HM Courts & Tribunals Service Fees increase

As a result of this Order, many of the fees charged by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) have increased by 10%, including enforcement fees as follows:

Application Type As of 25th July 2016

• Writ of Control/Possession/Delivery – £66.00
• Third Party Debt Order – £110.00
• Charging Order – £110.00
• Oral Examination – £55.00

Following the steep increases to Court fees introduced in April 2015, this further controversial move may be faced with criticism for being a restriction on access to justice.

Whilst wealthy companies and individuals may not be deterred from enforcing Orders as a result of the fee increase, individual Claimants or SME’s may be put off because of the increased court fees and the heavy cost consequences open to the Claimant should enforcement then become abortive.

In addition, the Official Receiver’s fees and Deposits were increased on 21 July 2016 meaning that the costs payable on presentation of a Petition for Bankruptcy or Winding Up of a Debtor by a Creditor have increased by 20% as follows:

Petition Deposit As of 21st July 2016

• Creditor’s Bankruptcy  – £990.00
• Creditor’s Winding Up – £1,600.00

These fees coupled with the Petition Court fee of £280.00 provide a high cost for Creditors when considering Insolvency Proceedings. However, these increases have been made following a full review of the services provided by Official Receivers and the costs associated with this work. It has been identified that the costs of administering cases could not be covered under the previous fee structure bearing in mind that in approximately 50% of cases there are no debtor assets, resulting in the petition deposit being the only recovery made in these cases. More details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-insolvency-fees.

Should you wish to discuss the potential impact of the increases, or explore Alternative Dispute Resolution, please do not hesitate to contact Nikki Gates or member of our Dispute Resolution Team on 01202 294566.