EX160 Form: Help with Fees Explained — Who Qualifies and How to Apply

Last reviewed: 27 September 2026 — England and Wales

General information only. This article describes the HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Help with Fees scheme in England and Wales as at the date above. Thresholds and fees change, so check the live figures on GOV.UK before you apply. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice on your case. For free regulated advice, contact a Law Centre, Citizens Advice, or Shelter England. The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service, funded by the Legal Aid Agency, gives free early legal advice to anyone at risk of losing their home from the moment they receive written notice, and on-the-day advice and representation at possession hearings, whatever their income. Find a provider at find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk.

Get the EX160 form and guidance

Everything official is free on GOV.UK. Use these, not a copy from anywhere else:

• Apply online: Help with Fees service. The online route gives you a Help with Fees reference number to write on your court or tribunal form.
• EX160 form (paper): Apply for help with court and tribunal fees: Form EX160. An eight-page PDF, with a large-print version added in November 2025.
• EX160A guide: How to apply for help with a court or tribunal fee. This is the guidance, not the application. Read it before filling in EX160.
• EX160C calculator: the fee remission calculator, linked from the EX160A page, works out how much you may have to pay towards a fee if your income is above the full-remission threshold.

The Court of Protection has its own scheme on form COP44A. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules.

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Who Qualifies — Three Tests

The scheme applies three tests in order. You need to pass the savings test first, then either be on a qualifying benefit or pass the income test.

Test 1 — Savings and investments

Savings, investments and anything else readily realisable count, for you and your partner. Your home does not. The limit depends on the fee:

If you or your partner are 66 or over, the limit is £16,000 whatever the fee.

Certain sums are left out of the calculation, including personal pensions, the capital value of a self-employed business, and a long list of compensation payments (medical negligence awards, Criminal Injuries Compensation, Windrush and Grenfell payments among them). The full list is in the EX160A guide.

Test 2 — Qualifying benefits

If you or your partner receive one of these, you pass the income test automatically and the fee is remitted in full (subject to the savings test):

• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Universal Credit, with earnings under £6,000 a year
• Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)

Since November 2025 you no longer send benefit evidence. HMCTS may check your details against information held by other government departments.

Test 3 — Monthly income

If you are not on a qualifying benefit, HMCTS looks at gross monthly income for you and your partner, measured as the EX160A guide explains.

Full remission where income is below:

So a single parent with one child aged 13 or under qualifies for full remission below £1,845 a month; a couple with one child aged 13 or under below £2,555.

Partial remission (you pay a contribution) where income is above the full-remission figure but below it plus £3,000: £4,420 for a single person and £5,130 for a couple, plus the same child additions. Above that, no help is available.

What counts as income is broad: wages before tax, self-employed profit, child benefit, tax credits, maintenance, Universal Credit (except the housing element, which does not count), pensions, rent from lodgers, cash gifts and loans. Student loans do not count, nor do disability and carer benefits such as Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance and Housing Benefit. The EX160A guide lists every inclusion and exclusion.

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When to Apply — Before You Pay If You Can

Apply at the same time as the court or tribunal application that carries the fee. If you apply online first, you get a reference in the form HWF-XXX-XXX to enter on the court form or in the online court service, and it must reach the court within 28 days; on paper, you file EX160 with the application.

If you have already paid, you can still apply for a refund, but only if:

• you paid the fee in the last three months, and
• you were eligible for help at the date you paid.

That is why the safer sequence is to apply first. A signed paper EX160 should reach the court within 28 days of signing or it may be rejected.

One application per fee. Each fee needs its own Help with Fees application. If you are filing two applications on the same day, you make two Help with Fees applications, each quoting the right fee. If you have a partner, include their savings and income unless your case is against them.

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What Fees Can Be Remitted

Help with Fees covers most civil, family and tribunal fees. The figures below are from the civil court fees list (EX50) current from 13 July 2026. Check the live list before filing:

Tribunal fees are covered too, including First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) applications. The fee for challenging a rent increase at the tribunal is covered in our separate article on the rent-tribunal fee and EX160.

It does not cover:

• Court of Protection fees (form COP44A instead)
• Land Registry fees or Companies House fees (these are not court fees)
• Solicitors' or barristers' fees (legal aid is a separate scheme)
• High Court Enforcement Officers' own charges (the fee to issue a County Court warrant is a court fee and can be remitted)
• Costs orders made against you, which are governed by Part 44 of the Civil Procedure Rules, not by HMCTS fee policy

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The Three Cases Where EX160 Most Often Helps Tenants

Case 1 — Eviction after a possession order made in your absence

The tenant discovers a warrant. They need to apply on form N244 to set aside the possession order and to suspend the warrant. There is no default judgment in a possession claim (Part 12 of the Civil Procedure Rules does not apply to possession claims), so the order will have been made at a hearing the tenant missed or on the papers. Fees:

• Application on notice (N244): £321
• Application to suspend a warrant of possession: £16

If you make these as separate applications, each fee needs its own Help with Fees application. If you combine them in one N244, ask the court office which fee applies. A tenant on Universal Credit with earnings under £6,000 a year can have the fees waived in full, provided their savings are under £4,250. The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service may be able to help you complete the forms; contact a local provider straight away.

Case 2 — Defending a money claim for arrears

A former tenant served with a money claim for old arrears files a defence on the response pack. Filing a defence is free, so no EX160 is needed at that stage. If the tenant later needs to apply for an order or to set aside a judgment, that application fee can be remitted.

Case 3 — Applying to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

Tribunal application and hearing fees can be remitted on the same tests. Apply online or file EX160 with the tribunal application form. The tribunal, not the County Court, processes it.

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Filling In EX160 Step by Step

The paper form has eight pages and the online service asks the same questions in a checklist. Whichever route you use, you will need:

1. About the fee. The court or tribunal, your case number if you have one, the form you are filing, and the exact fee. Getting the fee wrong is the commonest reason for a query. Look it up on the current fees list first.
2. Your details and your partner's. Name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number (or Home Office reference number), which the court uses to identify you. HMCTS may check your details against information held by other government departments, and contacts the Department for Work and Pensions to confirm any qualifying benefit.
3. Savings and investments. Yours and your partner's, using the exclusions above.
4. Benefits. Tick any qualifying benefit. No award letter is needed.
5. Children. Number and ages, because the additions differ for children 13 and under and 14 and over.
6. Income. Gross monthly figures for you and your partner, by source.
7. Your signature. Sign and date the paper form and send it within 28 days.

Keep a copy of everything, and note the Help with Fees reference number if you applied online.

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Evidence — Only If Asked

You do not send payslips or bank statements with the application. HMCTS may write asking for evidence, and you then have the time given in the letter, usually 28 days, to supply it. Miss that and the application is treated as abandoned, so the fee becomes payable. Acceptable evidence includes bank statements, payslips and letters from Jobcentre Plus.

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Common Reasons Applications Are Refused or Delayed

1. Applying more than three months after paying. A refund is available only if you paid in the last 3 months and were eligible when you paid.
2. Wrong fee stated. Quoting the without-notice N244 fee (£126) when the application is on notice (£321), or the reverse.
3. One application for several fees. Each fee needs its own application.
4. Savings not disclosed. Help with Fees is means-tested and the form carries a statement of truth. Disclose everything and use the exclusions list rather than leaving items out.
5. Evidence request ignored. The deadline in the letter, usually 28 days, is strict.
6. Stale paper form. A signed EX160 sent more than 28 days after signing may be rejected.

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If Help Is Refused — Review and Appeal

The refusal letter gives a date by which you can write to the court or tribunal asking it to look again. Attach anything that answers the reason for refusal, such as a corrected fee figure or a missing payslip. A response is due within 10 working days.

If the appeal is refused, you can write to the court or tribunal's senior manager within 14 days of that refusal. Beyond that, the only route is judicial review, which is rarely proportionate for a fee of this size. Get advice before going that far.

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Where EX160 Sits Among Other Support

Help with Fees pays the court's fee. It does nothing about the substance of the case, which is where these come in:

• Legal aid for advice and representation, means and merits tested: check if you can get legal aid.
• Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service: funded by the Legal Aid Agency, gives free early legal advice to anyone at risk of losing their home from the moment they receive written notice, and on-the-day advice and representation at possession hearings, whatever their income. Find a provider at find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk.
• Pro bono help from Law Centres, Citizens Advice and Advocate (the Bar's pro bono charity, usually through a referral).
• Discretionary Housing Payment from the local authority for a shortfall in housing costs.

A tenant on the EX160 route often qualifies for several of these at once. They are independent of each other.

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Recent Changes

• 27 November 2023: the Courts and Tribunals (Fee Remissions and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2023 rewrote the tests: savings limit of £4,250 for fees up to £1,420, the three-band savings table, the age threshold moved from 61 to 66, the £1,420 and £2,130 income figures, the age-banded child additions, and the £3,000 partial-remission band.
• October 2024: guidance clarified that student loans do not count as income.
• 6 November 2025: benefit evidence no longer required; HMCTS may check details with other government departments.
• 19 January 2026: EX160A guide and EX160C calculator moved to their own GOV.UK pages.
• 13 July 2026: civil court fees updated (the figures in this article).

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between EX160 and EX160A?

EX160 is the application form you complete and send. EX160A is the guidance booklet that explains the tests, what counts as income and savings, and how to apply. You need to read EX160A but you only file EX160, or use the online service instead of either.

Can I apply for help with fees online?

Yes. The Help with Fees online service on GOV.UK asks the same questions as the paper form and gives you a reference number to write on your court or tribunal form. You do not need to send a paper EX160 as well.

Can I download the EX160 form?

Yes. The current EX160, including a large-print version, is on the GOV.UK publication page linked above. Always download it fresh rather than reusing an old copy, because the form and the thresholds are revised from time to time.

Do I need to apply before I pay the fee?

Applying first is safest. If you have already paid, you can apply for a refund within three months of payment provided you were eligible on the day you paid.

Does one EX160 cover more than one fee?

No. Each fee needs its own application. If you are filing two applications on the same day, submit two Help with Fees applications.

What if HMCTS asks for evidence?

Send what the letter asks for within the time given in the letter, usually 28 days. If you miss that deadline the application is treated as abandoned and the fee becomes payable.

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Authoritative Sources

• Courts and Tribunals Fee Remissions Order 2013 (SI 2013/2302): legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/2302
• Courts and Tribunals (Fee Remissions and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2023 (SI 2023/1094): legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/1094
• GOV.UK: Get help paying court and tribunal fees: gov.uk/get-help-with-court-fees
• Form EX160: gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-help-with-court-and-tribunal-fees
• EX160A guide: gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-apply-for-help-with-a-court-or-tribunal-fee-ex160a
• Civil court fees (EX50): gov.uk/government/publications/fees-in-the-civil-and-family-courts-main-fees-ex50

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BundleCreator's Housing Possession & Tenant Debt subsite at /housing-possession-debt covers the tenant's defending journey from notice to warrant. The defending bundle templates cross-reference the set-aside and suspension applications (both on form N244) and remind you to apply for Help with Fees at the same time.

Nothing in this article is legal advice or a substitute for it. It describes the law and the HMCTS scheme in England and Wales as at the date shown. If you face a fee you cannot afford, apply for Help with Fees straight away and contact Citizens Advice or a Law Centre for support with the form. The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service, funded by the Legal Aid Agency, gives free early legal advice to anyone at risk of losing their home from the moment they receive written notice, and on-the-day advice and representation at possession hearings, whatever their income. Find a provider at find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk.