Claiming costs

[Pinkballoon]

How do I go about claiming my litigant-in-person costs for a case wrongly brought against me by a company (via their solicitors), which they then withdrew from hours before the court case? Which court forms do I complete / what do I need to attach/ how much does it cost? Are there any timescales involved?

I have written to them setting out my costs, but they have regularly ignored my letters. On one occasion they sent me a WP letter offering roughly a quarter of my costs.

Thank you for your help!

So it was down for a court hearing. They "withdrew". You cannot just withdraw a case. You can only withdraw if you (pink) agree to it. Normally that person only agrees it the other side agrees in writing to pay reasonable claimable costs (sadly the court system only lets you recover things like travel costs to court though not your time. If you had a lawyer it would include their bills of course). If they withdraw and have not agreed terms with you before the hearing date then you turn up on the hearing date and ask for your costs from the judge. Presumably you did not know that and so that is too late.

Did they send you a consent order before the hearing for both sides to sign to go to the court saying it was settled? That is usual practice. if so that order normally has a sentence about costs in which people argue over - who pays what etc as part of the negotiated settlement.

Which track were you on? ie, small claims, multi track etc,as that will have a bearing on what costs can be claimed.

Thanks for your replies. No idea which track it was on. They initially issued me with a standard claim form (N1) in my local county court, and then withdrew on the morning of the case, leaving me with all my costs. I am attempting to claim for my litigant-in-person costs (time etc), postage, telephone, stationery, court application costs etc.

I just don't know which form I should complete to claim my costs, and whether there are any time limits to this.

I don't think you can claim for your time as a litigant in person whether it is a small or bigger claim. However they should pay any court fees but why would you have court fees if they sued you? Surely they would just have their court fee (unless you made some applications in the case).
Have you tried writing to them setting out those costs you think are due to you under the rules and giving them 7 days to pay them backed up with receipts?

What were they claiming? That will determine which track it was on.

They were claiming that I had stolen a rental car (believe it or not!), despite me having proof (including witness statements) that it was picked up by one of their suppliers. I had court fees as I issued a strike out application. They withdrew moments before the case was due to be heard…….. and then issued a Notice of Discontinuance.

They offered me a quarter of my costs, claiming that they would only offer me for a certain amount of hours as a litigant in person, in addition to my court application fee.

I think you should accept their offer on costs as I didn't think you were entitled to any costs as a litigant in person for your time.