When bringing a civil claim in England and Wales, your case will be allocated to a ‘track’. It could be the small claims track, fast track, intermediate track or multi-track. Which track your claim is allocated to will depend on the case. Each track will have certain rules that need to be considered when managing your case.

Small Claims Track

  • The value of the claim is under £10,000.
  • Costs on the small claims track are limited.
  • Before you commence proceedings you need to ask whether the amount you may recover justifies the expense of taking action.

Fast Track

  • The value of the claim is between £10,000 – £25,000.
  • The trial is not expected to last more than 1 day (5 hours).
  • This is a fixed cost track, there is set costs the parties can reclaim from the other side if successful.
  • The court will give standard directions unless it considers that a CMC (Case Management Conference) is necessary.

Intermediate Track

  • The value of the claim is between £25,000 – £100,000.
  • This is a fixed cost track, there is set costs the parties can reclaim from the other side if successful.
  • The court will also assign it to a complexity band, which will be used to determine the allowable costs that can be recovered.
  • The court may give standard directions or fix a CMC (Case Management Conference).
  • The trial estimate does not exceed three days.

Multi Track

  • Multi Track claims tend to be more complex or high value, over £100,000.
  • Costs are to be subject to standard basis or indemnity basis costs as appropriate.
  • Multi-track claims can be heard in either the High Court or the County Court.

If you have any questions about issuing or defending a claim, please contact a member of our specialist Commercial Litigation team.