More than one million small claims begin in the county courts each year, and the CJC found about half of those issued between March 2018 and April 2021 were for £500 or less. The CJC has therefore asked the Civil Procedure Rule Committee to introduce a specific pre-action protocol for these low value claims and to allow for telephone or remote hearings where appropriate, to make the process more proportionate.
Mr Justice Cotter, chair of the CJC working party on small claims, said: ‘As the large majority of claims issued in the civil courts involve sums less than £10,000 the approach taken to the management and resolution of small claims is of critical importance.
‘We believe that the recommendations in this report could reform the litigation experience for litigants in person with modest financial claims.’ Read the report here.
