What the track is for
Until October 2023 a claim of £60,000 and a claim of £600,000 went through much the same machinery. The intermediate track changed that. It takes the middle band of money claims, over £25,000 and up to £100,000, and gives them a lighter route to a trial of no more than three days, with the recoverable costs fixed in advance.
The court will allocate a claim to it where it is suited to neither small claims nor the fast track and each of these is true:
- The monetary relief claimed is not more than £100,000.
- Properly managed, the trial will last no more than three days.
- Oral expert evidence is likely to be limited to two experts a side.
- It is one claimant against one or two defendants, or two claimants against one.
- The court can manage it justly under the intermediate procedure, and nothing else makes it unsuitable.
A claim for something other than money can sit here too, but only where the court thinks it right in the interests of justice. The limits are as at 1 October 2026, and the Civil Justice Council announced in June 2026 a review of all of them, though no new figures have been proposed.
How it runs
After the defence each side completes a directions questionnaire, form N181, and states the complexity band it thinks applies. The court then gives directions, with an optional case management conference where it helps. The parties are expected to try to agree the directions at least seven days before it, and the directions cover disclosure, witness statements, expert evidence, a pre-trial review, listing, and whether to order or encourage alternative dispute resolution.
The paper is capped. Each party's witness statements are limited to 30 pages in total and expert reports to 20, unless the court orders otherwise. Thirty pages is not much, and the cap does useful work: it makes you decide early which issues decide the case, and it rewards the file built around them over the one built on the idea that something might be needed.
The four complexity bands
Every intermediate claim is placed in one of four bands, and the band sets the costs you recover. Band 1 is a single issue with a trial of a day or less, and a defended debt falls here. Band 2 is less complex but has more than one issue. Band 3 is more complex. Band 4 is for claims unsuited to the other three. You say which you think applies on the questionnaire, and the court can reassign it.
What it costs, and what you recover
Legal costs on this track are fixed. The winning party recovers set sums, by stage and by band, however much was actually spent. Court fees are separate: 5% of the claim as the issue fee, so £2,000 on a £40,000 claim and £4,500 on a £90,000 one, and a hearing fee of £1,334.
Take a band 2 claim won after a one-day trial, with the trial bundle prepared. At £40,000 the fixed costs come to £29,163. At £90,000 they come to £39,163. Add a second trial day and £1,755 goes on. If you run the claim yourself, the most you can recover is two-thirds of those figures, £19,442 and £26,109. A mediation or joint settlement meeting adds £1,239 to the fixed costs.
These are the figures as uprated on 6 April 2024, before VAT, and the court fees are as at 13 July 2026. The Ministry of Justice committed to review fixed costs in October 2026 and no outcome has been published, so check the date before relying on a figure.
Who it suits
The track is a good fit for the ordinary commercial dispute: a supply, services, distribution or agency contract, a few witnesses, and a case which the documents mostly decide. It is a poor fit where there are many parties, a heavy expert dimension, or a mountain of documents, and the court will put those on the multi-track.
It also suits the way we work. The strategy, the papers and the evidence are most of the case, and a 30-page limit rewards doing that thinking at the start. One warning: once the court has given directions, moving a claim out of the track needs exceptional reasons, so it is worth getting the allocation right before you get there.
Frequently asked questions
What is the intermediate track?
A civil court track introduced in October 2023 for money claims over £25,000 and up to £100,000 which can be tried in three days or fewer. It has lighter case management than the multi-track, limits on witness statements and expert reports, and fixed recoverable legal costs set by complexity band.
What is the limit for the intermediate track?
The claim must include monetary relief of no more than £100,000, and the court normally expects the claim to be worth more than £25,000, since smaller claims go to the fast track or small claims. The limits are as at 1 October 2026 and are under review by the Civil Justice Council.
How long is a trial on the intermediate track?
Up to three days. The court allocates a claim here only if, properly managed, the trial will last no more than three days, with no more than two experts a side. A claim needing longer goes to the multi-track.
What costs can I recover on the intermediate track?
Fixed sums set by stage and complexity band in the Civil Procedure Rules, however much you actually spent. On a band 2 claim of £40,000 won after a one-day trial, for example, they come to £29,163 for a represented party. A company running its own case recovers no more than two-thirds of the fixed figure.
Not sure which track yours is heading for?
Silva reads the contract and the correspondence, tells you which track the claim is likely to land on, and gives you the honest arithmetic on what it would cost and what you would recover.