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Scotland — Sheriff Court Simple Procedure: claim < £300 has no expenses recovery

Under the Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (Limits on Award of Expenses) Order 2016 (SSI 2016/388, as amended), recoverable legal expenses in the Sheriff Court are capped: where the claim is £200 or less, NO expenses may be awarded (other than court fees); where the claim is over £200 but not over £1,500, expenses are capped at £150; where it is over £1,500 but not over £3,000, expenses cannot exceed 10% of the claim value. This is a powerful deterrent against private parking operators raising small-claim Sheriff Court actions in Scotland — the legal cost of running the action far exceeds any recoverable amount. Use this to call the operator's bluff: state in your Letter Before Action response that you will defend in Simple Procedure and that any expenses recovery is statutorily capped. Note the cap does not apply if you state a defence and then abandon it, or behave unreasonably (s.81(5) Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014). Many operators will fold rather than incur losses.

Legal basis

In the Sheriff Court's Simple Procedure, recoverable expenses are capped by the Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (Limits on Award of Expenses) Order 2016 (SSI 2016/388, as amended by SSI 2019/79): where the value of the claim is £200 or less, NO expenses may be awarded; where it is over £200 but not over £1,500, expenses are capped at £150; where it is over £1,500 but not over £3,000, expenses may not exceed 10% of the claim value. This makes small parking claims uneconomic to litigate. Caveat: under s.81(5) of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 the cap does NOT apply where the defender states no defence, states a defence then does not proceed with it, defends in bad faith, or behaves manifestly unreasonably — so a defended-then-abandoned case can expose the defender to expenses.

How to identify this in your case

Operator threatens court action for private parking charge in Scotland (typical claim £100-£170).

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear [OPERATOR / SOLICITOR], Re: Notice of Court Action If you raise proceedings in the Sheriff Court under Simple Procedure, please note: — For claims under £300, no expenses are recoverable on either side beyond the court fee (Sheriff Court Fees Order 2018); — For claims £300–£3,000, expenses are capped at £150 (Simple Procedure Rules 2016 r.13); — Your £170 claim therefore caps your expenses recovery at £150 even if successful — meaning your gross recovery is approximately £320 (claim + capped expenses) against legal cost of running the action. I will defend on the substantive grounds (POFA does not apply to Scotland; no contract; prescription if applicable) and seek my reasonable expenses within the cap. Even if I lose I will pay £170 + court fee + £150 capped expenses — well below the level at which any economic recovery accrues to you. I expect, on these economics, that you will withdraw rather than pursue. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

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Sources

Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (Limits on Award of Expenses) Order 2016 (SSI 2016/388, as amended by SSI 2019/79), arts 2–3
Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, s.81(5) (disapplication of the expenses cap)