Changes to the County Court Scale Costs and Fatal Accident Award in Northern Ireland

County Court Scale

Following a lengthy consultation to review solicitor and counsel scale fees in the County Court in Northern Ireland, an amended scale costs will come into effect on 26^th November 2025. The new provisions are outlined in the County Court (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2025, which can be accessed via this link: The County Court (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2025

Key Changes

The most notable changes from the 2017 Statutory Scale are:-

• Solicitor scale fees have been increased by approximately 23% across all claim value bands (e.g. a £10,000 claim now attracts £3,029 in solicitor fees, up from £2,463);
• Counsel scale fees will rise by around 23% (e.g. counsel’s fee for a £10,000 claim will increase from £579 to £712);
• Default judgment fees (where no defence is entered) will increase by approximately 23% (e.g. for a £5,000 claim, fees will go up to £242 from £197);
• Travel expense allowances for court attendance will increase by 32% (e.g. for over 50 miles travelled the allowance will increase from £46 to £61);
• Fees for drafting Replies to Particulars and Interrogatories will increase by 22–24% (e.g. the Interrogatories drafting fee will rise from £72 to £89);
• A new £75 fee will be introduced for necessary affidavits not otherwise covered by existing provisions;
• Increased witness attendance payments will be introduced (e.g. police officer: up from £13.55 to £17.00 and other witnesses: up from £19.09 to £23.00);
• The postal service fee for civil bills will be uplifted to £4.00 from £2.93; and
• A formal three-year review cycle for scale costs will be introduced to ensure that future adjustments in the Statutory Scale keep pace with inflation.

Impact

The new scale costs will lead to an increase in the overall cost of litigating County Court claims, with the increase based on inflationary pressures within the economy since 2017.

The introduction of a formal 3-year review cycle provides certainty that solicitor and counsel fees will be reviewed at set intervals to assess whether they remain in line with the rate of inflation. Whilst this should guarantee future increases, these will potentially not be as considerable as the 23% uplift we will encounter with the introduction of the 2025 scale, which brings about the first increase in legal fees since 2017.

Fatal Accidents Award

The Department of Justice has also announced an increase in the amount of the statutory bereavement damages payment, which can be awarded pursuant to Article 3A (3) of the Fatal Accidents (Northern Ireland) Order 1977.

This is a payment made to a husband, wife or civil partner of a deceased or parents of a deceased minor child, where the death was caused by negligence. The award which was previously set at £17,200 will be increased to £19,700 under The Damages for Bereavement (Variation of Sum) Order (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025, No. 173) which will come into operation on 1^st December 2025.

If you have any queries, please contact Enya McKenna or a member from our Defence Insurance Litigation team.

*This information is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute, nor should be regarded as, a substitute for taking legal advice that is tailored to your circumstances.