DMD Costs legal costs tools MCP

Answers costs questions from solicitors in England and Wales, on either side of a claim: budgets, Part 36, settlement, detailed assessment, interest and getting paid. Searches about 30 short answers, each citing its CPR rule, practice direction or statute, a glossary of legal costs terms, and a guide to the court forms and costs precedents (N252, N254, N258, N260, Precedents A to U, and the forms

Looks up the costs rules of the Civil Procedure Rules in England and Wales, rule by rule, by number or by words: Parts 44 to 47 (general rules, fixed costs, special cases, detailed assessment), the costs rules of Part 36, costs budgeting and capping in Part 3 and security for costs in Part 25. Each rule comes back with its official heading, Part and Section, a plain-English summary, a practice not

Gives the exact wording of a statement of truth in England and Wales for the document and the person signing, copied word for word from its source and cited to the paragraph: statements of case and application notices (PD 22 para 2.1, naming the party where a legal representative, company officer or litigation friend's representative signs, or in a separate document under para 2.5), witness statem

Works out a deadline under the Civil Procedure Rules in England and Wales from a date: clear days (CPR 2.8(2) and (3)), the 5-day rule (CPR 2.8(4)), calendar months (CPR 2.10), court office closures (CPR 2.8(5) and PD 2A) and the latest days to email or post a document for deemed service (CPR 6.26). Name a common time limit as a preset (for example the defence, the acknowledgment of service, the a

Works out the dates the main pre-action protocols in England and Wales set after a letter of claim, counted the way each protocol words them, with the paragraph for each: housing conditions (20 working days from receipt, deemed 2 days after the letter's date; inspection; expert's report), clinical disputes (14 days from receipt; Letter of Response 4 months from the letter of claim, and from receip

Works out the last day to bring a civil claim in England and Wales under the Limitation Act 1980, strictly: personal injury, clinical negligence and industrial disease (s.11, with children and capacity under s.28, death under s.11(5) and s.12, child sexual abuse under s.11ZA, armed forces), housing disrepair (a continuing breach: the 6-year look-back from the issue date), contract, tort and latent

Works out the standard timetable after allocation to the fast track or the intermediate track in England and Wales: the PD 28 para 9.5 typical periods from the notice of allocation (disclosure, witness statements, experts' reports, pre-trial checklists, trial within 30 weeks), the time to apply to set aside or vary the order, agreed directions before a case management conference, the pre-trial che

Works out which test applies when a deadline in a civil claim in England and Wales has been missed or is about to be, then lays out the questions the court asks, each with what the rule or the case says and your own answers: relief from sanctions under CPR 3.8 and 3.9 and the three Denton stages (late witness statements, budgets, experts' reports, disclosure, points of dispute, unless orders, late

For a decision in an ordinary civil claim in England and Wales, or in detailed assessment proceedings, works out which court hears an appeal (Destination of Appeals Order 2016; PD 52A Table 1), whether permission is needed and from whom, the last day for the appellant's notice (21 days under CPR 52.12(2)(b), or the period the lower court set, with court office closures), the form (N161, or N164 fo

Works out the CPR Part 47 detailed assessment timetable in England and Wales from the dates you have: the last day to serve the notice of commencement (N252), Points of Dispute, the first day for a default costs certificate (N254), Replies, the request for an assessment hearing (N258), provisional assessment steps and payment. Allows for deemed service, weekends, bank holidays and court office clo

Says which court office deals with a detailed assessment in England and Wales, from the court named on the case: the local County Court hearing centre or district registry, or the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO). Handles the London rule in PD 47 para 4.2, where the request for an assessment hearing (N258) goes to the SCCO on CE-File but the default costs certificate (N254) stays at the local hea

Works out when a claim form and particulars of claim are deemed served in England and Wales, and every date that follows: acknowledgment of service, the defence, agreed extensions and the earliest default judgment, with bank holidays and court closures. Also covers the Damages Claims Portal (PD 51ZB). Give the issue date, how and when the claim form was served, and how the particulars were served.

Works out the main civil court fees in England and Wales, with fee numbers: the issue fee for money, non-money (such as repairs), possession, goods, costs-only (CPR 46.14) and Solicitors Act claims; hearing fees by track; applications; appeals; detailed assessment by the size of the bill; default costs certificates; enforcement; and creditors' winding-up and bankruptcy petitions, where the officia

Finds the civil court fee in England and Wales for a court form or a step, by form number or in words (for example "N244", "N245", "warrant of control", "set aside a CCJ", "Tomlin order", "charging order"): each fee with its fee number in Schedule 1 to the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008, when it is paid, notes with their source, and our reading, labelled as such, where neither the Order nor the

Works out simple interest at 8% a year on an order for costs in England and Wales: from the date of the order (or acceptance of a Part 36 offer, or the date the court set) to the date you choose, allowing for payments on account, the County Court £5,000 rule and its exceptions, and leap years. It does not decide rates where the court has a discretion.

Works out simple interest at 8% a year on a judgment debt in England and Wales, from the date of judgment (or a date the court ordered, or in the County Court a date for payment in the judgment) to the date you choose. High Court: any judgment (Judgments Act 1838 s.17); no rule fixes how part payments are applied, so the default is interest first, a rule of thumb the Court of Appeal accepted as fa

Works out interest on damages before judgment in England and Wales (Senior Courts Act 1981 s.35A; County Courts Act 1984 s.69), head by head: general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity at 2% a year from service of the claim form; past losses running to the end date at half the Court Funds Office special account rate from when they began; a loss on one date (a large expense, a bereavem

Works out a Part 36 offer in England and Wales: when it was made (deemed service, CPR 6.26 and 36.7) and when its relevant period ends; whether an acceptance was in time (CPR 36.13); whether the judgment, or the detailed assessment, beat the offer (CPR 36.17(1)); and the consequences in money: the additional amount, enhanced interest of up to 10% above base rate, indemnity costs and interest on th

Works out the statutory demand and petition timetable in England and Wales: on a company (Insolvency Act 1986 s.123(1)(a): 3 weeks to pay, secure or compound, then a winding-up petition) or on an individual (s.268: 18 days to apply to set the demand aside under IR 2016 r.10.4, 21 days to comply, then a bankruptcy petition for at least £5,000), with personal service and CPR 6.26, a set-aside applic

Sets out the main ways to enforce a money judgment, costs order or costs certificate in England and Wales side by side: warrant of control, transfer up and writ of control, attachment of earnings, charging order, order for sale, third party debt order and order to obtain information. For each it says whether the rules allow it now (the £600 and £5,000 limits in the High Court and County Courts Jur

Works out the last day to present an employment tribunal claim in England and Wales: 3 months less one day, or 6 months less one day where the relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026 (Employment Rights Act 2025 s.152 and Sch 12; S.I. 2026/954 reg 4; breach of contract by S.I. 2026/759), for unfair dismissal, discrimination, unlawful deductions, holiday pay, whistleblowing detriment, breach of

Works out the time limits for a claim for judicial review in England and Wales: promptly and in any event within 3 months of the grounds arising (CPR 54.5(1)), 6 weeks for decisions under the planning Acts (54.5(5)), 30 days beginning with the day of knowledge in procurement (54.5(6); Procurement Act 2023 s.106), with the pre-action protocol letter and reply, service of the claim form (54.7), the

Checks when a settlement, interim payment or payment in by or for a child or protected party needs the court's approval in England and Wales (CPR 21.10; PD 21 was revoked in 2023), the route (a Part 8 claim before issue, or an application in the proceedings), the documents for the approval hearing, the court fee, investment of the money (CPR 21.11, the Court Funds Office forms and the Court of Pro

Works out the dates for written questions to an expert (CPR 35.6: within 28 days of service of the report, deemed service under CPR 6.26, once only and for clarification unless the court permits or the other party agrees; before proceedings, the pre-action protocol that applies, of which only the Personal Injury Protocol fixes 28 days) and for a Part 18 request for further information (PD 18: the

Works out the financial remedy timetable in the family court in England and Wales (FPR 2010 Part 9; standard, fast-track and the Express pilot under PD 36ZH): the first appointment 12 to 16 weeks after issue, Form E 5 weeks before it, the documents 14 days before, the FDR and its offers, open proposals (FPR 9.27A, 9.28), Form H at every hearing and Form H1 before the final hearing (9.27), FM5, ES1

Works out the timescales in the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents, the EL/PL protocol and the RTA Small Claims (OIC) protocol, in business days: the CNF response (15 or 30 business days RTA, 30 employers' liability, 40 public liability; RTA small claims 30 or 40), interim payments, the Stage 2 consideration and negotiation periods and their extensio

Explains what a costs order in England and Wales means, from the words of the order or the wording picked from a list: costs in any event, costs in the case or in the application, costs reserved, claimant's or defendant's costs in the case, costs thrown away, of and caused by, here and below, no order as to costs, summary and detailed assessment, payment on account, indemnity or standard basis, an

Works out the fixed costs CPR 45 Section II allows a legal representative in England and Wales, line by line with the PD 45 table for each sum: fixed commencement costs on a money or goods claim (Table 2), judgment in default, on admission, summary judgment and Consumer Credit Act goods judgments (Table 3), possession and demotion claims (Tables 4 and 5), accelerated possession, extra service (Tab

Checks whether a claim in England and Wales normally goes to the small claims track (CPR 26.9 to 26.12: £10,000; personal injury limits for pain, suffering and loss of amenity; housing disrepair with an order for repairs; never harassment or unlawful eviction) and adds up what CPR 27.14(2) allows on your figures: the Table 2 fixed issue costs, court fees paid, reasonable travel, lost earnings up t

Works out the costs a self-represented party can claim in the civil courts of England and Wales under CPR 46.5: £24 an hour for time spent on or after 1 October 2025 and £19 an hour before (PD 46 para 3.4), or proven financial loss; payments for legal services and expert help with the costs claim; disbursements; the two-thirds cap on everything except disbursements, checked only against your own f

Checks which conditions for security for costs in the civil courts of England and Wales (CPR Part 25 Section VI, as rewritten from 6 April 2025) appear to be met on your answers, with the rule's words: a claimant resident out of the jurisdiction (with the enforcement position by country, including the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention), a company with reason to believe it will be unable to pay (and

Works out whether a solicitor's bill can still be assessed under section 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974 (England and Wales), for the client, the firm, a third party who paid it (s.71(1)) or a beneficiary of an estate or trust that paid, or is entitled to pay, it (s.71(3)), from the dates of delivery, payment, judgment and the application: assessment as of right within one month of delivery (s.70(1)

Works out whether a receiving party in England and Wales can include VAT in its claim for costs against the paying party, and how much: VAT is not claimed if the receiving party can recover it as input tax, and only the irrecoverable proportion where it recovers part (PD 44 para 2.3); input tax means VAT on services for its business, and only the business share where the services were used partly

Drafts a written offer to settle a CLAIM marked "without prejudice save as to costs" (a Calderbank offer), in England and Wales, in the user's own terms: civil claims (issued or not), small claims, family proceedings outside FPR 28.3 (Schedule 1 claims, most interim applications other than interim variation) and employment tribunals; from a firm for its client or from the party itself; to the othe

Works out employment tribunal costs figures in England, Wales and Scotland under the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024: preparation time at the rule 77 hourly rate for the year the time was spent (£44 from 6 April 2024, up £1 each 6 April), final hearing time left out; a costs order with the £20,000 limit on a specified sum (rule 76), lay representatives' rates, witness expenses and deposit

Works out the fixed costs a professional or public authority deputy may take from P's estate under Court of Protection Practice Direction 19B (the 2024 version, and the December 2017 version for periods ending before 1 April 2024), fee by fee: the deputy application, the annual management fees for property and affairs (the net-assets percentage below £20,300) and health and welfare, reports to the

Checks a social landlord's Awaab's Law timescales in England (section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, S.I. 2025/1042, in force from 27 October 2025 for damp and mould and for emergency hazards): the investigation, the written summary, the safety work, alternative accommodation and supplementary preventa

Finds the code for a piece of work in an electronic bill of costs (Precedent S, PD 47 Schedule 2) by code or by the work done: phases P1 to P15, tasks T1 to T41, activities A1 to A10, expenses X1 to X15 and the matching J-codes, with each task's Precedent H budget phase.