Ongoing court claim

[grumpygees]

So I have a current court claim against me from Lowell’s which a firm of Solicitors is helping me with. They have completed my defence etc but Lowell’s Solicitors are now looking at pursuing the matter through court. My Solicitors have replied back to Lowell’s Stating they cannot succeed at trial due to the documents they have sent won’t cover liability in court. Anyway my Solicitors next move is to apply to the courts to get the claim struck out which I am fine about but the cost of doing all this, £720 Solicitors costs, £255 application fee to strike out the claim, then advocacy fees on top are all adding up to be not that far off paying what was initially owed e.g £2200. The Solicitors are saying costs can probably be recovered which will go some way toward my Solicitors fees but they haven’t said how much this could be. Has anybody recovered costs following a strike out and if so can I ask how much was recovered or how much it is reasonable for my Solicitors to claim for? Thanks in advance. Also looking through this forum it appears I could have got to this stage without needing to engage with the Solicitors and saved a few quid in the process.

[pt2537]

So I have a current court claim against me from Lowell’s which a firm of Solicitors is helping me with. They have completed my defence etc but Lowell’s Solicitors are now looking at pursuing the matter through court. My Solicitors have replied back to Lowell’s Stating they cannot succeed at trial due to the documents they have sent won’t cover liability in court. Anyway my Solicitors next move is to apply to the courts to get the claim struck out which I am fine about but the cost of doing all this, £720 Solicitors costs, £255 application fee to strike out the claim, then advocacy fees on top are all adding up to be not that far off paying what was initially owed e.g £2200. The Solicitors are saying costs can probably be recovered which will go some way toward my Solicitors fees but they haven’t said how much this could be. Has anybody recovered costs following a strike out and if so can I ask how much was recovered or how much it is reasonable for my Solicitors to claim for? Thanks in advance. Also looking through this forum it appears I could have got to this stage without needing to engage with the Solicitors and saved a few quid in the process.

Costs are not automatic in the Small claims track. CPR 27.14(2)(g) gives the Court the power to make a costs order only if it finds the Claimants conduct unreasonable.

Spending £2k to defend £2k may be viewed by the Court as being disproportionate, and that may itself mean that the Court refuses to allow you to recover costs.

Each case turns on its own facts, i have successfully recovered costs time and time again, but there is no exact science in this type of case, there is no one size fits all approach