Senior Courts Costs Office

Short answer

• The Senior Courts Costs Office, often shortened to the SCCO, is a distinct part of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales. It is separate from the King's Bench, Chancery, and Family divisions of the High Court, although much of its work comes from cases in those divisions and from the Court of Appeal. It is based in the Thomas More Building at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. The principal work of the SCCO is the assessment of legal costs. Assessment means an independent review of a bill of costs to decide how much is properly payable. The office assesses costs that one party can recover from another party after a costs order in civil or family proceedings, disputes between solicitors and their former clients over solicitors' charges, appeals from the assessment of costs in criminal proceedings, and costs incurred by deputies appointed by the Court of Protection. It can also make orders that one party pays the costs of another party where a claim has been settled before proceedings have been issued. The SCCO does not decide who wins the underlying case, and it does not retry the facts of that case. Its job begins after the main question, or after a separate costs question has been referred to it, and it focuses on the money: what was spent, whether each item was reasonably incurred, and what amount should be allowed. Costs judges, also called Masters of the SCCO, hear the larger and more complex matters, while costs officers, who are senior civil servants, assess most Court of Protection bills and the smaller bills between parties. Decisions of a costs officer can be appealed to a costs judge. This is an England and Wales institution. It is not a body of the United States court system. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own court systems and their own arrangements for costs, so readers should not assume that the procedures described here apply outside England and Wales.

Introduction

Legal cases cost money, and when a case ends, someone often has to pay part of another person’s legal costs. That second question, how much should be paid, can itself become a dispute. In England and Wales, many of those disputes are decided by a specialist part of the High Court called the Senior Courts Costs Office. This article explains what that office is, what work it does, who uses it, and how costs assessment works in general terms. It is general information only. It is not legal advice for any reader’s situation, and anyone facing a costs dispute should get advice from a qualified lawyer about their own case.

What the Senior Courts Costs Office Is

The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary describes the SCCO as a distinct part of the High Court, separate from the King’s Bench, Chancery, and Family divisions. That wording corrects a common misunderstanding. The SCCO is not a separate court standing outside the High Court, and it is not a division that hears trials about contracts, injuries, or family disputes. It is a specialist office within the High Court whose subject matter is costs.

The office deals with all aspects of costs from the King’s Bench, Chancery, and Family divisions and from the Court of Appeal. When a judge in one of those courts makes an order about costs, and the amount cannot be agreed, the question of the amount may come to the SCCO for detailed assessment. The office also handles costs work from the Court of Protection, from the County Court in London, and from tribunals in the circumstances described on gov.uk.

The SCCO is based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, in the Thomas More Building on the Strand. That London base does not mean that only London cases reach it. Cases from the Court of Appeal come to the SCCO wherever the underlying case was heard, and costs assessments can be transferred to it from other County Court centers and district registries. The gov.uk “About us” page also notes appeals against costs decisions made by the Legal Aid Agency. Think of the SCCO as a national specialist office for senior court costs work, with a single London home.

The office publishes a Senior Courts Costs Office Guide, which sets out its work and procedure in much greater detail than any general explainer can. Anyone who needs to take a step in the SCCO should work from the current guide and the Civil Procedure Rules, not from a summary article alone.

Why Costs Need a Separate Assessment

When a court case ends, the judge usually decides who should pay the costs of the case, and in what proportion. That decision is called a costs order. A common order is that the losing party pays the winning party’s costs, but costs orders can be much more varied. A judge can order one party to pay part of the other party’s costs, can order costs only up to a certain stage, can make no order about costs, or can order each side to bear its own costs. The costs order answers the question of who pays. It does not, by itself, fix the amount.

The amount is often the harder question. A bill of costs can run to hundreds of items: solicitors’ time, barristers’ fees, court fees, expert fees, travel, copying, and other expenses, known in England and Wales as disbursements. The paying party may accept the bill, may agree a lower figure in negotiation, or may dispute particular items. When the parties cannot agree, the court needs a mechanism to settle the amount fairly, item by item if needed. That mechanism is assessment.

Assessment is therefore a second stage that follows the main case. The assessor does not ask again whether the claim should have succeeded, but whether the costs claimed were reasonably incurred, reasonable in amount, and within the costs order and the rules. If an item fails those tests, it can be reduced or disallowed, and the total allowed is recorded in a costs certificate. For a short case, the trial judge may assess costs summarily, on the spot at the end of a hearing. For a long or complex case, a detailed, item by item assessment by a specialist is more practical, and that is where the SCCO comes in.

The Principal Work of the Office

The Judiciary page for the SCCO lists five principal areas of work.

First, the assessment of costs recoverable by one party from another party after a costs order in civil or family proceedings in the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the County Court in London. This is the largest and best known part of the work, often called assessment between the parties. One side, the receiving party, presents a bill. The other side, the paying party, can dispute items. The assessor decides what is allowed.

Second, the determination of proceedings between solicitors and their former clients where the former client is challenging the solicitor’s charges. Here there is no opposing party in litigation. The question is between a lawyer and that lawyer’s own former client: was the bill fair, was the work properly charged, and should any part be reduced? These proceedings are heard by costs judges, and they follow their own procedure, including applications under Part 8 of the Civil Procedure Rules in some cases.

Third, appeals from the assessment of costs in criminal proceedings in the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). Criminal costs work can involve costs paid out of central funds, prosecution costs, and defense costs, and the first assessment may have taken place elsewhere. All criminal costs appeals in the SCCO are heard by costs judges rather than by costs officers.

Fourth, the assessment of costs incurred by deputies appointed by the Court of Protection, in respect of general management and other applications where the relevant authority has been obtained from that court. A deputy is a person appointed by the Court of Protection to make decisions for someone who lacks capacity to make those decisions. Deputies may incur professional costs in managing that person’s affairs, and those costs may need assessment before they can be paid from the person’s funds. Most Court of Protection bills are assessed by costs officers.

Fifth, making orders that one party pays the costs of another party where the claim has been settled before proceedings have been issued. This is sometimes called costs only proceedings. If the parties have settled the main claim without starting a court case, but cannot agree about costs, they can ask the court to decide the costs question alone. The gov.uk fees page lists an application fee for an order in costs only proceedings.

Taken together, these five areas show that the SCCO is not only a place where winners claim money from losers. It also protects clients, public funds, and vulnerable people whose affairs are managed by deputies, through independent checking of a bill by a specialist who was not involved in running up the costs.

Who Uses the Senior Courts Costs Office

The users of the SCCO are mostly people and organizations who are already involved in litigation or in a formal costs dispute. Litigants in civil and family cases use the office when a costs order has been made in their favor or against them and the amount cannot be agreed. That includes individuals, companies, charities, and public bodies. Both sides take part in the assessment, because the paying party has the right to dispute items and the receiving party has the right to justify them.

Solicitors and barristers use the office in two different roles. As representatives, they prepare bills, argue for or against items, and appear at assessment hearings for their clients. As parties in their own right, solicitors can be involved in disputes with their former clients about their own charges, and barristers and solicitors can seek recovery of sums from public funds where the rules allow it.

Former clients of solicitors use the office when they challenge a solicitor’s bill. The gov.uk fees page lists an application fee for challenging a solicitor’s bill, which shows that this is a recognized route, not an informal complaint. A client who believes a bill is too high can apply for assessment, subject to time limits in the current guide. Deputies appointed by the Court of Protection have their bills assessed there when they need authority for costs incurred in managing another person’s affairs. Public bodies use the office in criminal and legal aid work, since the SCCO hears appeals from criminal costs assessments and deals with appeals against costs decisions made by the Legal Aid Agency.

Members of the public may come across the SCCO indirectly, since previous SCCO decisions are published through Find Case Law and the office’s own lists. A person who is not a party to a case cannot, however, ask the SCCO to assess someone else’s bill out of general interest. There must be a costs order, a statutory right, or a recognized application that gives the office jurisdiction over that bill.

Costs Judges and Costs Officers

Two kinds of decision maker work in the SCCO, and the distinction matters for appeals and for procedure. Costs judges, also called Masters of the SCCO, are judges. They hear the larger assessments between parties, all criminal costs appeals, and all proceedings between solicitors and their former clients.

Costs officers are senior civil servants. They assess most Court of Protection bills and the smaller bills between parties. The Judiciary page states this division of work in plain terms: most Court of Protection bills and the smaller between the parties bills are assessed by costs officers, from whose decisions appeals lie to a costs judge, while the larger between the parties assessments, all criminal costs appeals, and all proceedings between solicitors and their former clients are heard by costs judges.

That structure is practical. Smaller bills and routine Court of Protection bills can be assessed on paper by an experienced officer without a full hearing. Larger and more contested matters go before a judge. A party who disagrees with a costs officer’s assessment can appeal to a costs judge. Costs officers are senior civil servants with specialist experience, and their assessments follow the same rules as a judge’s assessment. The difference is one of seniority and of the appeal route, not of whether the rules apply.

How Detailed Assessment Works in General Terms

Costs assessment in England and Wales is governed mainly by Parts 44 to 48 of the Civil Procedure Rules, together with the Costs Practice Direction and the SCCO Guide. Part 47 sets out the procedure for detailed assessment. The outline below is a general summary, not a step by step guide for any particular case, and the current rules and guide should always be checked before acting.

The process starts with a costs order. Without a costs order, or another recognized basis for assessment, there is usually nothing to assess. Once the order is made, the receiving party prepares a bill of costs, listing the work done, the time spent, the rates claimed, and the disbursements, in the format required by the practice direction. The bill must be detailed enough for the paying party to understand each item and decide whether to dispute it.

The receiving party then serves a notice of commencement and a copy of the bill on the paying party. That notice starts the detailed assessment proceedings. There are time limits for commencing proceedings, set out in rule 47.7 of the Civil Procedure Rules, and a receiving party who misses the period can face consequences, including an application by the paying party for an order requiring commencement, and the risk that costs are disallowed. The exact period depends on the circumstances, so this article does not state a single deadline as if it applied to every case.

The paying party, and any other party to the proceedings, may then serve points of dispute, setting out, item by item, which parts of the bill are challenged and why. The period for serving points of dispute is 21 days after service of the notice of commencement, under rule 47.9. The receiving party may reply with points of reply. This exchange narrows the dispute: items that are not disputed are usually allowed, and the assessment hearing focuses on the items that remain in dispute.

If the paying party does not serve points of dispute, or does not take part, the receiving party may be able to obtain a default costs certificate, which records the sum claimed, or a sum fixed under the rules, as payable. The paying party can apply to set aside a default costs certificate, and the gov.uk fees page lists fees for both steps. If the dispute continues, smaller matters may be assessed on paper through provisional assessment, while larger or more contested matters proceed to a detailed assessment hearing, at which the assessor works through the disputed items, hears argument, and decides what to allow. At the end, a final costs certificate is issued, stating the amount allowed. Interest may run on the assessed sum from the date of the relevant certificate, subject to any order of the court, and the costs of the assessment proceedings themselves may also be assessed or summarily assessed at the end, under rule 47.20.

Summary assessment is a quicker assessment by the judge at the end of a hearing, often used for short hearings. Detailed assessment is the full, item by item procedure under Part 47, most associated with the SCCO. Provisional assessment sits between the two: the court assesses the bill on paper and gives the parties a chance to ask for a hearing if they disagree with the provisional result.

What the Assessor Looks At

An assessor does not simply check the arithmetic in a bill, although arithmetic errors are corrected. The central questions are whether the costs were reasonably incurred and whether they were reasonable in amount. A cost can be reasonably incurred in the sense that the work needed to be done, but unreasonable in amount if too much time was spent on it or the rate claimed was too high. Conversely, a low rate does not save a cost if the work did not need to be done at all.

The assessor also considers proportionality in the cases where the rules require it. In broad terms, proportionality asks whether the total costs claimed are proportionate to the matters in issue, the value of the claim, and the complexity of the case. A bill that is reasonable item by item can still be reduced if the total is disproportionate, subject to the detailed rules and exceptions that apply to different kinds of costs. This article states proportionality only in general terms, because its application depends on the date of the costs order, the type of case, and the specific rules in force.

Other factors include whether the work was done efficiently, whether the right level of lawyer did the work, and whether disbursements were properly incurred and evidenced. The assessor works from the bill, the points of dispute, the points of reply, and supporting documents, such as invoices and attendance notes. A party that cannot evidence an item risks having it disallowed. Assessment does not increase a bill beyond what was claimed, does not award damages, and does not decide whether the original case was rightly decided.

Fees, Appeals, and What the Office Does Not Do

The SCCO charges fees, published on gov.uk under “Senior Courts Costs Office fees.” Fees change over time, so any figure in a general article should be checked against the current gov.uk page before it is relied on. As a guide to structure, the fees page organizes fees into application fees, assessment fees, legal aid and Court of Protection assessment fees, and appeal fees. Application fees cover steps such as applying to challenge a solicitor’s bill, applying for an order in costs only proceedings, applying for a default costs certificate, and applying to set one aside. Assessment fees are usually based on the amount claimed, and rise in bands as that amount rises. This article deliberately does not reproduce the full fee table, because a reader who relies on an out of date table could underpay and delay a case.

Appeals from a costs officer lie to a costs judge, the first and most common appeal route within the SCCO. Appeals from a costs judge follow the general appeal structure for the High Court, subject to the specific rules for costs appeals and to any requirement for permission. In criminal costs work, gov.uk guidance states that a claimant who disagrees with a reassessment can ask for reconsideration, and that an appeal to a costs judge is available in defined circumstances and within 21 days of receipt of written reasons, for prosecutor or defense costs in the Crown Court and for costs as an appointed advocate. The same guidance states that there is no right of appeal to a costs judge for magistrates’ court claims. An appeal in costs will not usually reopen the whole case; an appeal court looks for an error of principle or a decision that no reasonable assessor could have reached, rather than substituting its own view of every item. Time limits are strict, so a party who thinks a deadline may be approaching should seek advice without delay.

The SCCO does not decide the underlying dispute, does not regulate solicitors or barristers in general, and does not give legal advice. Complaints about professional conduct go to the relevant regulator, not to the SCCO, although the SCCO does decide disputes about the amount of a solicitor’s bill in the circumstances described above. It does not handle all costs work in England and Wales: smaller costs work, County Court costs work outside London, and some tribunal costs work are handled elsewhere, and summary assessment is often carried out by the trial judge. Within the wider system, the SCCO sits as a cross cutting office: it takes costs work from the High Court divisions and the Court of Appeal, hears criminal costs appeals from the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), and assesses Court of Protection deputies’ costs, while the County Court in London sends its costs work to the SCCO and assessments can be transferred to it from other County Court centers.

For readers facing a costs question, check the costs order, check the timetable, keep the bill and supporting documents together, consider settlement, and get advice before challenging a solicitor’s bill or appealing an assessment. Check the current fees and guide before filing anything.

FAQ

What is the Senior Courts Costs Office?

It is a distinct part of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales, based in the Thomas More Building at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It assesses legal costs, decides disputes between solicitors and their former clients about charges, hears criminal costs appeals, and assesses Court of Protection deputies’ costs.

Is the Senior Courts Costs Office a separate court?

No, not in the sense of a court outside the High Court. It is a distinct part of the High Court, separate from the King’s Bench, Chancery, and Family divisions, with its own costs judges and costs officers.

What does costs assessment mean?

Assessment is an independent review of a bill of costs to decide how much is properly payable. The assessor checks whether each item was reasonably incurred and reasonable in amount, and whether the total is proportionate where the rules require that test, then records the allowed sum in a costs certificate.

Who decides an assessment in the SCCO?

Costs judges hear the larger assessments between parties, all criminal costs appeals, and all proceedings between solicitors and their former clients. Costs officers, senior civil servants, assess most Court of Protection bills and the smaller bills between parties. Appeals from a costs officer lie to a costs judge.

How does detailed assessment start?

The receiving party serves a notice of commencement and a copy of the bill of costs on the paying party after a costs order has been made. The paying party may serve points of dispute within 21 days after service of the notice of commencement, and the receiving party may reply.

What is the difference between summary assessment and detailed assessment?

Summary assessment is a quicker assessment by the judge at the end of a hearing, often used for short hearings. Detailed assessment is the full, item by item procedure under Part 47 of the Civil Procedure Rules, often carried out by the SCCO for senior court work. Provisional assessment, on paper, sits between the two.

Can a client challenge a solicitor’s bill at the SCCO?

Yes, in the circumstances set out in the rules and the SCCO Guide. The Judiciary page lists proceedings between solicitors and their former clients, where the former client is challenging the solicitor’s charges, as principal work of the office, and the gov.uk fees page lists an application fee for challenging a solicitor’s bill. Time limits apply, so advice should be sought promptly.

Does the SCCO deal with criminal costs?

Yes, in the form of appeals from the assessment of costs in criminal proceedings in the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). All criminal costs appeals in the SCCO are heard by costs judges. There is no right of appeal to a costs judge for magistrates’ court claims, according to gov.uk guidance on claiming back costs from criminal cases.

Does the SCCO cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. The SCCO is an England and Wales office, operating under the Civil Procedure Rules of England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own court systems and costs arrangements.

How much does it cost to use the SCCO?

Fees are published on gov.uk under “Senior Courts Costs Office fees” and they change over time. Application fees, assessment fees based on the amount claimed, separate legal aid and Court of Protection fees, and appeal fees are listed there. Check the current gov.uk page before filing.

Where can I find the SCCO Guide and previous decisions?

The Judiciary page refers readers to the Senior Courts Costs Office Guide, and the gov.uk pages list the guide, the daily cause list, and previous decisions. Start with the current guide and the Civil Procedure Rules.

Is this article legal advice?

No. This article is general information about an institution and a procedure in England and Wales. Anyone facing a costs dispute should get advice from a qualified lawyer about their own situation.

Sources & references

• Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, The Senior Courts Costs Office: https://www.judiciary.uk/courts-and-tribunals/high-court/the-senior-courts-costs-office/
• GOV.UK, About us, Senior Courts Costs Office: https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/senior-courts-costs-office/about
• GOV.UK, Senior Courts Costs Office fees: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/senior-courts-costs-office-fees
• GOV.UK, Claims paid out of central funds (criminal costs guidance, including appeals to a costs judge): https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-back-costs-from-cases-in-the-criminal-courts
• The Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 47, Procedure for detailed assessment of costs and default provisions (legislation.gov.uk): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/3132/part/47/crossheading/1/2010-04-06?view=extent
• The National Archives, Find Case Law, High Court (Senior Court Costs Office): https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/courts-and-tribunals/ewhc/scco