On 19 November 2012 the Ministry of Justice provided details of its proposed fees for portal costs from 1 April 2013. The consultation process ends on 4 January 2013.
The exsisting RTA portal is to be extended vertically to £25,000.00 and horizontally to capture all new Employers’ Liability and Public Liability claims up to £25,000.00.
Fees for Employers Liability and Public Liability are the same and are higher than for Road Traffic, and in all three portals fees rise if the claim is over £10,000.00.
Therefore:
Road Traffic
From £1,000.00 to £10,000.00
Stage 1 – £200.00
Stage 2 – £300.00
Total £500.00 (reduced from £1,200.00)
From £10,000.00 to £25,000.00
Stage 1 – £200.00
Stage 2 – £600.00
Total £800.00
Employers’ Liability and Public Liability
From £1,000.00 to £10,000.00
Stage 1 – £300.00
Stage 2 – £600.00
Total £900.00
From £10,000.00 to £25,000.00
Stage 1 – £300.00
Stage 2 – £1,300.00
Total £1,600.00
Stage 3 Hearings
In all cases, whatever the value of the claim, the Stage 3 fee is £250.00 for a paper hearing and £500.00 for an oral hearing.
VAT and Disbursements
All fees above are exclusive of VAT and recoverable disbursements.
Success Fees
Post 1 April 2013 a success fee is payable by one’s own client, capped at 25% of their damages.
Solicitor and own client costs
Note that these are fixed recoverable costs. Solicitors are entitled to charge the client costs over and above these rates. However, whether the market goes down that avenue is another matter alltogether.
The MOJ Consulation document can be downloaded here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/policy/moj/rta-pi-scheme.pdf
Source: MOJ website and www.kerryunderwood.com