County court cases are speeding up, with the median time from claim to hearing 62 weeks for fast, intermediate and multi-track claims—5.4 weeks faster than last year
Small claims times fell 2.4 weeks to 40.6 weeks from claim to hearing. The courts also heard more cases—a 23% rise to 512,000 claims in the same period, April to June 2025.
The figures, revealed last week in the latest ‘Civil justice statistics quarterly’, appear to show problems easing at the beleaguered court, described in July by the Justice Committee as ‘dysfunctional’.
However, Damian Bradley, partner at Express Solicitors, said research undertaken with the Association of Consumer Support Organisations shows claims times are ‘a postcode lottery’, ranging from 82 days in St Helens to more than 800 days in Canterbury and Medway, and 1,004 days in Hastings.
