15/03/2013

The Small Claims Court assists people in claiming without the need for solicitors, which in some cases can be expensive.

In a Small Claims Personal Injury case, the court will not order the losing party to pay solicitors’ costs, which means if you do instruct a solicitor you will have to pay the costs yourself. For this reason most claimants represent themselves in a Small Claims case.

What has changed?

The limit for Personal Injury claims was, until recently, set at £1,000.

However, earlier this year following a consultation, the government decided to increase the Personal Injury limit from £1,000 to £5,000. Justice secretary Chris Grayling has even said that an increase in the personal injury small claims limit to over £5,000 is likely to be implemented in the near future.

These changes are intended to bring more balance to the systems and allow insurers to pass on savings (from not paying for legal representation) to their customers.

What will this mean to you?

If you (or one of your employees) seek the assistance of an independent Personal Injury Lawyer for a case lower than £5,000 you won’t be able to obtain the cost of that representation from your opponents. The alternative is to represent yourself, or pay for the lawyer’s services out of your own pocket.