Be Small Claims Wise guides › Costs in small claims: what you can recover

Costs in small claims: what you can recover

The small claims track is designed so that each side bears its own legal costs. This guide sets out exactly what a winning party can ask the loser to pay, what cannot be recovered, and when unreasonable behaviour changes the picture.

Checked against official sources on 30 September 2026. Court fees from 13 July 2026; enforcement agent fees from 1 May 2026.

The rule: CPR 27.14

Rule 27.14(2) says the court ‘may not order a party to pay a sum to another party in respect of that other party’s costs, fees and expenses, including those relating to an appeal, except’ the items listed. The list is:

• (a) the fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim, calculated in accordance with Table 2 in Practice Direction 45;
• (b) in a claim that included an injunction or specific performance, a sum for legal advice on that claim, capped by PD 27A at £260;
• (c) any court fees paid by the other party;
• (d) expenses a party or witness has reasonably incurred in travelling to and from a hearing, or staying away from home to attend one;
• (e) loss of earnings or loss of leave of a party or witness through attending a hearing, capped by PD 27A at £95 per day for each person;
• (f) an expert’s fees, capped by PD 27A at £750 for each expert;
• (g) such further costs as the court may assess by the summary procedure and order to be paid by a party who has behaved unreasonably; and
• (i) in an appeal, the cost of an approved transcript reasonably incurred.

The same limits apply to any fee charged by a lay representative (27.14(4)). The practical effect is that a winning claimant recovers their court fees and out-of-pocket hearing expenses, and a losing claimant is exposed to the same modest items and no more, unless someone has behaved unreasonably.

Court fees: always ask for them

Court fees are the largest recoverable item in most small claims and are recovered in full under 27.14(2)(c). That includes the issue fee (£35 to £455 for claims up to £10,000), the hearing fee (£27 to £346) and any application fee. Enforcement fees are added to the debt at the enforcement stage: the £96 warrant fee, the £139 fees for an attachment of earnings, third party debt or charging order application and the £69 fee for an order to obtain information are recoverable from the debtor as part of the sum enforced.

The claim form has a box for the court fee, and the request for judgment adds it automatically. At a hearing, ask the judge for the fees expressly and have the receipts. See court fees for the tables from 13 July 2026.

Fixed costs on issue: an unsettled point

Rule 27.14(2)(a) allows ‘the fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim’ under PD 45 Table 2:

Each additional defendant personally served at a separate address adds £15, and no such costs are allowed where the claim is for £25 or less. Table 2 sits in the section of Part 45 headed as costs allowed ‘in respect of a legal representative’s charges’, and the claim form labels the box as solicitor’s costs. No rule, practice direction or HMCTS guidance states whether an unrepresented claimant may claim the Table 2 sum. A represented claimant can; a litigant in person may enter it, but this guide does not promise the court will allow it. If the defendant pays the sum claimed plus the fixed commencement costs within 14 days of service, they are not liable for any further costs unless the court orders otherwise (CPR 45.18).

Hearing expenses: travel, loss of earnings and experts

Under 27.14(2)(d) and (e) each party and each witness who attends the hearing may recover reasonable travel and overnight costs and up to £95 a day for loss of earnings or leave. Keep tickets and a note of the mileage, and bring evidence of your daily earnings, since the judge assesses the figure summarily at the end of the hearing. If the claim is decided on paper under CPR 27.10 there is no hearing and these items do not arise.

Expert fees are recoverable only up to £750 per expert (27.14(2)(f)), and only where the court gave permission for expert evidence in the first place (CPR 27.5). An expert instructed without permission is a cost you bear yourself.

Unreasonable behaviour

Rule 27.14(2)(g) is the exception that matters. Where a party has behaved unreasonably, the court may summarily assess and order further costs against them, without the usual small claims cap. Three specific pointers appear in the rules and practice directions:

• Settlement offers. Part 36 does not apply to small claims (CPR 27.2(1)(g)), so the automatic costs consequences of a Part 36 offer are not available. But rule 27.14(3) says a party’s rejection of an offer in settlement ‘will not of itself constitute unreasonable behaviour’, while the court ‘may take it into consideration’ when applying the test. A written offer made before the hearing therefore still has a role.
• Mediation. Under the PD 51ZE pilot, rule 27.14(2A) allows a failure to attend the free HMCTS mediation appointment to be taken into account on unreasonable behaviour, and the court must consider sanctions at the final hearing. See mediation.
• Pre-action conduct. The Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct says a party’s silence in response to an invitation to use ADR, or a refusal to participate, might be considered unreasonable and could lead to an order for additional costs, and lists costs orders among the sanctions for non-compliance with pre-action steps. See letter before claim.

What you cannot recover

Because 27.14(2) is exhaustive, everything outside it falls on the party that spent it. In a typical debt claim that means:

• Your own time spent preparing the claim. The £24 an hour rate in PD 46 para 3.4 for a self-represented litigant belongs to CPR 46.5, which is not on the 27.14 list; it becomes relevant only if the court makes an unreasonable behaviour order under 27.14(2)(g) or the claim is reallocated to another track (27.15).
• A solicitor’s fees for advice, drafting or attending, beyond the fixed sums above.
• A tracing agent used to find the defendant’s address.
• A process server, beyond the fixed sums in PD 45 (for example £15 per person for personal service of a document other than the claim form, or £53.25 per person where the court ordered service by an alternative method).
• Debt collection agency commission. For a business-to-business debt the Late Payment Act fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100, and reasonable recovery costs above it, can be claimed as part of the debt; agency commission on a consumer debt cannot be added to what the debtor owes.
• Costs of complying with pre-action steps that were disproportionate (PD Pre-Action Conduct para 5).

Two enforcement items are also for your account if enforcement fails: a High Court Enforcement Officer will usually charge the creditor the £79 compliance fee plus VAT on an abortive writ, and the £82 writ fee is recovered only if the debtor pays. See bailiffs and High Court enforcement.

Working out whether it is worth it

Put together, the costs rules mean the outlay you can expect to recover from a solvent defendant is the court fees, a day’s lost earnings and travel; what you cannot recover is your time and any professional help. That is what makes the small claims track cheap to lose but also caps what you gain from winning. The interest and fee calculator adds the fees to your claim so you can see the total the judgment would be for, and is it worth suing? looks at the recovery risk. For a question about your own case, ask ClaimsBot.

Sources

• Civil Procedure Rules Part 27 – rule 27.14 (costs on the small claims track)
• Practice Direction 27A – paras 7.2 and 7.3 (costs limits)
• Practice Direction 45 – Tables of fixed costs (Table 2, Table 6)
• Civil Procedure Rules Part 45 – Fixed costs (rules 45.16 to 45.18)
• Practice Direction 46 – para 3.4 (litigant in person rate)
• Practice Direction 51ZE – Small Claims Track Automatic Referral to Mediation Pilot Scheme (rule 27.14(2A))
• Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols
• Civil court fees (EX50) – gov.uk