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,

This Q&A assumes that the proposed defendant is in England or Wales. The claim form, once completed, will need to be filed with the court you have decided to issue proceedings in together with a request that the court issues the claim form. The court will then normally issue the claim form on the day it is received. Proceedings are started when the court issues a claim form at the request

It is crucial to note from the outset that the position relating to a waiver of claims differs depending on whether a settlement is effected by way of a COT3 agreement (Form COT3), under the auspices of Acas, or whether it is an agreement made pursuant to section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), endorsed by advice from an independent legal adviser. Where there is a settlement agreement pursuant to ERA 1996, s 203, then the position is clear and straightforward. Whatever its express terms, the agreement would not be effective in prohibiting a claimant from bringing a future victimisation claim arising from the fact that they had brought the

How to request a judgment for an unspecified amount A request for judgment where the amount claimed is unspecified should be made on Form N227. Obtaining a default judgment CPR 12.4(1) provides that a default judgment can be obtained by request where the claim is for an amount of money to be decided by the court. This does not require permission of the court. In such cases, CPR 12.5(3) provides that the default judgment will be for an amount to be decided by the court and costs. CPR 12.7 sets out the procedure

Where an employer has failed to pay sums owed under the contract of employment, consideration should generally be given to possible claims for unlawful deductions from wages and breach of contract. For information on the issues for a worker to consider when deciding whether to bring a claim for unlawful deductions from wages or breach of contract (or both), see the section: ‘Whether to bring an unlawful deductions claim or a breach of contract claim’ of Practice Note: Deductions from wages. Deductions from wages Generally, under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), an employer cannot make any deductions from the wages of a worker unless: • the deduction is required or authorised to be made by virtue of (a) a statutory provision, eg the requirement to make deductions for

Response to appeal The Employment Appeal Rules 1993 (the EAT Rules), SI 1993/2854, r 6(2) provides that: ‘A respondent who wishes to resist an appeal shall…deliver to the Appeal Tribunal an answer in writing in, or substantially in, accordance with Form 3 in the Schedule to these Rules, setting out the grounds on which he relies, so, however, that it shall be sufficient for a respondent to an appeal …who wishes to rely on any ground which is the same as a ground relied on by the [employment tribunal] for making the [judgment,] decision[, declaration] or order appealed from to state that fact in his answer.’ For more information, see Practice Note: Responding to an appeal. Rule 6(5) of the EAT Rules provides that: ‘Where the respondent does not wish to resist an

When a company or an individual enters into a formal insolvency or enforcement process, restrictions may be imposed on the ability of creditors or prospective creditors to bring claims against that insolvent company or individual. This is distinct from the commercial considerations of whether it is worth (economically or otherwise) bringing, or continuing with, a claim against an insolvent opponent. In a compulsory liquidation (ie a liquidation commencing with a winding-up order), claims and actions against the company in liquidation or its property are limited by virtue of a statutory stay that takes effect under section 130 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986). The stay means

Claims brought under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA 1996) may be brought using either the Part 8 or the Part 7 procedure of the CPR. The Part 8 procedure is referred to as an ‘alternative’ procedure, and should be used where a party seeks a determination on a matter which is unlikely to involve a substantial dispute of fact (CPR 8.1(2)(a)). While CPR 64 governs claims relating to trusts (which would include a trust of land) and requires that Part 8 proceedings are brought in respect of such

It is commonly the case that an employment dispute will lead to a compromise, embodied in a settlement agreement. The right to bring an employment tribunal claim, eg for unfair dismissal, is a statutory right, and there are strict requirements relating to the contracting out of such right and other rights which must be complied with for the settlement

Money Claim Online can be used for claims for a specified sum of money of less than £100,000 (not including interest or costs) and the same rules apply in respect of costs as with any other claim issued under CPR Part 7. The fixed costs regime The claim will be subject to the fixed costs regime if no acknowledgement of service or defence is filed or if the claim is admitted by the defendant. In those circumstances, the claimant can request judgment via Money Claim Online by completing an online request form. Upon judgment being entered, the claimant’s legal representative is entitled to the fixed costs provided for under CPR 45.4 and set out in Table 2 of CPR 45, which for a claim in excess of £5,000 is between £30 and £70 depending on the

CPR Part 27.14 deals with costs on the small claims track and limits costs to fixed costs save where unreasonable behaviour by a party can be established. However, culminating in Chaplair v Kumari the court held that where a contractual right contained in a covenant of the lease providing an indemnity for those costs existed, the claim for costs is contractual; the recoverability of contractual costs follows from the contract and is not limited by CPR 27.14. As was made clear in cases such as Church Commissioners for England v Ibrahim), the contractual

Section 17 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (section 17 notice) allows a landlord by the service of a notice to recover rent and other sums due pursuant to the lease from former tenants and guarantors of the lease. The landlord must notify former tenants and guarantors of any default by the current tenant within six months of the default. The former tenant is entitled in such circumstances upon satisfying the debt to require the grant to them of an overriding