29^th Jul 2016

On the 21st July in the House of Lords, The Civil Proceedings, First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and Employment Tribunals Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 was approved. The new fees, which see an increase in the cost to issue a writ, has now come into force from Monday, the 25th July 2016.

• PIMS view is The courts are showing utter contempt and acting contrary to a key principle of the British judicial process "being fair and reasonable". Applications which landlords made last week are being returned - How on earth can it be reasonable to implement a price increase in 4 days and reject applications that have already been posted - would it not have been more reasonable to implement the increase after 30 days ? If landlords gave three days notice of a rent increase, besides being illegal it would be deemed unprofessional - so why are the courts allowed to get away with it ?

With immediate effect, all new instructions will require the new fee of £66 to be included. We would also suggest that you check with your chosen HCEO to see if your writs have already been issued or whether you will be required to send a further payment, otherwise expect delays.

Other fee increases to note are:

• Application for oral examination rises from £50 to £55
• Application for third party debt order rises from £100 to £110
• Application for charging order rises from £100 to £110
• Application for a judgment summons rises from £100 to £110
• For an official certificate of the result of a search for each name, in any register or index held by the court rises from £45 to £50
• On the filing of a request for detailed assessment providing the fees charged do not exceed £15,000 then the application fee rises from £335 to £369. Similar rises occur for higher fees.

• Courts and tribunals fees and charges inquiry
• Changes are implemented with the introduction of a Statutory Instrument Bailiff increase covered by 8.6

• Possession claim (County Court) Section 8 Notice and Section 21 Notice manual process £355
• Section 8 rent arrears is £325 when application made online
• Issue of a warrant of possession/warrant of delivery increases from £110 to £121