New Rules On Capped Costs Pilot Scheme

The capped costs pilot scheme is set to begin on Monday 14th January in the Business and Property Courts cases in Leeds and Manchester and the Circuit Commercial Court in London.

The scheme, which is completely voluntary, although both parties will need to opt-in, will limit recoverable costs for each stage of a Court case, with an overall cap of £80,000 (this amount excludes Court fees, wasted costs, VAT and costs associated with enforcement). The capped costs pilot scheme will run for two years (from 14th January 2019) where cases are valued up to an amount of £250,000.

The costs for each stage of the case are capped, with pre-action costs being limited to £10,000, disclosure to £6,000 and trial and judgment to £20,000.

Criteria for Capped Costs Pilot Scheme

The new pilot will mean that no more than three weeks from the end of a trial, which lasts no more than two days, that the parties involved in the proceedings need to supply a detailed schedule of the costs to the Court. The Court will then assess these costs.

The scheme does not include proceedings which include fraud allegations or if multiple parties and legal issues are involved.

Where the Court rules that costs are applicable, one party will be liable for a capped amount of the other party’s incurred costs.

The voluntary capped costs pilot scheme is set out in the new Practice Direction 51W (included in the 102nd update).Capped Costs Pilot Scheme

How Nelsons Can Help

Lewis Addison is a Partner in our Dispute Resolution team.

For more information, please contact Lewis on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.

Contact us today

We're here to help.

Call us on 0800 024 1976

Main Contact Form

Used on contact page

  • Email us