A costs order is enforced like any other money judgment, once the amount is fixed and the time for paying it has passed. Costs ordered in a stated sum are payable within 14 days of the order; costs assessed later are payable within 14 days of the certificate that states the amount (CPR 44.7). A default costs certificate includes an order to pay, as do interim and final certificates unless the court orders otherwise, and they are enforced through the courts that enforce judgments, not the Costs Office (PD 47 paras 10.6 and 16.12).
DMD Costs does not act in enforcement. This guide sets out the rules for claimant firms collecting their costs. The free enforcement options calculator lays out each method side by side, with the court, the form, the court fee, the fixed costs, the enforcement agents’ fees and what happens to interest.
Jump to: when costs are due · the certificates · interest · the methods · the Crown
When the costs become payable
CPR 44.7(1) says a party must comply with an order for the payment of costs within 14 days of:
- the date of the judgment or order, if it states the amount of the costs;
- if the amount, or part of it, is decided later under Part 47, the date of the certificate which states the amount; or
- in either case, such other date as the court may specify.
Where the parties agree the amount, either of them may apply for a costs certificate, interim or final, in the agreed amount (CPR 47.10). Where a judgment orders a sum to be paid, not by instalments, and costs to be assessed, and the sum is not paid, a writ or warrant of control can be issued for the sum before the costs are assessed, and a separate one for the costs once they are assessed and unpaid (CPR 83.5).
The certificates
| Certificate | When it is issued | Order to pay | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default costs certificate | On request, once the 21 days for serving points of dispute after service of the notice of commencement have expired and none has been served; points of dispute served before it is issued, even late, prevent it (CPR 47.9(2), (4) and (5)) | Included (CPR 47.11(2)) | Requested on N254; issued as N255 (PD 47 paras 10.1 and 10.2) |
| Interim costs certificate | At any time after the receiving party has filed its request for a detailed assessment hearing, for such sum as the court considers appropriate (CPR 47.16(1)) | Included unless the court orders otherwise; the court may order the sum paid into court (CPR 47.16(2) and (3)) | N257 is the model form (PD 47 para 16.10) |
| Final costs certificate | After the assessment, when the completed bill is filed (CPR 47.17(3)) | Included unless the court orders otherwise (CPR 47.17(5)) | N256 is the model form (PD 47 para 16.10) |
A default costs certificate includes fixed costs of £80 plus a sum equal to the court fee for issuing it, unless the court orders otherwise or paragraph 1.2 of Practice Direction 45 applies (PD 47 para 10.7). Our free N254 builder fills in the request. A paying party can apply to set a default costs certificate aside (CPR 47.12), and an application to stay enforcement of any of the certificates may be made to a costs judge or District Judge of the court office that issued it, or to the court with general jurisdiction to enforce it (PD 47 paras 10.5 and 16.11).
Interest on costs
Interest on costs runs from the date of the order for costs, not from the date the costs are later assessed or agreed. The House of Lords so held in Hunt v R M Douglas (Roofing) Ltd [1990] 1 AC 398, and in Simcoe v Jacuzzi UK Group plc [2012] EWCA Civ 137 the Court of Appeal held that the same rule applies under the CPR, in the County Court as in the High Court (at [11], [34], [36] and [37]). The court can order otherwise: it may order interest on costs from or until a certain date (CPR 44.2(6)(g)), and interest on a judgment runs from the date it is given unless a rule, a practice direction or the court provides otherwise (CPR 40.8(1)). The High Court rate is 8% a year (Judgments Act 1838 s.17; S.I. 1993/564).
In the County Court, the County Courts (Interest on Judgment Debts) Order 1991 applies. It covers a judgment or order for £5,000 or more, or for a qualifying debt under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (art 1(2), as amended by S.I. 1998/2400). Where the amount of a judgment debt is decided later, interest runs from that later date, but the Order makes an exception for costs (art 2(2)). Since 27 May 2019 the Order lets the court order otherwise, including interest from an earlier date (art 2(1), (2) and (2A), as amended by S.I. 2019/903). Taking County Court enforcement proceedings stops the interest unless they produce no payment at all; charging order proceedings do not count, and no interest accrues while an attachment of earnings order is in force (art 4). The free interest on costs calculator applies these rules, with payments on account.
The methods of enforcement
A costs order or certificate is enforced by the methods for a money judgment (PD 70 para 1.1), and the creditor may use any that is available, and more than one, at the same time or one after another (CPR 70.2(2)).
| Method | What it does | The rules | The form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warrant of control (County Court) | An enforcement agent takes control of the debtor’s goods to sell them | CPR Parts 83 and 84 | N323, or online |
| Writ of control (High Court) | The same, by a High Court enforcement officer; a County Court judgment is first transferred up by a certificate of judgment | CPR 40.14A and 83.19; Parts 83 and 84 | N293A |
| Attachment of earnings order | The debtor’s employer makes deductions from the debtor’s earnings towards the debt | County Court only (PD 70 para 1.1(4)); CPR Part 89 | N337 |
| Charging order | A charge on the debtor’s land or other property, securing the money due | Charging Orders Act 1979 s.1; CPR Part 73 | N379 (land) |
| Third party debt order | A third party who owes the debtor money, such as a bank, pays the creditor instead | CPR Part 72 | N349 |
| Order to obtain information | The debtor, or an officer of a company debtor, attends court to give information about their means, or anything else needed to enforce | CPR Part 71 | N316 |
PD 70 para 1.1 also lists the appointment of a receiver (CPR Part 69), which this table and the enforcement options calculator do not cover. Each linked form name opens our free builder for it. The court fees, the fixed costs a represented creditor can add and the enforcement agents’ fees are in the enforcement options calculator, and every fee by form is in the civil court fees calculator.
County Court or High Court
A County Court judgment or order for money enforced by taking control of goods goes to the High Court only where the sum to be enforced is £5,000 or more, to the County Court only where it is less than £600, and to either court in between; one in proceedings on a Consumer Credit Act 1974 regulated agreement is enforced only in the County Court (High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991, art 8). To use the High Court, the creditor asks for a certificate of judgment, and the grant of the certificate transfers the proceedings (CPR 40.14A and 83.19(2)). A writ or warrant of control needs the court’s permission once six years have passed since the date of the judgment or order (CPR 83.2(3)(a)). For costs, our reading, as in the enforcement options calculator, is that the six years run from the certificate that fixes the amount (Chohan v Times Newspapers Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 964); counting from the costs order is the cautious view.
Once transferred, a County Court judgment may be enforced as if it were a High Court judgment, and is treated as one for all purposes except setting it aside, correcting or varying it and appeals (County Courts Act 1984 s.42(5) and (6)). Our reading is that it then carries 8% a year from the date of transfer under the Judgments Act 1838, even where it carried no interest in the County Court because it was under £5,000. No court has decided the point, and the High Court has left open how far a transfer for enforcement goes (Bevans v Buckenham [2023] EWHC 746 (KB) at [23]), and some debt advisers argue that a certificate of judgment adds no interest. The enforcement options calculator takes the same view and does not add that interest to the sum due.
Costs orders against a claimant: QOCS
Qualified one-way costs shifting applies to proceedings that include a claim for damages for personal injuries, which covers clinical negligence claims, unless the claimant has a pre-commencement funding arrangement (CPR 44.13 and 44.17). Where it applies, an order for costs against the claimant may be enforced without the court’s permission only up to the total of the orders for, or agreements to pay, damages, costs and interest in the claimant’s favour, and only after the proceedings have ended and the costs have been assessed or agreed (CPR 44.14(1) and (3)). Rules 44.15 and 44.16 set out the exceptions.
Costs against the Crown, such as the Ministry of Defence
An order for costs against the Crown, a government department or an officer of the Crown is not enforced by execution or attachment (Crown Proceedings Act 1947 s.25(4)), and the CPR enforcement Parts 69 to 73, 81, 83, 84 and 89 do not apply to it (CPR 66.6(1)). Instead, on an application made after 21 days from the date of the order, or after the costs have been assessed if that is later, the court issues a certificate of the order, and the department concerned pays the amount certified, together with any interest lawfully due (s.25(1) and (3)). If the court so directs, a separate certificate is issued for the costs, and the application for one may be made without notice (s.25(1); CPR 66.6(3)).
That matters in military noise-induced hearing loss claims, which are brought against the Ministry of Defence: it is a government department, listed as an authorised department under section 17 of the 1947 Act (List of Authorised Government Departments 2026). For the costs side of those claims, see our MoD NIHL costs guide.
How DMD Costs can help
DMD Costs does not act in enforcement. We work for claimant solicitor firms on the costs in housing disrepair, clinical negligence and MoD NIHL claims: we prepare the bill, answer the Points of Dispute and negotiate, which ends in an agreed sum or a costs certificate that your firm can enforce. The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins.
Sources
- CPR Part 44 (rules 44.2(6)(g), 44.7 and 44.13 to 44.17) and CPR Part 40 (rules 40.8 and 40.14A)
- CPR Part 47 (rules 47.9 to 47.12, 47.16 and 47.17) and Practice Direction 47 (paras 10.1, 10.2, 10.5 to 10.7, 16.10 to 16.12)
- CPR Part 70 (rule 70.2) and Practice Direction 70 (para 1.1); CPR Part 71, Part 72, Part 73, Part 83 (rules 83.2, 83.5 and 83.19), Part 84 and Part 89
- CPR Part 66 (rule 66.6) and the Crown Proceedings Act 1947, section 25
- Cabinet Office: List of Authorised Government Departments 2026 (GOV.UK)
- High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991, art 8 and the County Courts Act 1984, s.42
- County Courts (Interest on Judgment Debts) Order 1991 (arts 1, 2 and 4), as amended by S.I. 1998/2400 and S.I. 2019/903; Judgments Act 1838, s.17 and S.I. 1993/564
- Charging Orders Act 1979, s.1
- GOV.UK: Apply for a warrant of control (Form N323)
- Simcoe v Jacuzzi UK Group plc [2012] EWCA Civ 137, which applies Hunt v R M Douglas (Roofing) Ltd [1990] 1 AC 398 (at [34] to [37]); Chohan v Times Newspapers Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 964 (as read in the enforcement options calculator)
- Bevans v Buckenham [2023] EWHC 746 (KB)