THE CORRECT FEE ON A PART 8 APPLICATION: DON’T LET THE COURT STAFF MAKE YOU HAND OVER MONEY FOR NOTHING
A Twitter conversation this morning came up with the old chestnut of court staff informing a solicitor that the court fee to be paid on a Part 8 application for approval was identical to that on a Part 7 claim. This assertion (by local court staff) is contradicted by earlier correspondence from HMCTS – and, incidentally, by the rules themselves. It is worthwhile reading the addendum at the end of this post and, in particular, the advice given about pointing out in the covering letter that the claim is seeking an approval hearing and is not a Stage Three hearing.
“The court apologises, you are correct.
To clarify, a new claim for an infant settlement commands the standard fee of £308.00
You may, in order to assist the court, specify that the Claim is for an infant settlement, in bold print.
Thank you for your patience in this matter.”
THE ISSUE
Stevan Stratton, solicitor, wrote:-
“HMCTS is asking me to pay money-claim issue fee (i.e. % of value) on a Part 8 claim for approval. That would be £10,000 for a non-contested hearing! Ages on phone to them-they don’t seem to know what the fee is! Has this changed since…..”
He went on
“HMCTS has phoned back – new guidance is that Part 8B claims for stage 3 hearings will now attract money-claim fees (not £308 fee). Tried to explain my Part 8 claim is not such but talking to help desk in Cambridge about clear admin error in Norwich re hearing sought in Ipswich!”
Finally:-
“Thanks @CivilLitTweet.Tried telling them that-they’ve (worryingly) confused new MOJ Guidance (which they read out to me) as covering all Pt 8 claims when it only relates to stage3 hearings! Will re-lodge & explain.The amount of (extra) time we’re wasting on Court errors nowadays!”
AN EARLIER POST
This is not a new issue. It was dealt with on this blog in May 2014. Robert Pettit raised the issue and received a letter from the Courts Service
THE LETTER
Sent: 30 April 2014 11:26
To: ‘Rob Pettitt’
Subject: RE: CLARIFICATION ON FEES
Dear Mr Pettitt,
Thank you for your email. We apologise for the delay in responding to your query below.
I can confirm that a Part 8 claim for approval does not attract fees for issuing a claim to recover monies (pursuant of paragraph 1.1 of schedule 1 of the Civil Proceedings Order 2008) but the fee applicable for an alternative remedy is (pursuant to Paragraph 1.5 of Schedule 1 to the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008).
There has been some inconsistencies in the courts around fees being charged in money claim fee and fee applicable for an alternative remedy (pursuant to paragraph 1.5 of Schedule 1 to the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008).
We are currently working to rectify this problem, once this is done customers would be notified.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further information.
Kind Regards
X
Law and Access to Justice Group
4th Floor , Post Point 4.38 (Blue Core)
102 Petty France, London
SW1H 9AJ”
ADDENDUM
Shortly after this post was written Stevan contacted me again.
“Court confirmation finally received… worth heading up covering letters to make clear you’re seeking an approval hearing and not a stage 3 hearing as it seems to be implied that the details on the claim form may not get read!”
THE LETTER FROM THE COURT
[…] I am grateful to Gordon Exall and his outstanding blog – Civil Litigation Brief – for the information in this piece. Here is the link to the longer post on this subject. The Correct Fee on a Part 8 Application: Don’t Let The Court Staff Make You Hand Over Money For No… […]