It has been announced that the government going to increase court fees:
The Ministry of Justice has said that it will proceed with 129 fee increases in line with inflation.
This comes at a time when there is a backlog caused by Covid 19 and there has been an increase in remote hearings. Businesses and individuals can ill afford an increase in the cost of resolving disputes.
The government response states that in 2019/20 HMCTS received £724m from fees against its £2bn running costs. The changes will produce an estimated gross income of between £23m and £29m a year, less fee remissions.
The new fees will apply from this autumn, once statutory instruments have been laid.
In civil proceedings, the hearing fee for a multi track case will be £1,174, and for a small claims case the fee will be £352.
We can only say that parties can potentially save Court costs if they mediate at an early stage.