurrent FeeProposed New Fee
Court of Protection application£371.00£408.00
Court of Protection appeal£234.00£257.00
Court of Protection hearing£494.00£543.00
Court of Protection filing for detailed assessment£87.00£96.00
Appeal against a Court of Protection costs assessment£70.00£77.00
Request to set aside a Court of Protection costs certificate£65.00£72.00

You can review the full consultation report via the link below for further information, and this also includes information as to how you can get in touch to submit your views (see pages 17-19 in particular).

Click to access tribunal-fees-consultation-web-accessible.pdf

You can find out more about our services here or you can contact Ella.wilkinson@clarionsolicitors.com for further information, who is an Associate within the Costs and Litigation Funding Department at Clarion.

Increase to Court Fees

Stephanie KayeLeave a comment

The Government issued a public consultation on 22 March 2021. The Ministry of Justice is consulting on increasing some court fees in line with historical inflation dating from August 2016 to April 2021, or from the year the fee was last amended (capped at August 2016). The proposal is limited to fees which are under-recovering compared to the estimated cost of the service and to fees which are enhanced, meaning they can legally be set above the cost of service. The impacted fees are included in the following fee orders:

•            Family Proceedings Fees Order 2008 No 1054 (43 impacted fees);

•            Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008 No 1053 (67 impacted fees);

•            Court of Protection Fees Order 2007 No 1745 (3 impacted fees); and

•            Magistrates Courts Fees Order 2008 No 1052 (20 impacted fees).

At the same time as increasing fees, the Government is also proposing to widen access to the Help with Fees scheme and make it more generous. This proposal includes inflationary uplifts to the income thresholds, including the couple and child premiums, in the Help with Fees scheme, backdated to August 2016. The proposal will widen access to and increase the generosity of the Help with Fees scheme. In particular, the extended scheme will benefit women, people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and younger people, who all feature disproportionately among low income groups.

The proposed fee increases will raise an estimated additional net income of £11-£17 million a year for HMCTS after fee remissions, including the proposed changes to Help with Fees, are applied. This will help to ensure HMCTS continues to have the necessary funding to complete its much needed and important activities. Given the current economic uncertainty and the difficulty in forecasting rates of inflation accurately at this time, the figures included in this proposal are indicative and will be revised, based on actuals, prior to the implementation of the revised fee. Therefore, this estimated income is subject to change.

Responses are welcomed from anyone with an interest in or views on the subject covered by this consultation. The full consultation is available at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/increasing-selected-court-fees-income-thresholds. Responses are required by the 17th May and can be submitted via an online survey using the link above, via email: mojfeespolicy@justice.gov.uk, or by post to: Fees Policy Team, Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ.

Any questions regarding this consultation can be addressed to the Ministry of Justice Fees Policy Team (mojfeespolicy@justice.gov.uk).

Proposals to increase court fees and the income threshold for Help with Fees

Andrew McAulayLeave a comment

Court fees for Civil, Family, Court of Protection and the Magistrates’ Court are set to increase in the autumn under new government proposals. The plans seek to apply an inflation based increase dating from August 2016 or the year the fee was last amended (capped at August 2016), the aim being to reduce the taxpayer contribution required to fund court and tribunal services by £11 – £17 million a year.  

In addition, inflationary uplifts will be applied to the income thresholds for fee remission, again from August 2016.

The MOJ has opened a consultation on the proposals which is open until 17th May 2021.

The detailed proposals and the content of the questionnaire can be found here and you can respond online here.

Court of Protection Court Fees: An Update

Laura SugarmanLeave a comment

In order to have a bill of costs assessed, it is necessary to pay a Court Fee to the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO). Depending on the type of the bill, the fee amount varies. Currently, within the Court of Protection, the cost to have a bill assessed is £225 for a detailed bill and £115 for a short form bill of costs. A short form bill is a bill with profit costs up to £3,000 and a detailed bill of costs is a bill with profit costs above £3,000.

From the 22nd July 2019, these fees are due to change. By way of The Court Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2019 there is due to be a reduction to the Court Fees due to have a bill of costs assessed. S4 (3)(a) of the Act states that the fee for filing a bill of costs to be assessed will be £85.00. This is dramatic change within the rules and something that will affect all professional Deputies who wish to have their bill of costs assessed, making it cheaper to do so.

The most significant aspect of the Act is that going forward, there will be no distinction between fees for filing short form and detailed bills of costs. As stated, this will be taking place from the 22nd July 2019 and so all professional Deputies should be aware of this when sending any bills to the SCCO to be assessed on or after this date.

There will also be changes made to application, appeal and hearing fees for all Court of Protection matters. These can be found in s3 The Court Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2019.