Interim Costs

Question 1

What are interim costs?

Answer 1

Any interim application comes with a court fee to pay as a result, known as interim costs

Question 2

How does complexity of the application affect interim costs?

Answer 2

The more complex the application, the greater the interim costs

Question 3

What is ‘pay as you go’ litigation?

Answer 3

At the end of any interim application, the judge may decide that one party should pay the other party’s costs.

Question 4

What are six key possible costs orders called?

Answer 4

Costs in any event, costs in the application, costs in case, costs thrown away, costs of and caused by and no order as to costs

Question 5

What is ‘costs in any event’?

Answer 5

The party in whose favour the order is made, will recover their legal costs of the interim hearing from the other party, irrespective of who wins at the final hearing.

Question 6

What is ‘costs in the application’?

Answer 6

Whichever side obtains a costs order in the application will also recover the costs of the interim hearing from the other side (this usually applies where the initial hearing is adjourned to a later date)

Question 7

What is ‘costs in case’?

Answer 7

Whichever side obtains a costs Order at the final hearing, will also recover the costs of the interim hearing from the other side.

Question 8

What is ‘costs thrown away’?

Answer 8

This is another version of costs in the application, but reflects the fact that one side has caused unnecessary costs to be incurred and should therefore pay them.

Question 9

What is ‘costs of and caused by’?

Answer 9

This will normally make it clear who has to pay the costs and why. It reflects a party having to pay charges for something they have done or should have done.

Question 10

What is ‘no order as to costs’?

Answer 10

This will normally make it clear who has to pay the costs and why. It reflects a party having to pay charges for something they have done or should have done.

Question 11

What happens when the court makes an order for costs in favour of one of the parties to the application?

Answer 11

The court will make a summary assessment of the costs there and then, and these will be payable within 14 days unless the court orders otherwise.

Question 12

When the court makes a summary assessment, it needs to look at the parties statements of costs. How long do the parties have to file and serve a statement of costs?

Answer 12

This must be filed not less than 24 ours before the hearing

Question 13

What happens if a party fails to file and serve a statement of costs by the time limit?

Answer 13

Without any reasonable excuse as to why this has not been filed, the court will take this into account when deciding what costs order to make.

Question 14

On a few occasions, the court may not make a costs order but may award what?

Answer 14

Fixed costs

Question 15

Where fixed costs are granted, is summary assessment required?

Answer 15

No

Question 16

What is a costs-capping order?

Answer 16

Where one or more party(s) do not strictly follow the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols or any other approved applicable protocol, then costs can build up. In these exceptional circumstances the court may make an order capping the amount of costs recoverable by a party which are incurred after the date of the order

Question 17

Are costs-capping orders common?

Answer 17

No, most of these have in fact, failed.

Question 18

Do CFAs affect the summary assessment of interim costs?

Answer 18

The fact that one of more party(s) have entered into a CFA does not prevent the interim costs from being summarily assessed if the court has awarded costs in favour of a party

Question 19

What is the ‘receiving party’?

Answer 19

The receiving party is the party whose costs are to be paid

Question 20

What happens where the receiving party is CFA funded?

Answer 20

The court cannot order payment to be made unless satisfied that the receiving party is immediately liable o his solicitor for the costs of the application under the terms of the CFA.