ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is based on provisions revoked on 1 April 2013. It is therefore for historical purposes only. Since the introduction of the Supreme Court the Supreme Court Costs Office is now known as the Senior Courts Costs Office. The accompanying guide has yet to be reissued and so is still known as the Supreme Court Costs Office Guide. When to apply The receiving party can apply for an interim costs certificate at any time after the request for detailed assessment has been filed. The court has the power to issue an interim costs certificate for such sum as it considers appropriate. The court can also amend or cancel an interim certificate at any time after the receiving party has filed a request for a detailed assessment hearing. When is an interim costs certificate appropriate? An interim certificate may be appropriate where: • there is concern that the paying party

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is based on provisions revoked on 1 April 2013. It is therefore for historical purposes only. What are they? The points of dispute set out the paying party's objections to the items in the bill of costs. They must be served on the receiving party and every other party to the detailed assessment proceedings whose name and address for service appear on the statement included in the bill of costs of any person on whom the receiving party intends to serve the notice of commencement. Time limits The period of time for serving points of dispute is 21 days after the service of the notice of commencement. See Detailed assessment: starting the process (prior to April 2013) [Archived]. The 21 day period is extended if the notice of commencement is served outside England and Wales. Calculating the 21 day period The period is calculated as if the notice was a claim form and the points of dispute a defence. Changing the 21 day period If

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is based on provisions revoked on 1 April 2013. It is therefore for historical purposes only. Making an offer If you are acting for the receiving party, it may well be worth opening settlement negotiations with the paying party once you have a complete costs figure in order to save the time and cost of the detailed assessment proceedings. CPR 47.19 provides a mechanism for either the paying or the receiving party to make a written offer to settle the costs of the proceedings giving rise to the assessment proceedings expressed to be 'without prejudice save as to the costs of the detailed assessment proceedings'. If this is done, the court will take the offer into account in deciding who should pay the costs of the detailed

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is based on provisions revoked on 1 April 2013. It is therefore for historical purposes only. Detailed assessment is the procedure by which the amount of costs is decided by a cost officer in accordance with CPR Part 47. For how the court assesses costs, see How the court assesses costs. Detailed assessment is covered by CPR 47 and by the Costs Practice Direction. There is also relevant material in Part 43 (Scope of Costs Rules and Definitions). Time when detailed assessment may be carried out Costs of any proceedings are not to be assessed by the detailed procedure until the conclusion of the proceedings. However, the court may order that they be assessed immediately. Note: detailed assessment is not stayed pending an appeal unless the court orders otherwise. More detail on when assessment may be carried out and therefore, when proceedings have concluded is contained at section 28 of the Costs Practice Direction. Venue for detailed assessment proceedings All applications and

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is now archived and will not be updated. CPR provisions The provisions for detailed assessment are set out in CPR 47 and practice direction 47. As part of the Jackson Reforms the main change within Part 47 is the introduction of a new process called Provisional Assessment; a form of detailed assessment on paper. This is set out at CPR 47.15 and CPR PD 47, para 14.1 onwards. As this is completely new procedure we deal with it in Lexis+® UK DR in a topic within Costs called provisional assessment rather than within the detailed assessment topic. Other amendments been made within Part 47 and practice direction 47 are: • new paragraph numbers due to having a practice direction specific to Part 47 rather than a Costs Practice Direction as previously • a new provision which enables the court, on its own initiative, to make an order as to the venue of the detailed assessment. Previously the rules provided that the court would give the parties the opportunity to make representations.

This Practice Note provides a basic overview of the key points for consideration in respect of detailed assessment. It should be read as a starting point and in conjunction with the following Practice Notes, which provide further, more comprehensive information: • Detailed assessment—what is it, who does it and where? • Detailed assessment—commencement • Detailed assessment—the hearing • Detailed assessment—costs, settlement and agreement What is detailed assessment? A detailed assessment is an assessment where the court determines how much one party (paying party) must pay to another (receiving party) for the costs incurred in the litigation. A detailed assessment will be carried out in cases where costs cannot be agreed between the parties and where a summary assessment of costs is not appropriate. For an introduction to summary assessment and when this will be undertaken, see: Summary assessment—overview. The provisions concerning detailed assessment are contained in CPR 47 and CPR PD 47. The general rule is that the costs of the proceedings (or any part of the proceedings) are not to be

Note, this Practice Note only contains guidance on appealing the decision of an authorised court officer in detailed assessment proceedings. It does not cover appealing a detailed assessment decision made by a costs judge or district judge. Appeals for the judges are dealt with in accordance with CPR 52 (Appeals). What is the process for appeals in detailed assessment proceedings? The destination of appeals is dealt with in accordance with the Access to Justice Act 1999 (Destination of Appeals) Order 2016, SI 2016/917 (CPR PD 47, para 20.1). The procedure for appeals from an authorised court officer or a judge are different: • authorised court officer—any party can appeal the decision made in a detailed assessment proceeding (CPR 47.21) ◦ this is dealt with under CPR 47.21–CPR 47.24 and CPR PD 47, para 20.1–CPR PD 47, para 20.6 ◦ the appeal will be heard by a costs judge or a district judge of the High Court (CPR 47.22) • costs judge or district judge—the procedure for appealing against a decision made by judge is not dealt with in CPR 47.

This Practice Note provides guidance on the bill of costs which the receiving party in a detailed assessment has to complete prior to commencement of detailed assessment proceedings. Model bill of costs are set out in CPR PD 47, para 5.1 and differ depending on recovery (base costs, success fees, LSC costs). This Practice Note identifies and links through to the relevant costs precedents as well as Precedent F which contains the relevant certificates required in the bill of costs itself. There is also guidance on how to complete a bill of costs and information on using a costs draftsman. Any detailed assessment proceedings should be brought under the provisions within CPR 47 and CPR PD 47. Importance of providing a clear and accurate bill of costs It is important that the receiving party provides a clear, sufficiently detailed and accurate bill of costs for detailed assessment. In Awan v Patel (2025), Master Brown stated that, in general, a paying party requires a bill of costs in order to know what it has to pay and to be able

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note provided guidance on the requirements for a bill of costs for detailed assessment prior to 1 October 2017 under both old Part 47 and old practice direction 47 as well as old practice direction 51L which set out a voluntary pilot scheme. For information on the up to date position in relation to bill of costs, see Practice Note: Detailed assessment—bill of costs. 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2017—detailed assessment under practice direction 51L This pilot scheme ran from 1 October 2015 until 30 September 2017 The pilot scheme was set out in old practice direction 51L. It was a voluntary pilot scheme for use in detailed assessment proceedings in the Senior Courts Costs Office only. The pilot scheme set out the information to be provided in the bill of costs with the normal detailed assessment provisions in Part 47 and practice direction 47 to be applied to the extent that they did not conflict with the provisions in the pilot scheme. For information

This Practice Note provides information on where detailed assessment proceedings can be commenced, what documents need to be filed and/or served, the time period for commencing detailed assessment proceedings and the consequences of failing to do so in time. It also provides information on whether the paying party can stay detailed assessment pending an appeal. Note that the Senior Courts Costs Office Guide, paras 10.1–10.7 provides information on the commencement of detailed assessment proceedings generally. Note, CE-File electronic filing is mandatory in the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) (CPR PD 5C, para 1.3(d) and CPR PD 5C, para 2.1(a)). For further information on electronic filing in the SCCO, see Practice Note: CE-File—electronic filing in the Senior Court Costs Office. Informal negotiation prior to the commencement of detailed assessment In McNamee v LB Brent (2025), the judge stated that it is a very important part of the costs recovery process for informal negotiations concerning the receiving party’s costs to take place during the period that precedes commencement of detailed assessment proceedings. It was stated that it is in the interests

Requirement for an electronic bill of costs The use in detailed assessment proceedings of a self-calculating, spreadsheet format for electronic bills of costs is mandatory for all work undertaken after 6 April 2018. The spreadsheet format reports costs on the basis of a breakdown in a Phase/Task/Activity format. CPR PD 47, Sch 2, sets out the relevant phases, tasks and activities. This can be in the form of a bespoke self-calculating, spreadsheet or Cost Precedent S. What is Precedent S? Precedent S is a model electronic bill of costs for use in detailed assessment proceedings. Its use is not mandatory but it provides a model format for presenting the required information and its use therefore ensures that all relevant information is provided (CPR PD 47, para 5.A2). Precedent S is available below in spreadsheet format: Examples of a completed Precedent S are available in spreadsheet and pdf format: Completing Precedent S—general points to note In practice, and in order to facilitate costs reporting, costs should be recorded as they

Recovering the costs of a detailed assessment Following detailed assessment, the receiving party is generally entitled to the costs of the detailed assessment proceedings (CPR 47.20(1)). However, there are two exceptions which are where: • the provisions of any Act, any of rules in the CPR or any relevant practice direction provide otherwise, or • the court makes some other order. This may be in relation to all or part of the costs of the detailed assessment proceedings When dealing with the issue of costs associated with the detailed assessment, the court will usually summarily assess these costs at the conclusion of those proceedings (CPR 47.20(5)). In some cases, costs may be incurred after the conclusion of the detailed assessment. The issue of whether such costs are recoverable was considered in Bloomsbury Law Solicitors v Macpherson (2017), an appeal heard by Warby J sitting with an assessor. In allowing this part of the appeal, he held that the timing of the detailed assessment itself cannot be a sufficient criterion as to what costs are recoverable