Interest rates
The Court Funds Office pays two interest rates – basic and special. These rates are set by the Lord Chancellor.
Current basic rate: 4%
Current special rate: 6%
Basic interest is applied to County Court and Queen's Bench matters (litigation involving adults only).
The Special rate is paid to Court of Protection Clients' accounts and Children's Funds accounts. Both rates are variable and may change following a direction from the Lord Chancellor.
For more information on our interest rates changes, we have provided a leaflet which details the rates for both our 'special' and 'basic' accounts since the 1st October 1965. To open, please click here.
How we calculate interest
To calculate the interest accrued on money held in court follow the guide below.
Interest is calculated by multiplying the amount held on account by the current interest rate (a percentage), multiplied by the number of days accruing interest. The total is then divided by 365.
Where a = amount held on account
Where i = current interest rate (in a percentage)
Where n = number of days accruing interest
Interest = (a x i% x n) / 365
Note - money starts to accrue interest on the date that it is placed on the account, but does not receive interest on the day it is taken out.
For example, if money is invested on the 1st of a month and withdrawn on the 31st, it accrues 30 days of interest.
Example:
There was £10,000 invested in a special account where the interest rate was 6% and it was invested on the 1st July and withdrawn on the 27th July;
Interest accrued = (10,000 x 6% x 26) / 365 or
Interest accrued equals 10 thousand multiplied by 6 percent multiplied by 26. The total is then divided by 365.
Interest accrued = £42.74