Small Claims Costs Checker

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 21 October 2026

What CPR 27.14 lets a party recover on the small claims track, item by item with the £95, £750 and £260 caps, and whether a claim, including a housing disrepair or personal injury claim, is normally a small claim. From DMD Costs, law costs draftsmen in Westhoughton, Bolton.

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The checker applies CPR 26.9 to 26.13, 27.14 and 27.15 and Practice Direction 27A paras 7.2 and 7.3 as they stood on 21 October 2026. Allocation and any further costs are for the court. It is a guide, not legal advice.

Key points

DMD Costs’ small claims costs checker is a free online tool that shows what costs CPR 27.14 lets a party recover on the small claims track, item by item with the rule, and whether a claim normally goes to that track.
It is completely free, with no sign-up, and runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to DMD Costs.
Recoverable costs are a closed list: the fixed issue costs, court fees, reasonable travel, lost earnings or leave of up to £95 a day for each person, experts’ fees of up to £750 each, up to £260 for legal advice on a claim for an injunction or specific performance, the low value personal injury protocol Stage 1 and 2 fixed costs in defined cases, and on an appeal an approved transcript (CPR 27.14(2); PD 27A paras 7.2 and 7.3).
Anything more, such as the rest of a solicitor’s fees, needs a finding that a party behaved unreasonably (CPR 27.14(2)(g)); rejecting an offer is not of itself unreasonable, and Part 36 does not apply.
A tenant’s claim for an order for repairs is normally a small claim only if the repairs are estimated at £1,000 or less and any other damages are £1,000 or less (CPR 26.9(1)(b)).

How to use the small claims costs checker

Describe the claim. Choose the kind of claim and enter its value, for the normal track.
Say who claims costs. The claimant or the defendant, and whether the claimant has a solicitor, for the fixed issue costs.
Enter what was spent. Court fees, travel, lost earnings for each person and day, experts’ fees and any legal advice on an injunction claim.
Read the result. See the normal track and each recoverable item, capped where the rules cap it, with the rule for each.

What can be recovered

Item	Limit	Rule
Fixed costs of issuing the claim	PD 45 Table 2 (£50 to £110)	CPR 27.14(2)(a)
Legal advice, injunction or specific performance claims	£260	CPR 27.14(2)(b); PD 27A para 7.2
Court fees paid	As paid	CPR 27.14(2)(c)
Travel and overnight expenses for a hearing	Reasonably incurred	CPR 27.14(2)(d)
Lost earnings or leave, parties and witnesses	£95 a day, each person	CPR 27.14(2)(e); PD 27A para 7.3(1)
Experts’ fees	£750 each expert	CPR 27.14(2)(f); PD 27A para 7.3(2)
Further costs for unreasonable behaviour	Assessed by the court	CPR 27.14(2)(g)
Low value PI protocol Stage 1 and 2 fixed costs, in defined cases	PD 45 Tables 10 and 11 (not worked out here)	CPR 27.14(2)(h)
Approved transcript, on an appeal	Reasonably incurred	CPR 27.14(2)(i)

The same limits apply to a lay representative’s fees (CPR 27.14(4)) and to an appeal, even in the Court of Appeal. Road traffic claims under the Small Claims Protocol follow Practice Direction 27B, which fixes some sums, such as the medical report.

Housing disrepair on the small claims track

A tenant’s claim for an order for repairs is normally a small claim only if the repairs are estimated at £1,000 or less and any other damages claimed are £1,000 or less (CPR 26.9(1)(b)). Above either figure it normally goes to the fast track, or to a higher track if larger or more complex, and because fixed recoverable costs do not apply to disrepair claims (CPR 45.1(4)), costs are assessed. A tenant’s claim for harassment or unlawful eviction is never a small claim (CPR 26.12(2)). Where the claim includes an order for repairs (specific performance of the landlord’s repairing covenant, section 17 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985), the court may order up to £260 for legal advice (CPR 27.14(2)(b)).

The fixed issue costs in full: the fixed costs lookup
A party acting in person: the litigant in person costs calculator
Court fees: the civil court fees calculator
Every free tool in one place: costs help for solicitors

Sources

CPR Part 27 (rules 27.2, 27.14 and 27.15) and Practice Direction 27A (paras 7.2 and 7.3)
CPR Part 26 (rules 26.9 to 26.13)
CPR Part 45 (rules 45.1(4), 45.16, 45.17; PD 45 Table 2)
Dammermann v Lanyon Bowdler LLP [2017] EWCA Civ 269

Frequently asked questions

Only the items in CPR 27.14(2): the fixed costs of issuing the claim, court fees paid, reasonable travel and overnight expenses for a hearing, lost earnings or leave of up to £95 a day for each person, experts’ fees of up to £750 for each expert, up to £260 for legal advice on a claim for an injunction or specific performance, the Stage 1 and 2 fixed costs of the low value personal injury protocols (RTA or employers’ and public liability) where the claimant reasonably valued the claim above the small claims limit and the defendant admitted liability but did not pay them (CPR 27.14(2)(h)), an approved transcript on an appeal, and further costs for unreasonable behaviour.

Not generally. Beyond the fixed issue costs and, in an injunction or specific performance claim, up to £260 for legal advice, a solicitor’s fees are recoverable only if the court finds a party behaved unreasonably and orders further costs, assessed summarily (CPR 27.14(2)(g)).

Conduct that permits of no reasonable explanation, the test the Court of Appeal applied in Dammermann v Lanyon Bowdler LLP [2017] EWCA Civ 269. Rejecting an offer to settle is not of itself unreasonable, though the court may take it into account (CPR 27.14(3)). In the mediation pilot (PD 51ZE: specified money claims issued from 22 May 2024, not personal injury), failing to attend mediation may count (CPR 27.14(2A) as modified).

Where the tenant seeks an order for repairs, only if the repairs are estimated at £1,000 or less and any other damages claimed are £1,000 or less (CPR 26.9(1)(b)). Otherwise it is not a small claim: it normally goes to the fast track, or to a higher track if larger or more complex, where costs are assessed because fixed recoverable costs do not apply to disrepair claims (CPR 45.1(4)).

The claim must be worth no more than £10,000, and the damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity no more than £1,500, or £5,000 for most road traffic claims from 31 May 2021, or £1,000 for road traffic claims in the CPR 26.10 groups, and for other injury claims where both the cause of action and the date of knowledge are before 6 April 2022 (CPR 26.9; SI 2022/101 r.2). A child’s or protected party’s road traffic whiplash claim never goes to the small claims track (CPR 26.11).

No. Part 36 does not apply to claims allocated to the small claims track (CPR 27.2(1)(g)).

For claims issued on or after 1 October 2023 (and, in a personal injury claim, where the cause of action accrued on or after that date, or in a disease claim no letter of claim was sent before it), a claim moved off the small claims track gets the new track’s costs as if it had been allocated there from the outset; one moved down from the multi-track is subject to the small claims rules for the whole claim, unless a court order, rule or practice direction provides otherwise (CPR 27.15). For older claims the small claims rules apply up to re-allocation. Costs orders made before allocation are not affected (CPR 46.13(1)).

Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up, no paywall and no limit. It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to DMD Costs.

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