A two second search on Google brought up this (from Money Saving Expert)
You shouldn't have the other party's lawyer's fees awarded against you - but you could find yourself paying certain expenses of theirs if you lose, and you won't get the court fees back. You'll have to pay within 14 days of the hearing, but you can ask for more time to pay the costs and anything else by instalments once the court has seen full details of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities. You could end up paying:
- £90/day For loss of earnings or leave to attend a hearing, plus reasonable travelling expenses for each of the other side and any necessary witnesses they take along to court.
- £750 If the judge gave them permission to get evidence from an expert, eg, having to get an expert to inspect a sofa for a fault.
If you want it straight from the horses mouth - give the court a call.
Unfortunately, the above information applies to cases allocated to the Small Claims Track. It appears that the letter from the court (probably the "Notice of Provisional Allocation") has indicated that the court believes this should be allocated to the Fast Track.
The Fast Track is the normal track for money claims of £10,000 - £25,000, and injury and housing disrepair claims from £1,000 to £25,000, however there are a host of reasons why cases normally allocated to the SCT can be allocated to the FT, the main one being complexity (Civil Procedure Rule 26.8). It may be that the court has decided that your case is too complex (or may require too many witnesses or too much evidence) to be dealt with in the SCT.
If this case is allocated to the Fast Track and you lose, the likelihood is that you
will have to pay your opponent's legal fees.
For this reason, if the case is allocated to the Fast Track, it is in your best interests to instruct solicitors to go on the court record and represent you. It is probably even worthwhile getting some advice from a solicitor now, before formal allocation takes place.
Your email is not clear, but from what you have said it appears that the Notice of Provisional Allocation has been issued by the court, which means that the case has not been allocated yet, and will not be allocated until you and your opponent complete your Directions Questionnaires (which the court should have sent to you).
In that form, you should indicate to which Track you believe the case should be allocated. In section D of that form, you are asked to indicate which Track you think is appropriate, if the proposed track is not the normal track for your case. If your case is below £10,000 in value, the proposed track is NOT the normal track for your case anyway, but either way, if the court has proposed the Fast Track, you will have to explain your reasons for having it allocated to the Small Claims Track.
It may be an error by the court. I have seen numerous cases where the court has proposed allocation to the wrong track, probably the most bizarre being the proposed allocation of a £300,000 case to the Small Claims Track. Such errors are not uncommon. You cannot however assume that it is an error, and you still must give your reasons.
If you genuinely cannot afford to instruct solicitors, and would like some help to continue to run the case yourself, let me know. If the case is to go to the Fast Track however, because of the costs implications, you really do need representation by a solicitor.
Dean
