Rule 11: The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal)(Property Chamber) Rules 2013/1169: Fees: non-payment

(1)   In any case where a fee is payable under an order made under section 42 of the 2007 Act (fees), the Tribunal must not proceed further with the case until the fee is paid.

(2)   Where a fee remains unpaid for a period of 14 days after the date on which the fee is payable, the case, if not already started, must not be started.

(3)   Where the case has started, it shall be deemed to be withdrawn 14 days after the date on which the Tribunal sends or delivers to the party liable to make payment a written notification that the fee has not been paid.

Sadly, very little in life is given away.

Section 42

Section 42 of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 permits the Lord Chancellor to prescribe fees in respect of anything dealt with by the First-tier Tribunal.

Deemed withdrawal

Of Rule 11’s three subrules, (3) has the potential to do most damage: it would be demoralising, to put it mildly, to see an application disappear like Scotch mist because of a failure to act on a notification from the Tribunal that the hearing fee had not been paid.

It is worth noting that, by comparison with old rule 7, the new deemed withdrawal process in cases where proceedings are under way has two stages:

• The Tribunal will now write to notify a party that a fee has not been paid, and
• The time limit for payment of fees on receipt of that notification is 14 days.

Under old rule 7, no notification of failure to pay was given, but a month’s grace was allowed before deemed withdrawal.

 The Fees Order

The amount of the fee which is payable at the outset of an application will, from 01 July 2013, be found in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Fees Order 2013/1179 (the “Fees Order”).

The body of the Order contains regulations relating to fees in lead cases, proceedings transferred from court, split hearings and apportionment of fees.

Schedule 1 lists the fee payable on the commencement of proceedings. The fees are subtly grouped according to the nature of the application. Each grouping is described as a “fee”.

Fee 4 applies to applications in respect of a service charge, insurance premium or administration charge.

Fee 5 is also relevant, governing as it does the fees payable for applications in respect of a consultation, insurance, appointment of a manager and variation of a lease.

Both Fees 4 and 5 require payment of a hearing fee of £190 by the applicant within fourteen days of receipt of notice of the hearing date.

Remission

What is a remission? It is not a groovy new definition for reinstatement after deemed withdrawal. It is effectively a waiver of the fee, as paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 2 to the Fees Order explains.

Schedule 2 of the Fees Order provides for the remission of fees in certain specified cases, and for the reduction of fees if the application is made by more than one person, and one or more of those people would be entitled to a remission.

An application for a fee remission must be made “to the Lord Chancellor” at the time when the fee would normally be payable. This is not only required by paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the Fees Order, but will save the delays and possible deemed withdrawal of the application under subrules (2) and (3) above.