Help with Fees: how to avoid a court fee, or get one you have already paid back

A court or tribunal fee in England and Wales is not fixed in stone: the state will take some or all of it off if your savings are low and your income is modest. The scheme is called Help with Fees, and you can apply before you pay or within three months after. Here are the savings and income thresholds, where the form lives, and what to do when there is more than one fee.

Who can get money off a court fee?

Eligibility turns on three things at once: how much you have in savings, which benefits you get, and your income. The rules here are for England and Wales — Scotland and Northern Ireland do it differently.

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You can apply before or after paying. You can get money back if both of these are true: you paid the fee in the last three months, and you were already eligible when you paid it.

How much can you have in savings?

The ceiling depends on your age and on the size of the fee. If you and your partner are 65 or younger, you must have less than the maximum for your fee: up to £4,250 in savings if the fee is £1,420 or less, up to £16,000 if the fee is over £7,000. GOV.UK notes that most court and tribunal fees are under £1,420, so in practice the £4,250 line is the one most people meet.

If you or your partner are 66 or older, the limit is £16,000 whatever the fee.

A partner's savings count alongside yours.

Which benefits qualify?

Five of them: income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit where you earn less than £6,000 a year, and Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit).

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Being on a benefit does not remove the savings test. You must still have less than the maximum, usually £4,250.

What counts as a low enough income?

Income means everything you earn before tax plus any other payments you receive. When you apply you report one of two figures: your income in the last calendar month — apply in January, report December — or your average income over the last three calendar months. Report whichever is lower.

The thresholds are £1,420 or less if you are single and £2,130 or less if you have a partner. Each child raises the figure: by £425 for a child aged 0 to 13 and by £710 for a child aged 14 or over. GOV.UK's own example: a partner and two children aged 7 and 5 lifts the threshold to £2,980.

Earning more does not automatically end it. You may still get some money off, depending on the size of the fee — and the savings test still applies.

How do you apply?

Online, as part of making your court application through the service on GOV.UK. By post, using form EX160, downloaded from the site or picked up as a paper copy from your nearest court.

The timing rule matters: submit the help with fees application at the same time as the court application, and send both to the address on the court application. If you are claiming back a fee you have already paid, send the application to the court or tribunal you paid it to.

One more thing to plan for: if you have more than one fee, you must apply separately for each. A single form will not cover them all.

Are there exceptions?

One notable one. For Court of Protection fees — the court that makes decisions for people who cannot make their own — the standard service does not work. Fill in form COP44A instead and submit it with your court application.

Where do you get help filling it in?

From the court or tribunal office you are applying to. Which office that is depends on the case: for a divorce, for example, you contact the Court and Tribunal Service Centre to ask about help paying for the application. GOV.UK has a finder that points you to the right court or tribunal office for your case.

The guidance is also published in Welsh, and GOV.UK runs separate detailed notes on the two points people get wrong most often: how to check the savings limit that applies to you, and how to work out your income.