Allocation Fees Abolished for £1,000 Claims

The Lord Chancellor does listen. After the outcry led by the Master of the Rolls and the Vice-Chancellor over the disproportionality of court fees in low-value claims the Lord Chancellor has announced that the allocation fee for claims not exceeding £1,000 will be abolished in April, although there will be a compensatory £5 increase in issue fees in those cases. Writing in the Financial Times of 7 January Jean Eaglesham observed that the net effect will be to reduce the total fees for a claim of £200 from £100 to £25 and for a £1,000 claim from £150 to £75.