Changes to procedures for assessment of costs

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee has approved amendments to implement Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations relating to the assessment of costs, as outlined in his lecture “Assessment of costs in the brave new world”. The changes will come into force on the general implementation date for the Jackson reforms, now planned for April 2013, and will include the following:

• whenever the court makes an order for costs to be assessed, it will (unless there is good reason not to) order an interim payment on account of costs;
• the paying party will be required to make an offer in respect of costs when it serves its points of dispute;
• the Part 36 offer procedure will be applied to detailed assessment proceedings;
• points of dispute and points of reply will need to be shorter and more focused.

A draft rule and practice direction have also been prepared with a view to introducing provisional assessment of costs on a national basis for bills of up to £25,000, following a pilot of the procedure. Under this procedure the court provisionally assesses costs on paper. If either party is dissatisfied, it can seek an oral hearing, but will pay the costs of the exercise if it does not achieve an improvement of at least 20% over the provisional assessment. Subject to approval by the rule committee, this procedure will be rolled out nationally from the general implementation date.