Thread: can't figure out how to apply for court fee exemption using MCOL

I'm just in the middle of filing my claim, and I'm doing it online (I have chosen to do it this way as my situation is slightly complicated; my branch of HSBC is in England but I have recently moved to Scotland, but would prefer to claim under the English system as I can't get to my local sheriff court easily to file my claim there, so I'm using a friend's address down south and claiming via MCOL).

All goes fine up until the point where I have to pay the court fee. There is nothing on the MCOL website to state that you want to apply for exemption from court fees. I claim Incapacity Benefit and as it is my only income, I would like to at least try to claim exemption, even though I know it isn't on the list of benefits that automatically guarantees exemption, the fact is I can't afford to pay the £80 court fee.

A quick look around the BAG site gives me a link to a PDF form to fill in to apply for fee exemption, but apparently this has to be sent or handed in to the court which is handling the claim. As I've chosen to do it online, I wouldn't know where to send this form if I was to fill it in.

Is it actually possible to claim exemption from the fees if you are using the MCOL system, or will I have to bite the bullet and claim using another method? It really is easiest for me to use MCOL by a long way as my health doesn't really permit me to go out to the court to file my claim, and I don't have my own transport to get there anyway and no public transport goes anywhere near the nearest court from the small town in the middle of nowhere where I live(!)

So problem after problem is presenting itself here and I'm wondering if anyone is in a similar position or knows a way around it? I can't even find a contact telephone number or email address for MCOL and don't know how to get in touch with the people who run the site to ask them.

Any help would be hugely appreciated!

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2 things really. It is true that on certain benefits, etc, you can get exemption, but as tunecokie says, you can't do this online, and will have to do it the old-fashioned way. No biggie, and the courts are usually helpful (although one detects a hint of tiredness these days, one wonders why? ).

But one thing that galls me is that, unfortunately, being exempt mean that we are unwittingly helping the banks' abuse of the court system. Let me explain:

If you can pay for your fee, on settlement, you will get the bank to pay that back to you. But if you were exempt, then you can't ask them to repay what you didn't pay for in the first place, right? And who pays for the exemption? Broadly speaking, all of us taxpayers.

~Unfortunately, not a lot we can do. Most of the people here can't save the money to pay for the fee, and therefore, must use the exemption system, allowing the banks to get away with this. So this multi-billion corporation therefore benefits from a system that was meant to help the poorer element of the population. Twisted or what.

So, and I know it's easy for me to say, as I am now in a better position than I have been in the past, I prefer to wait until I can afford to pay the court fee myself, although I would be exempt, rather then let them get away with one penny of the taxpayer's money. I am well aware that a lot of people do not have that luxury, and it really annoys me that the banks can exploit this.

Hi guys

Thanks for the quick replies. Bookworm - I hadn't thought of it that way, and you're right it is very galling. I think, rather than go via the traditional method (which would be incredibly difficult for me anyway owing to my health) I may just wait a while longer until I can save up the money to pay the court fee myself, or borrow it from a family member or something. Seems like that would be easier all round, although it would mean delaying my claim a bit.

The only thing about that is, I do worry at the back of my mind that I may not win the case and therefore not get the money back, and it's an amount I can't afford to lose (it's more than I get in benefits in a week) - even though when I'm thinking logically I know that nobody has lost their case yet (at least, I don't think they have?) and it's 99.99% certain they'll pay up, but there is always that little niggling 0.01% that thinks I'm kissing goodbye to the best part of £100 for good. Eek!

Thanks again, this has been very helpful and I know what I'm going to do now.