Small Claims Court Fee

confusicus

Hi there,

I'm about to lodge a case in the small claims court, and it is asking me to state the amount I am claiming for.

Can I include the €25 fee with the claim, or is that non persuable?

Thanks

GM228

No, you can't claim for costs associated with your claim.

confusicus

Thanks, GM228

Thoie

Torn between starting a new thread vs dragging up an old one. Hopefully this is the lesser evil.

The Citizen's Information site says

Bear in mind that you can normally only claim the amount for which you are directly out of pocket, in other words, the amount you paid for the faulty goods and/or any cost involved in having them repaired.

Let's say you're claiming over goods worth €100. I'm surprised you can't add on the €25, as you're directly out of pocket on that. If the person/company had done what they're supposed to do, you wouldn't have had to spend the extra €25. bringing it to the SCC surely? If your case has no merit, then it would (I assume) be thrown out, and you've thrown the extra €25 away, but if you win, does that not show that you were owed the €100, so you should get €125?

L1011

The legislation behind the procedure explicitly disallows claiming it as far as I know

This does not apply for cross-border European Small Claims where you can claim it.

You are also not compensated for your time or other costs in any way which means you really need to be claiming for three figures for it to be worth the effort.

Peregrinus

Thoie wrote: »

Torn between starting a new thread vs dragging up an old one. Hopefully this is the lesser evil.

The Citizen's Information site says

Let's say you're claiming over goods worth €100. I'm surprised you can't add on the €25, as you're directly out of pocket on that. If the person/company had done what they're supposed to do, you wouldn't have had to spend the extra €25. bringing it to the SCC surely? If your case has no merit, then it would (I assume) be thrown out, and you've thrown the extra €25 away, but if you win, does that not show that you were owed the €100, so you should get €125?

Even if you were suing in the regular courts, not the small claims court, you couldn't add the court fees to your claim. Instead, you'd look for an order for costs when you win the claim, which would cover not just the court fees but other costs associated with bringing the claim.

The small claims procedure is designed to be accessible, quick and simplified. One of the simplifications is that they don't make costs orders, which means you just have to swallow the €25 fee. They reckon most people will be happy to pay that in order to have an accessible, quick and simplified process for which they don't need to retain a lawyer. And, on the bright side, should you lose the claim, you're not at risk of having to pay the loser's court fees, which means the downside risk of bringing the claim in the first place is lower.