Interest claims and rent eviction
When bringing a claim for a money judgement for rent arrears, it is normal to include a claim for interest. Interest is currently charged at 8%, this being the prescribed interest rate under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 (it has been at this rate for years).
However, I don’t know about anyone else, but when bringing a claim for possession based in rent arrears I never include an interest claim.
This is partly because it would almost certainly be a waste of time. Most landlords in this situation are lucky if they get any rent, the changes of their successfully recovering any interest is remote.
Then there are the Judges. I seem to remember that the last time I tried to claim interest in a rent repossession claim the Judge refused to grant it. This may have been that particular Judge, or it could be a general attitude, I don’t know. Certainly I suspect that a Judge with a full list is not going to get involved in interest calculations.
I now have it in my terms and conditions of acting that I will not claim for interest unless the client wants to pay me extra for doing the work – no one has ever requested this!
What do other people do?
This post is one of a three part series on financial recoveries in eviction proceedings.
NB Read about the Landlord Law Eviction Service.
I take theeview that it is not really cost effective to prepare the interest calcs unless there is any real prospect of Tenant being able to pay
However I wonder whether someone has written a programme that will do this?
Simon