Small Claims Court Fee Calculator UK 2025 — How Much Does It Cost to Make a Claim?
Use our free small claims court fee calculator to find out exactly how much it costs to issue a county court claim in England and Wales. Fees differ depending on your claim value and whether you file online via Money Claim Online (MCOL) or on paper using form N1. All figures reflect the current 2025 HMCTS fee schedule.
How Much Does It Cost to Take Someone to the Small Claims Court?
The small claims court — formally the small claims track of the County Court — is the most accessible route for individuals and businesses to resolve disputes worth up to £10,000 in England and Wales. For personal injury claims, the limit is £1,500, and for housing disrepair it is £1,000 for the repair element plus up to £1,000 for any related damages. The process is designed to be used without a solicitor, and costs are largely controlled.
Court fees are payable to His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). The amount you pay depends on the value of your claim and whether you issue online or on paper. Using Money Claim Online (MCOL) at moneyclaim.gov.uk is cheaper for most claim values and is the government's preferred route for specified money claims up to £100,000.
Current Small Claims Court Fee Schedule (England & Wales 2025)
| Claim Value | MCOL Online Fee | Paper Fee (N1) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £300 | £35 | £50 |
| £300.01 – £500 | £50 | £70 |
| £500.01 – £1,000 | £70 | £80 |
| £1,000.01 – £1,500 | £80 | £115 |
| £1,500.01 – £3,000 | £115 | £205 |
| £3,000.01 – £5,000 | £205 | £410 |
| £5,000.01 – £10,000 | £455 | £455 |
| Over £10,000 (fast/multi-track) | Scaled fees — see GOV.UK | |
Hearing Fees for Small Claims
If the defendant files a defence, the court will allocate your claim to a track. For small claims, a hearing fee is payable before the final hearing date is listed. You will receive a Notice of Allocation setting out when this fee is due. If you fail to pay the hearing fee by the deadline, your claim may be struck out automatically.
Hearing fees for the small claims track range from £27 for claims up to £300 to £360 for claims between £5,000.01 and £10,000. You may apply for a fee remission (form EX160) if you are on a low income or receive Universal Credit, Income Support, or similar qualifying benefits.
How to Issue a Small Claims Court Claim
There are three ways to start a county court claim in England and Wales:
- Money Claim Online (MCOL): The fastest and cheapest route for most specified money claims. Register at moneyclaim.gov.uk, complete the online form, and pay the reduced issue fee by debit or credit card. Claims are processed electronically and can be defended online.
- Form N1 — posted or handed in at a County Court: Download form N1 from GOV.UK, complete it by hand or on-screen, and either post it to the County Court Money Claims Centre (CCMCC) in Salford or file it at your local county court hearing centre. Higher issue fees apply.
- In-person at a County Court hearing centre: You can attend in person and file at the counter. Some hearing centres have limited opening hours so call ahead.
What Happens After You Issue Your Claim?
Once your claim form (N1 or MCOL equivalent) is issued and sealed by the court, it is served on the defendant. The defendant then has 14 days from the date of service to respond. They may:
- Admit the claim in full — you can request judgment immediately
- Admit part of the claim — you decide whether to accept the part admitted or proceed to a hearing
- File an acknowledgment of service — this gives them an extended period of 28 days from service to file a defence
- File a defence — within 14 days (or 28 with acknowledgment)
- Do nothing — you can apply for judgment in default using form N225 (specified amount) or N227 (unspecified)
Judgment in Default
If the defendant does not respond within the deadline, you may apply for a default judgment without a hearing. For a specified sum this is straightforward — the court enters judgment for the full amount plus your fixed costs and any interest claimed. The defendant can apply to set aside a default judgment, but must usually show they have a real prospect of defending the claim.
Directions Hearings and Final Hearings
If the claim is defended and allocated to the small claims track, the court will usually issue standard directions. These are instructions telling both parties what to do before the hearing — for example, to exchange documents, prepare witness statements, and file a court bundle. The final hearing is typically listed for one to three hours. Hearings are informal compared to higher courts, and district judges actively assist litigants in person. You do not need to wear a wig or gown; the judge sits at a table rather than a raised bench.
In some cases, especially simple money disputes, the court may issue directions for a paper determination — a decision made by the judge reading the written evidence without a hearing, if both parties consent.
Evidence and Witnesses in Small Claims
The rules of evidence are relaxed in the small claims track. The judge has wide discretion over procedure. Expert evidence is restricted: you generally need the court's permission to rely on expert evidence, and expert fees are only recoverable up to £750 per expert. Witness expenses (travel and loss of earnings) are capped at £90 per day per witness. Because costs are not recoverable, it is usually not cost-effective to retain expert witnesses for low-value small claims.
Costs in the Small Claims Track
A key feature of the small claims track is that legal costs are generally not recoverable even if you win. The "no costs" principle (CPR Rule 27.14) means that even if you instruct a solicitor, you cannot recover their fees from the losing party. The exceptions are:
- The court issue fee (recoverable)
- Fixed solicitor costs at commencement (up to approximately £100 for claims over £25)
- Any court-ordered costs where a party has behaved unreasonably
- Expert fees up to £750 per expert (if permitted by the court)
- Witness expenses capped at £90 per day
This means that for most small claims, it is not economically sensible to hire a solicitor — the track is designed for self-represented litigants.
Enforcement of Small Claims Judgments
Winning a judgment does not guarantee payment. If the defendant does not pay voluntarily, you will need to take enforcement action — for which further fees apply. Your options include:
- Warrant of Control (bailiffs): A county court bailiff attends the defendant's address to take goods. Fee: £121. Effective if the defendant has seizable assets.
- Attachment of Earnings Order: Deducts regular payments directly from the defendant's wages. Fee: £119. Only available if the defendant is employed.
- Third Party Debt Order: Freezes and seizes money from the defendant's bank account. Fee: £119.
- Charging Order: Secures the debt against the defendant's property. Fee: £119. The money is paid when the property is sold.
- Register as a County Court Judgment (CCJ): A CCJ is automatically registered and affects the defendant's credit rating for 6 years, which can motivate payment.
Pre-Action Protocols and Part 36 Offers
Before issuing proceedings, you should usually follow the relevant pre-action protocol or, where no specific protocol applies, the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols. This means sending a formal letter before action (sometimes called a Letter Before Claim) giving the defendant a reasonable opportunity to respond — typically 14 days for straightforward debt claims. Courts expect both parties to have tried to resolve the dispute before litigation.
A Part 36 offer is a formal settlement offer made under CPR Part 36 that carries cost consequences. Although the cost consequences are less powerful in the small claims track (because costs are not normally recoverable anyway), making or receiving a Part 36 offer can still influence whether the court awards costs for unreasonable conduct.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. If you are on a low income or receive qualifying benefits (such as Universal Credit, Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, or Jobseeker's Allowance), you may be entitled to a fee remission — a reduction or full waiver of the court fee. Apply using form EX160A (available on GOV.UK) at the same time as you file your claim. If your gross annual income is under £1,085 (for a single person with no dependants) you may pay no fee at all. More generous thresholds apply if you have children or dependants.
For most money claims in England and Wales the small claims limit is £10,000. Exceptions apply: personal injury claims are limited to £1,500 for the pain and suffering element (though you may still claim special damages on top), and housing disrepair claims are capped at £1,000 for the cost of repairs plus £1,000 in additional damages. Claims above these limits are allocated to the fast track or multi-track, where costs rules are very different.
No — and in most cases it is not cost-effective to hire one. The small claims track is specifically designed to be used by individuals without legal representation. The procedure is simplified, hearings are informal, and judges will explain the process. If you do instruct a solicitor, you cannot recover their fees from the other side even if you win (except in very limited circumstances). Many people successfully represent themselves in small claims hearings.
Timescales vary by court and workload. If the claim is undefended and you obtain a default judgment, the process can be completed in 4–8 weeks. If the claim is defended and goes to a final hearing, you should expect the process to take 6 to 12 months from issue to hearing in most county court hearing centres. Some busier courts have longer waiting lists.
Yes. You can claim statutory interest under the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum on the judgment debt. If you are a business and the debt is a commercial transaction, you may also be entitled to claim interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, which sets the rate at 8% above the Bank of England base rate. Interest can be calculated from the date the debt fell due to the date of judgment and continues to accrue on an unpaid judgment thereafter.
If you lose, you will generally only be ordered to pay the winning party's court fees and modest fixed costs — not their full legal costs (the "no costs" rule in small claims). You will lose your own issue fee and hearing fee. You can appeal a small claims judgment to a circuit judge if you believe there was an error of law or the judge was wrong in the procedure — but you must appeal within 21 days of the judgment and the threshold for a successful appeal is high.