Rise in Court Fees

The Government announce a consultation to increase over 200 court fees to raise up to an additional £42 million per year.

On 10 November 2023, the government announced a proposal to increase over 200 court fees to raise an additional £42 million each year, in addition to the £727 million already generated.

The remaining £2.3 billion budget to run His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is funded by the taxpayer.

The government has said that the additional funding generated will be used to improve service delivery and reduce the overall cost to the tax payer.

The fees were last updated in September 2021. Although many may argue that the increase in court fees is unfair and reduces the public’s access to justice, the government will argue that fees have not been increased in over 2 years. In the two years since the last increase, the consumer price index has risen nearly 18%. The government however only proposes a maximum increase to court fees of 10%.

The proposed fee increase covers a wide range of practise areas including:

• Non-contentious probate
• Magistrates’ Courts Fees
• Family proceedings
• Civil proceedings
• Property matters in the First Tier and Upper Tribunals

The government launched this proposal on 10 November 2023 and allowed for responses to be received until 22 December 2023. The final outcome of these proposals has not yet been received; however they are expected imminently.

If implemented, the price rises are due to come into force around March 2024.

If you have a civil matter that you are looking to proceed with issuing, get in touch with our Commercial Litigation team.