The next CPR update includes an important change to the way in which costs of under £25,000 will be assessed in the future.
Practice Direction 51E provides for a County Court Provisional Assessment Pilot Scheme (the" Scheme"). The Scheme will be introduced for a period of 1 year in the county courts of Leeds, Scarborough and York but it is very likely to be rolled out to the rest of the country in due course.
The Scheme will apply where assessment proceedings have been commenced on or after 1 October 2010 and where the base costs claimed are £25,000 or less.
The aim of the Scheme is that within six weeks of commencement, relevant bills will be provisionally assessed on paper. No party is allowed to attend. Within 21 days of receipt of notice of the provisional assessment, either party can request an oral hearing if they are dissatisfied with the outcome of the assessment. But the disincentive for any party which might wish to complain about the assessment is that they will suffer the costs of the hearing if they fail to establish that the provisional assessment was incorrect by a margin of over 20%.
The aim of the Scheme is to ensure that there are quicker costs assessments and also save time and expense for litigants, practitioners and the courts alike. The Courts hope that participants in the Scheme will embrace its spirit such that successful parties will not exaggerate their costs and payers should not make silly offers. We shall see.
For more information visit http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/
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