COURT FEE REMISSION: USEFUL LINKS AND GUIDANCE
The earlier post reporting that a defendant had been ordered to pay the claimant’s court fees despite the claimant being entitled to remission has led to a lot of discussion on Twitter. Responses range from “that’s right” to “what on earth”. One barrister reported that he was involved in a case where the exact opposite conclusion had been reached.
There is, however, unanimity on the point that the remission scheme is difficult to use and not in the least bit user friendly. This may be a good time to highlight some guidance and useful links. This does not make the scheme any easier to use. However at least the guidance is available in one place.
OFFICIAL GUIDANCE
- A list of the relevant forms is available here
- The form is available here
- The guidance is available here
- Get help paying court and tribunal fees
GUIDANCE FOR PRACTITIONERS
- Divorce Online has a calculator Find out if you are exempt from paying court fees now
- Andrew Hogan considers the issue in his Blog Costs Barrister, noting “The amount of detail required to complete a fee remission application, and the supporting documents is frankly eyewatering, and must be completed on a “per fee” basis, not a per case basis, so potentially requiring multiple applications during the same piece of litigation.”
- Justcosts has detailed guidance in “Court Fee Remissions”
- MoneyClaimsUK sets out the tests in Court and Tribunal Fees – do I have to pay them?
- Kerry Underwood in Court and Tribunal Fees and Help with fees (Remission)
- Advicenow Getting help to pay a court fee in a civil or family case
There is a (now somewhat dated) post on this blog MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF THE COURT FEE INCREASE 2: FEE REMISSION – EVERY LITIGATOR HAS TO KNOW THIS NOW