Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Costs definition

What does Costs mean? In litigation, costs are the legal fees, disbursements, court fees and VAT incurred in bringing, defending or appealing a claim, and the sums a court or tribunal may order one party to pay another for those liabilities. The concept is governed by procedural rules and case law rather than a single statutory definition: England and Wales (CPR 44–47), Northern Ireland (RCJ Ord 62), Scotland (where the equivalent term is expenses), and Ireland (Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and the Legal Costs Adjudicators). The general approach is broadly consistent, subject to local terminology and procedure. Typical features include the discretionary rule...

Recovering pre-action costs: CPR 46.14 costs-only proceedings under Part 8 (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

This Practice Note outlines the nature of Costs-only proceedings and the steps to follow in bringing them. Through the Costs-only route, a claimant may issue a Part 8 claim so that the court can make a costs order, enabling the parties thereafter to commence Detailed assessment. The regime for costs-only claims appears in Section IV of CPR 46, specifically CPR 46.14, which sets out prerequisites that must be satisfied before starting such a claim. These include:

settlement of all matters in dispute save for pre-action costs; and
no proceedings having been commenced.

This route cannot be used where costs are payable under a contract (CPR 44.5).

Purpose of costs only Part 8 proceedings

The costs-only (Part 8) procedure is intended to provide a straightforward and convenient way to resolve a costs dispute brought with the consent of both parties. Costs-only proceedings are employed by a party to recover pre-action costs where the parties have settled the dispute before the commencement of proceedings but have been unable to agree the costs. In short, it offers a focused route to determine pre-action costs once everything else has been concluded...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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