GB · Small Claims Track
Small Claims Track
In England and Wales the small claims track is the normal track for a claim of not more than £10,000, the hearing is informal, and under CPR 27.14 you cannot recover solicitor or counsel fees even if you win.
What the rules actually say
- Which track, and the limit
- The small claims track is the normal track for a claim with a value of not more than £10,000; the fast track runs to £25,000 and the multi-track above that.
- Personal injury claims have their own lower thresholds for the damages element, so a PI claim is not allocated on the headline figure alone.
- StatuteCPR 26.9
- What you can recover if you win
- Fixed costs of issuing the claim, the court fees paid, travel and accommodation for the hearing, a limited sum for loss of earnings or leave, and an expert’s fee up to the amount in Practice Direction 27A.
- StatuteCPR 27.14
- What you cannot recover
- Solicitor and counsel fees. They are outside the small-claims costs regime even for the successful party.
- The court can order more where a party has behaved unreasonably, but that is an exception rather than the route to a costs order.
- StatuteCPR 27.14
- You may still be represented
- Representation is permitted, and lay representatives may act under section 11 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.
- This is the opposite of the Malaysian and Singaporean rule, where counsel is barred from the equivalent forum. Here it is allowed but uneconomic.
- StatuteCPR 27.9
- How formal the hearing is
- The strict rules of evidence do not apply, the court need not take evidence on oath, and the judge may limit cross-examination.
- StatuteCPR 27.8
- Deciding without attending
- A party may ask the court to decide the claim in their absence, on written notice given at least seven days before the hearing.
- StatuteCPR 27.9
What we could not establish
- The court fee for a given claim. It scales with the amount claimed and is revised from time to time; GOV.UK publishes the current table, and quoting a figure here that later moves would be worse than linking to it.
- Scotland and Northern Ireland. Both have their own civil procedure and neither is covered by anything on this page.
Procedural information, verified 2026-08-16 against the sources cited above. It is not legal advice, and it does not account for the facts of your case. Where two official sources disagree we show both rather than choose for you.
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