Recovering costs in small claims court

This is a question that comes up very often, and the answer depends on which elements you are asking about. Here is the position for each.

Court fees:

If you win your small claim, you can recover the court issue fee and any hearing fee you have paid. The court will normally order the losing party to pay these as part of the judgment. You should make sure you ask for this in your claim form and at the hearing if necessary.

Interest:

You can claim interest on the debt or damages you are owed. How this works depends on the type of claim.

1. If your claim is based on a contract that includes an interest clause, you can claim interest at the contractual rate.

2. If there is no contractual interest clause, you can claim statutory interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at up to 8 per cent per year simple interest. You should set out the interest calculation clearly in your particulars of claim, stating the rate, the period, and the daily rate going forward.

3. For business-to-business debts, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 may apply, which provides a statutory rate of 8 per cent above the Bank of England base rate, plus fixed compensation of between 40 and 100 pounds depending on the size of the debt.

Solicitor or legal costs:

This is where the small claims track is deliberately restrictive. Under CPR Part 27.14, the court will not normally order one party to pay the other's solicitor's costs, even if they win. The policy behind the small claims track is that it should be accessible to litigants in person without the risk of a large costs order.

The limited costs that can be recovered on the small claims track are:

1. The court fees as mentioned above.
2. Reasonable travel and overnight expenses for you or a witness to attend a hearing.
3. Loss of earnings for you or a witness attending, capped at 95 pounds per day.
4. Expert fees, if the court gave permission for expert evidence, capped at 750 pounds.
5. In an injunction claim, costs on the small claims track can be awarded more broadly.
6. Where the court finds a party has behaved unreasonably, it can make an order for costs under CPR 27.14(2)(g), but this is an exceptional remedy and not routine.

Fixed commencement costs under CPR Part 45 may also be recoverable in limited circumstances, particularly where the claim was started as a debt claim and involves the standard fixed solicitor's costs.

Practical points:

Make sure your claim form includes a clear request for court fees and interest, with the calculation set out. If you are representing yourself, the small claims track is designed so that you should not be significantly disadvantaged by not having a solicitor, precisely because costs recovery is limited for both sides.

If your claim is close to or above the small claims limit of 10,000 pounds, it may be allocated to the fast track, where different and more generous costs rules apply. The allocation decision is made by the court based on the value and complexity of the case.

If anything about your situation is unusual, such as the other side behaving unreasonably or the claim being on the borderline of tracks, that may affect what you can recover, so it is worth thinking carefully about how you present your case.