Small claims track meaning

The Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims Below the Small Claims Limit in Road Traffic Accidents (RTA Small Claims Protocol) is engaged for collisions taking place on or after 31 May 2021. For RTA personal injury matters, the small claims track cap for general damages—covering pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA)—now stands at £5,000, save for exceptions in CPR 26.10 and CPR 26.11. The protocol is intended for situations where a person has sustained injuries in a road traffic accident (including, though not confined to, whiplash) and wishes to pursue compensation, provided the sum claimed for the injury does not exceed £5,000 and the value of the case does not exceed £10,000. It operates for claimants pursuing personal injury compensation from RTAs within these injury and overall value limits. For additional guidance on using the RTA Small Claims Protocol, consult Practice Note: The road traffic accident small claims protocol...

This Flowchart Sets out the steps for the small claims mediation service (for matters moving on the small claims track) in line with CPR 26.6, CPR 26.7(3) and CPR 26.9...

NOTE : From 1 October 2023, the CPR broadened the reach of fixed recoverable costs. These revisions apply where: the cause of action arises on or after 1 October 2023 (usually the date of the accident), or for disease claims, no letter of claim was sent before 1 October 2023 For the version of CPR 45 that was in force before 1 October 2023, see: Can more than fixed costs be recovered? London weighting A 12.5% uplift applies to fixed costs if the claimant lives or works, and the instructed solicitor practises, within one of the London areas listed in CPR 45. Other circumstances For guidance on additional situations where more than fixed costs might be recoverable, see Practice Note: Fixed costs in employer liability and public liability claims. Children Where the claimant is a child, any settlement reached by the parties must be approved by the court. Specific fixed costs apply to infant approval hearings....

In this issue: Key DR developments Claims and remedies Costs and funding Cross-border disputes Injunctions Civil appeals New content Dates for your diary Useful information Daily and weekly news alerts Key DR developments CPR updates 174th Practice Direction update effective 5 November 2024: The Master of the Rolls and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice have authorised the 174th Practice Direction (PD) update to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). The changes take effect at 11am on 5 November 2024. This PD update amends CPR PD 51ZE (Small Claims Track Automatic Referral to Mediation Pilot Scheme) and CPR PD 51R (Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) Pilot Scheme), expanding the obligation to engage in integrated mediation in civil matters to money claims submitted via the OCMC service. For more information, see: LNB News 22/10/2024 127—174th Practice Direction update—in force 5 November 2024. Court guidance Damages Claims Pilot under CPR PD 51ZB—updated guidance:...

In this issue Key DR developments Claims and remedies Cross-border disputes Injunctions Litigation Evidence and disclosure New content Dates for your diary Useful information Daily and weekly news alerts Key DR developments Guidance HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has released refreshed guidance for the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) small claims track. It outlines how to pursue IP claims of £10,000 or less and sets out the applicable criteria and procedure. Updated sections cover pre-action requirements, service of documents, engagement of experts, assembling evidence and bundles, and attendance at hearings or appeals. For further detail, see: LNB News 13/08/2025 13—HMCTS publishes updated guidance on IPEC small claims track procedures. Online money claims HMCTS has revised the ‘Payment by Account for online services’ guidance, updating the contact details in the ‘Get help’ section relating to the Payment by Account facility for online court fees. For further detail, see: HMCTS Payment by...

In this issue: Copyright & associated rights Designs Anti-counterfeiting Patents Confidential Information General IP Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Copyright & associated rights Copyright and AI reform omitted from Data (Use and Access) Bill The Data (Use and Access) Bill concluded its passage through the House of Commons on 7 May 2025. The government declined amendments aimed at tackling artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright, which sought stronger safeguards for creatives whose works might be used to train AI models without consent. It explained that work in this space continues pending the outcome of its consultation on copyright and AI, which closed on 25 February 2025, and that attempting reform now would be premature and risk fragmented legislation. See: LNB News 08/05/2025 44... House of Lords pushes for AI and copyright transparency measures in Data (Use and Access) Bill The House of Lords reviewed the...

ARCHIVED This archived Practice Note is not maintained and is provided solely for background purposes. Please note that some links may no longer point to the provisions as they stood when this guidance was issued and originally published. For details of earlier and later amendments to the CPR, see: CPR updates—overview and Procedure Rule Committee minutes—overview. Agenda and minutes The draft agenda for the CPR Committee (CPRC) open meeting on 11 May 2018 is available here: The agreed minutes can also be found here: The meeting was presided over by Mr Justice Coulson, while Sir Terence Etherton delivered the opening remarks, expressly noting the breadth of the CPRC’s work and the considerable success of its open meetings (which have been held since June 2006). Membership (Agenda item 3) It was noted that: District Judge Lethem will continue to serve a further term on the CPRC a new barrister member will be appointed to replace Mr Johnathan Klein Ms Kate Wellington,...

Allocation of defended civil claims to case management tracks (before 1 October 2023) This Practice Note reviews how courts assign defended civil proceedings to a case management track—the small claims track, the fast track or the multi-track—where the claim was started before 1 October 2023. It outlines the principal factors the court takes into account when deciding on allocation (including any provisional allocation), identifies the contents and requirements of the court’s notice of proposed allocation (NPA), explains the possible penalties for any failure to comply with the NPA, and describes the situations in which a case might subsequently be moved to a different track. This Practice Note should be read alongside Practice Note: Case management—allocation—the different case management tracks, which explains what ‘allocation’ means and summarises the main characteristics of each track (small claims track, fast track and multi-track). Certain claims are allocated to a track automatically by virtue of the court in which they are proceeding, or by the CPR provision under which they are brought, and therefore...

This Practice Note considers directions questionnaires for civil claims that are issued on or after 1 October 2023 (except personal injury claims). It explains the timing and process for preparing, lodging and serving the directions questionnaire, as well as the repercussions if one is not filed. Directions questionnaires use Form N180 or N181, selected according to the case management track to which the claim is assigned. The rules governing directions questionnaires differ, contingent on whether the proceedings were issued before or after 1 October 2023. This Practice Note addresses directions questionnaires for civil claims brought on or after 1 October 2023. For guidance on directions questionnaires in civil claims begun before 1 October 2023, see Practice Note: Directions questionnaires—position before 1 October 2023. Do note, however, that for personal injury claims the applicable rules hinge on when the cause of action accrues, and for disease claims on when the first letter of claim has been sent. For such claims, the provisions described in this Practice Note apply solely and...

This template memorandum should be read and, if suitable, sent together with the relevant template letter to your client regarding disclosure: Draft letter to client about disclosure—small claims track Draft letter to client about disclosure Confidential and privileged [ insert date ] [ insert addressees: [ insert addressees: senior managers/relevant employees and former employees/IT managers ] ] [ [ insert case heading ] OR [ description of the case if pre-action ] ] [ [ We ] OR [ the company ] ] may encounter a legal dispute in relation to [ insert matter/transaction subject of dispute ]. If the dispute is not brought to a conclusion, it is probable that we will be required to disclose relevant documents, including electronic records, that are or have been within [ [ our ] OR [ the company’s ] ] control, whether or not they support our case. That said, some relevant documents are protected from inspection (that is, actually seen)...

Claim No. [ insert claim number ]. [ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS [ OF ENGLAND AND WALES OR IN [ insert location ] OR [ Specify division ] [ Specify specialist court ] [ Insert location ] DISTRICT REGISTRY THE COUNTY COURT AT [ insert location ] [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS LIST before [ The Honourable Mr Justice OR The Honourable Mrs Justice OR His Honour Judge OR Her Honour Judge OR Master OR District Judge ] [ insert name ] dated: [ insert date ] between: [ insert name ] Claimant and [ insert name ] Defendant ] _______________________________________ [ Draft ] _______________________________________ Standard directions The court directs: Each party must supply to every other party, and to the court office, copies of all documents on which they propose to rely at the hearing, by no later than [ [ insert time and calendar date ] OR 14 days before the hearing ] ......

Private & confidential [ Insert name and address of client ] [ insert date ] Dear [ insert name of contact at the client ] Thank you for instructing us in this matter. [ This letter encloses our retainer OR Our retainer will be sent under separate cover ]. [ I write to confirm our conversation [ on [ date ] ] regarding disclosure. ] Your [ [ claim OR case ] ] [ [ has been OR is expected to be ] ] placed on the small claims track. Upon allocation, the court [ has issued OR will issue ] standard case management directions setting out the procedural steps required to bring this matter to a final hearing. One such direction is that you must provide copies of all documents on which you intend to rely at the final hearing. This step is known as disclosure. You must also produce the originals of those copies at the final hearing. Your opponent will receive the same standard...