Cost of Responding to a County Court Claim: What Defendants Actually Pay

You have just been served with a county court money claim. Before you do anything else, you want to know: how much is this going to cost me to deal with? The answer depends on whether you respond yourself or hire a solicitor, and on what happens after your defence goes in.

Filing a defence costs nothing

The act of responding to a county court claim is free. There is no court fee for filing an acknowledgment of service, a defence on Form N9B, or an admission on Form N9A. The court fee system under the EX50 schedule is built around the claimant, who pays issue fees and hearing fees. As the defendant, you do not pay a penny to the court just for defending the claim.

This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the process. People assume that because filing a claim costs money, responding must too. It does not.

Where defendant court fees do arise

Defendants pay court fees in two specific situations:

Filing a counterclaim. If you believe the claimant owes you money, you can file a counterclaim alongside your defence using Form N9B. The court charges a counterclaim issue fee based on your claim value — the same scale the claimant paid. For a £2,000 counterclaim, that is £115. For £5,000 it is £205.

Making an application. If you need to ask the court for something specific — setting aside a default judgment, for example — you file Form N244 and pay the application fee: £126 if the other side agrees or you apply without giving them notice, or £321 for a contested application. Setting aside a default judgment is the most common defendant application.

If you are on a low income or receiving certain benefits, you may qualify for fee remission through the Help with Fees scheme (Form EX160). Universal Credit recipients with gross annual earnings under £6,000 may qualify for full remission if their savings are below the applicable limit: £4,250 when the applicant and partner are 65 or younger and the fee is £1,420 or less, or £16,000 if the applicant or partner is 66 or older.

Solicitor fees: the real cost question

Most of the expense of defending a county court claim is not court fees — it is professional help. A solicitor reviewing your papers, drafting a defence, and attending a hearing can easily charge £1,500 to £3,000 for a small claims track case, and substantially more on the fast track.

Here is the problem: on the small claims track (claims up to £10,000), you almost certainly cannot recover those costs even if you win outright.

CPR 27.14 imposes a strict costs regime. The court generally cannot order the losing claimant to reimburse your solicitor's fees for advice, preparation, or representation. That prohibition is the defining feature of the small claims track — it exists precisely so that neither side faces a costs risk that deters them from using the court.

What you can recover if you win on the small claims track is limited to:

• Court fees you paid (counterclaim fee, any application fees)
• Witness travel expenses (reasonable public transport or mileage)
• Witness loss of earnings (capped at £95 per person per day)
• Expert report fees (up to £750, only if the court gave prior permission)

Those are the ordinary recoverable costs for a money-claim defence. The court may also allow fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim under CPR 27.14(2)(a). Your solicitor's ordinary fees for advice, preparation, and representation are generally your own cost; the unreasonable-conduct exception appears below.

When solicitor fees become recoverable

On the fast track (£10,001 to £25,000) and intermediate track (£25,001 to £100,000), the winning party can recover legal costs from the losing side — subject to fixed recoverable costs schedules. On the multi-track (over £100,000), full costs budgeting applies and the successful party typically recovers a substantial share of their legal spend.

The court may also award broader costs — including solicitor fees — under CPR 27.14(2)(g) if the other party has behaved unreasonably. The threshold is high. Unreasonable behaviour means something like fabricating evidence, refusing mandatory mediation without any reason, or making dishonest statements. Running a weak claim that simply fails is not enough. You should never budget for this exception.

The practical cost of defending yourself

For the majority of small claims track cases, defending yourself is the financially rational choice. Your actual out-of-pocket costs as a self-representing defendant:

• £0 to file your defence or acknowledgment of service
• £0 to £321 if you need to make a court application (with fee remission available)
• £35 to £455 to issue a counterclaim worth up to £10,000, plus a hearing fee of £27 to £346 if the case continues on the counterclaim alone
• Travel costs to attend the hearing or mediation
• Your time — not a court-recognised cost, but real nonetheless

A structured procedural guide can walk you through every form and every deadline for a fraction of what a solicitor charges. The County Court Money Claim Response Guide covers the full defence process — from reading your claim papers to attending the hearing — so you know exactly what to do at each step without paying for professional hand-holding on a process that the small claims track was designed for self-representation.

What if I lose?

If the claimant wins, the court enters a County Court Judgment (CCJ) for the amount claimed plus court fees and any statutory interest. The claimant generally cannot recover ordinary solicitor's fees for advice, preparation, or representation on the small claims track, but fixed commencement costs stated on the claim form may still be payable under CPR 27.14(2)(a). The CCJ itself goes on the Register of Judgments for six years, which affects your credit file — but if you pay the full amount within one month of the judgment date, you can apply for a Certificate of Cancellation (Form N443, £19 fee) and the entry is erased completely.

The financial risk of defending is not that you will face a large costs order. It is that the CCJ stays on your record if you lose and do not pay promptly.

Should you pay a solicitor?

Consider professional help when the claim is on the fast track or above (over £10,000), where costs recovery makes professional representation financially viable. On the small claims track, a solicitor adds cost you cannot recover — so your decision should weigh whether the complexity of the dispute genuinely exceeds what you can handle with a step-by-step procedural guide and the court's own forms.

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