Limitation period is key to every claim because if the claimant misses it, it may mean that he/she would not be able to bring a claim against the defendant at all. What happens if the claimant tries to issue a claim before the expiry of the limitation period but pays the wrong court issue fee leading to the claim not being issued and missing the deadline for the limitation period?
Siniakovich v Hassan-Soudey and Others [2026] EWCA Civ 215
Background
The Claimant brought a claim against the Defendants and tried to file the claim form (including the particulars of claim) via CE-File the day before the expiry of the limitation period. Two issues arose:-
- They paid a court issue fee of £10,000 when the fee should have been £10,626, including the fee for the injunction sought; and
- The relief sought in the claim form and the particulars of claim were different in that the former sought damages only whilst the latter also sought a final injunction.
After expiry of the limitation period, the court notified the Claimant that the filing had been rejected because of the wrong issue fee paid. The Claimant immediately paid the additional fee and applied for relief from sanction so the claim could have been backdated (to be treated as having been issued earlier).
Decisions
At first instance, the court considered the above issue no. 2 to be serious and significant but allowed the claim to be backdated to reflect the factual reality that the claim was brought within the limitation period. The Defendants appealed against this decision.
The Court of Appeal held that the ‘backdating order’ was made without jurisdiction, as case management powers cannot be used to backdate issue of a claim, deem actions brought on different dates or substitute limitation discretions and should be set aside. The claim was brought in time because failure to pay the correct issue fee did not mean that the claim was not brought for the purposes of limitation. For limitation purposes, a claim is brought (and time stops for the purposes of limitation) when the claim (set out in sufficient terms) has been delivered to the court office and a fee proffered/paid or a help-with-fees form lodged.
Comment
Although the court acknowledges the reality that it is easy for a party to pay the wrong court fee, it does not mean that the party has the free rein to deliberately underpay or buy him/herself time as part of the litigation tactics. Deliberately undervaluing a claim to avoid payment of the correct court fee may lead to the claim being struck out.
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Contact usIf this article relates to a specific case/cases, please note that the facts of this case/cases are correct at the time of writing.