Fixed costs

A small, set amount the rules allow a winning party to recover for specific items on the small claims track — set in advance by a table in the rules, rather than worked out case by case.

Does winning a small claim mean the loser pays my solicitor's fees?

Generally no. The usual rule on the small claims track is that each side pays its own costs regardless of who wins, aside from a short list of named exceptions. Ordinary solicitor's fees for running the case are not one of those exceptions, which is a large part of why small claims are designed to be manageable without a lawyer.

What exactly do fixed commencement costs cover?

They cover only the cost of instructing a solicitor to issue the claim — drafting and filing the claim form — not the cost of running the case afterwards. They are a modest, one-off contribution towards getting the claim started, set at a fixed amount regardless of how much work was actually done.

Can I recover an expert's fee on the small claims track?

Yes, within a cap. Where the court has given permission for expert evidence, a successful party can recover the expert's fee up to a set limit per expert under the practice direction to CPR Part 27. Figures are reviewed periodically, so check the current limit on gov.uk before relying on it.

Can I claim for my own time off work to attend the hearing?

Yes, within a daily cap, for each person who had to take time off to attend. This is a modest, fixed allowance rather than full compensation for lost earnings, and it is also reviewed periodically, so check the current figure before relying on it.

Why are fixed costs different from the general costs rules?

On tracks above the small claims track, costs are usually assessed — a judge or costs officer looks at what was reasonably and proportionately spent. Fixed costs remove that exercise for certain defined items: the amount recoverable is set in advance by a table in the rules, so there is nothing to argue about except whether the item applies at all.

What if the small claims track costs rule doesn't cover something I spent money on?

Then, as a general rule, you cannot recover it from the other side even if you win, and you are not usually at risk of paying the other side's equivalent costs if you lose. This cuts both ways — it caps your risk as well as your potential recovery, which is one of the small claims track's main protections for people running their own case.

The starting point: each side pays its own costs

Under CPR rule 27.14, the court generally may not order one party on the small claims track to pay another party's costs. This is the central protection of the small claims track — it is designed so that someone can bring or defend a claim worth up to £10,000 without facing a large legal bill from the other side if they lose, and without expecting to recover one if they win.

The rule then lists a short set of exceptions. Among them: court fees paid by the winning party, a successful party's witness travel and accommodation costs reasonably incurred attending the hearing, a daily allowance for a witness's loss of earnings, a capped expert's fee where the court gave permission for expert evidence, and — the one most often described as “fixed costs” in the strict sense — fixed commencement costs recoverable under CPR Part 45 where a party used a solicitor to issue the claim.

Fixed commencement costs under Part 45

Part 45 sets a short table of fixed amounts a claimant can add to a specified money claim where a solicitor was instructed to issue it, scaled to the value of the claim. The lowest band applies to the smallest claims and the figure rises in steps as the claim value increases, with a modest additional fixed sum for each extra defendant who has to be served. These are not an estimate of what the solicitor actually charged — they are a fixed table figure, the same for every claim in that band regardless of how much or how little work was involved in issuing it.

Because the figure is fixed rather than assessed, there is nothing to argue about once the claim value and the applicable band are known. This is the trade-off at the heart of fixed costs generally: predictability and speed, in exchange for the amount sometimes being more, and sometimes less, than the real cost of the work.

Capped is not the same as fixed

It is worth distinguishing fixed costs from capped costs, because the small claims track uses both and they work differently. A fixed cost is a single set figure for a defined item, taken from a table. A capped cost is a maximum ceiling on what can be claimed for something that still varies in practice — for example, the expert's fee allowance and the daily loss-of-earnings allowance under the Part 27 practice direction are caps, not fixed amounts: you recover what you actually, reasonably spent or lost, up to that ceiling, not the ceiling figure automatically.

A claimant brings a £3,200 small claim and instructs a solicitor to draft and issue the claim form, then represents herself for the rest of the case. She wins at the final hearing. A witness travelled to attend and lost a day's pay, and the claimant paid the court issue fee.

Fixed commencement costs (Part 45 band for this value)

Recoverable — fixed table amount

Witness's lost earnings

Recoverable up to the daily cap

Solicitor's fees for the rest of the case

The claimant recovers the court fee, the fixed Part 45 amount for using a solicitor to issue the claim, and the witness's capped loss-of-earnings allowance — but not the broader cost of any legal help beyond issuing the claim, because that falls outside the short list of recoverable items under rule 27.14.

Civil Procedure Rules, Part 45

Civil Procedure Rules, Part 27, rule 27.14

EX50 — civil and family court fees

Fixed Costs — Small Claims Glossary

What fixed costs are on the small claims track, how fixed commencement costs under CPR Part 45 work, and the difference between fixed and capped costs.