A claim form has been served under protective proceedings and it has subsequently come to light that the value of the claim is much higher. Does the claim form need to be amended and a further court fee paid?

Additional court fee

For information on the fee that is payable when starting a claim, see the Civil Proceedings Fees Order, SI 2008/1053 (as amended) and Practice Note: Court fees in civil proceedings.

If an incorrect court fee is paid, and this is brought to the attention of the court, the court may stay the claim until the appropriate fee is paid—as happened in Lifestyles Equities C.V. v Sportsdirect.com Retail Ltd. If it is apparent that an incorrect fee has been paid for the value of the claim, it is therefore advisable to amend the claim and pay the correct fee.

The notes to Fees 1.1 and 1.5 of SI 2008/1053 (as amended) state that:

‘Where the claim or counterclaim is amended, and the fee paid before amendment is less than that which would have been payable if the document, as amended, had been so drawn in the first instance, the party amending the document must pay the difference.’

Note that adding a statement of value in the claim form does not limit the power of the court to give judgment for a greater amount (CPR 16.3(7) and Bloor (trading as Doncaster Prope