Breakdown of fees for voluntary capped costs pilot in Business and Property Court cases valued up to £250,000
The pilot will run for two years from 14 January 2019 for cases valued at between £100,000 and £250,000.
The final rules have now been approved and the costs will be set out at the end of the new Practice Direction 51W as follows:
| Work done in respect of: | Maximum amount of costs: |
| Pre-action | £10,000 |
| Particulars of claim | £7,000 |
| Defence and counterclaim | £7,000 |
| Reply and defence to counterclaim | £6,000 |
| Case management conference | £6,000 |
| Disclosure | £6,000 |
| Witness statements | £8,000 |
| Expert reports | £10,000 |
| Trial and judgment | £20,000 |
| Settlement/negotiation/mediation | £10,000 |
There will be an overall cap of £80,000 (exclusive of VAT, court fees, wasted costs and costs of enforcement).
If ordered, witness statements will be limited in length and expert evidence will not be permitted, but may be allowed by the court in the form of a report from a single joint expert.
The pilot will run in the London Circuit Commercial Court and the three specialist courts in the Manchester District Registry and Leeds District Registry i.e. the Circuit Commercial Court, the Technology and Construction Court and the Chancery courts.
For further information go to: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Appendix_15_Review-of-Civ-Lit-Costs-Supp-Report-FRC.pdf for a copy of the final draft of the Capped Costs Pilot Rules.
It is not anticipated that the take up will be great.
