NIHL Fixed Costs 2026: CPR 45, Annex E and Table 15 Explained

NIHL fixed costs are governed by Section VIII of CPR Part 45 and Table 15 of Practice Direction 45, where the claim has been, or should have been, started under Annex E of the Pre-Action Protocol for Disease and Illness Claims and would normally be, or is, allocated to the fast track.

That is the short answer. The more important answer is that not every noise induced hearing loss claim falls within that regime. A claim can fall outside it because of its value, its track, the number of defendants, the defendant’s response, the defendant’s status, whether it is a test case, whether the claimant served in the armed forces, or because a party is a protected party. For claimant firms, identifying the right costs regime at the start matters as much as calculating the amount at the end.

NIHL fixed costs at a glance

What are NIHL fixed costs?

Noise induced hearing loss claims have their own fixed recoverable costs scheme. Under CPR 45.52, Section VIII applies to an NIHL claim which has been or should have been started under Annex E, and which would normally be, or is, allocated to the fast track. Where it applies, CPR 45.53 limits the costs allowed to the fixed costs in Table 15 and the disbursements in Section IX. Additional pre-litigation advice is included in the pre-litigation stage costs and is not separately recoverable (CPR 45.53(2)).

That gives NIHL a different structure from an ordinary fast track claim under Table 12. A qualifying NIHL claim should not be calculated on the fast track complexity-band table merely because it is a fast track case: if Section VIII applies, Table 15 is the starting point.

Current NIHL fixed costs: Table 15

Source: Practice Direction 45, Table 15, checked 4 October 2026. The trial advocacy fee is separate from the maximum for stages 3B to L3, and VAT is added where appropriate.

What the Table 15 stages mean

Annex E divides the pre-action work by what happened on liability and whether papers were prepared to start proceedings. Table 15 then adds the litigation stages once proceedings are issued:

• 2A: liability admitted, papers not prepared to start proceedings.
• 2B: liability admitted, papers prepared to start proceedings.
• 3A: liability disputed, papers not prepared to start proceedings.
• 3B: liability disputed, papers prepared to start proceedings.
• L1: on or after issue, before the court allocates the claim.
• L2: on or after allocation, before the claim is listed for trial.
• L3: on or after listing for trial, before the trial.

Identifying exactly where the claim concluded can therefore change the fixed costs entitlement materially.

When does Annex E apply?

Paragraph E2 of Annex E says it applies to NIHL claims where the first letter of claim is sent on or after 1 October 2023. The letter of claim date should therefore be one of the first things checked when reviewing the costs, rather than the settlement date, the issue date or the date the costs are claimed.

Which NIHL claims are excluded from Table 15?

Paragraph E4 of Annex E excludes the following NIHL claims from the special fixed recoverable costs regime:

1. Military claims: claims by members of the armed forces in respect of their service career. This matters for MoD NIHL claims, with an important qualification set out below.
2. Claims valued at more than £25,000. That does not mean assessed costs follow automatically: if the claim suits the intermediate track, intermediate track fixed costs may apply.
3. Claims allocated to, or likely to be suitable for, the intermediate track or the multi-track. Section VIII is designed for fast track claims.
4. Claims properly brought against four or more defendants, each of which is still trading or has identified insurance cover for the material period.
5. Claims where any defendant’s letter of response alleges that the claimant’s occupational hearing loss is de minimis, requests a second audiogram, or requests its own medical evidence. The costs regime can therefore depend partly on the position the defendant takes.
6. Test cases on issues of breach of duty in respect of any defendant.
7. Certain sole defendant claims. Where the sole defendant appears on the NIHL List maintained by Claims Portal Ltd, the claim must start under the EL/PL Protocol rather than Annex E. Where the defendant is not on the NIHL List when the letter of claim is sent, the claim must start under Annex E (paragraphs E5 to E8).

That is why “NIHL claim equals Table 15” is too simple. The text of Annex E is on the Pre-Action Protocol for Disease and Illness Claims page.

Protected parties are outside Section VIII too

A further exclusion sits in Part 45 itself rather than in Annex E. Under CPR 45.1(6), Sections VI, VII and VIII do not apply where a party is a protected party. Check it before treating an NIHL matter as a straightforward Table 15 claim.

Military NIHL fixed costs: the important distinction

Annex E excludes military claims by members of the armed forces in respect of their service career, so an MoD NIHL claim is not within the special Section VIII and Table 15 regime. But that does not create a blanket rule that MoD NIHL claims are outside fixed costs. The exclusion is from the special NIHL regime, and it remains necessary to consider whether another part of Part 45 applies.

• Fast track: CPR 45.43 applies Section VI to claims which would normally be or are allocated to the fast track, unless Section IV, VII or VIII applies. A fast track military claim excluded from Section VIII may therefore need to be considered under the ordinary fast track fixed costs.
• Intermediate track: Section VII applies to claims which would normally be or are allocated to the intermediate track (CPR 45.49), and CPR 26.16 names noise induced hearing loss and other employer’s liability disease claims in complexity band 3, although assignment remains fact-sensitive.

So the accurate position is that military NIHL is excluded from the special Table 15 regime, not exempt from Part 45 as a whole. Transition, value and track all still need checking. For what happens to costs once an MoD claim settles under the Matrix, see our guide to MoD NIHL costs after a Matrix settlement, and for the service itself, MoD NIHL costs drafting.

NIHL claims above £25,000

The same principle applies. A claim over £25,000 is excluded from Annex E and so from Table 15, but a claim between £25,000 and £100,000 may fall within the intermediate track if it meets the ordinary criteria. Under CPR 26.16, NIHL claims normally sit in complexity band 3 there, so the relevant figures may come from Table 14 rather than Table 15. The first question is not “which Table 15 stage have we reached?” but “does Table 15 apply to this claim at all?”

NIHL fixed costs with multiple defendants

Table 15 increases with one, two or three defendants, but CPR 45.54 sets its own rules on how they are counted:

• the number of defendants means the number of active defendants against whom the claimant obtains a settlement or an award of damages;
• where all the defendants admit liability and coordinate settlement, only one set of Stage 2 costs is allowed; and
• where at least one defendant admits liability and settles pre-litigation while another denies it, the admitting defendants pay 100% of the stage 2A or 2B costs, Stage 3 and later stages apply to the rest, and the claimant gives credit for the costs already payable, so that the maximum under any stage is the applicable stage costs.

Counting every company named in the first letter of claim will not necessarily produce the right Table 15 figure.

Are disbursements included in NIHL fixed costs?

No. The fixed costs in Table 15 and the recoverable disbursements are separate. For Section VIII claims, CPR 45.61 allows the fees of the intended trial advocate for any step reasonably undertaken, where both the use of that advocate and the cost are justified, and any other disbursement reasonably incurred. Under CPR 45.57 the amount allowed is what is reasonable and proportionate.

Fixed costs do not mean every expert or medical disbursement passes without scrutiny. The paying party can still challenge whether it was reasonably incurred, whether the amount was reasonable and proportionate, and whether it duplicates work allowed elsewhere.

Can NIHL fixed costs be exceeded?

Potentially, but the routes are deliberately narrow.

• Exceptional circumstances (CPR 45.9). The court may consider a claim for more than the fixed costs, excluding disbursements, where there are exceptional circumstances making it appropriate. If so, it may assess the costs summarily or order a detailed assessment. A file that simply took more work than expected does not meet that test on its own.
• Vulnerability (CPR 45.10). The court may do the same where a party or witness is vulnerable, the vulnerability required additional work, and by reason of that additional work alone the claim is at least 20% greater than the fixed costs. A vulnerable claimant does not mean an automatic 20% uplift: the additional work has to be caused by the vulnerability.

Pursuing more than fixed costs carries risk. Where costs are assessed under either route but come out less than 20% above the fixed costs, CPR 45.11 limits the party who claimed them to the lesser of the fixed costs and the assessed costs. CPR 45.12 lets the court make no order for the costs of the costs-only proceedings or detailed assessment, or order the party who made the claim to pay some or all of them. An application above fixed costs is a commercial decision, not a free attempt to improve the figure.

Unreasonable behaviour: the 50% adjustment

Under CPR 45.13, where costs are ordered in favour of a party who behaved unreasonably, the other party may apply for those costs to be reduced by an amount equal to 50% of the fixed costs. Where costs are ordered against a party who behaved unreasonably, the other party may apply for them to be increased by the same amount. Unreasonable behaviour means conduct for which there is no reasonable explanation. This is separate from the exceptional circumstances test.

London weighting and VAT

Where CPR 45.3 is satisfied, London weighting of 12.5% is added to the fixed costs. The receiving party must live, work or carry on business in one of the areas listed in Section II of Practice Direction 45, and must instruct a legal representative with conduct of the litigation who practises in one of those areas. The weighting applies to the fixed costs, not the disbursements.

CPR 45.2 allows VAT in addition to the fixed costs in Section VIII where appropriate, so the Table 15 figure should not be treated as the final gross amount payable.

NIHL fixed costs and Part 36

Part 36 still matters on a fixed costs NIHL claim. CPR 45.15 provides that in a claim within Section VI, VII or VIII, where a Part 36 offer is accepted, CPR 36.23 applies instead of the relevant section; and where the claimant fails to obtain a judgment more advantageous than the defendant’s Part 36 offer, CPR 36.24 applies. That matters most where a defendant’s offer is accepted late, where the claimant fails to beat a defendant’s offer at trial, and where settlement falls on the boundary between two Table 15 stages. The date of the offer, the expiry of the relevant period and the stage reached can each change the figure.

Check the regime before the number

The commonest mistake is to start with the number: “the claim settled at stage 3B, so the costs are £4,749.” That may be right, or entirely wrong. Before applying Table 15, check:

1. When was the first letter of claim sent?
2. Was the claim required to start under Annex E?
3. Was a sole defendant on the NIHL List?
4. Is it a military claim?
5. What is the claim worth?
6. Is the claim suitable for the fast track?
7. Has a defendant raised one of the E4 medical points?
8. How many qualifying active defendants remain?
9. Is the claimant a protected party?
10. Has the claim moved into another Part 45 regime?
11. What stage was reached when it settled?
12. Which disbursements are recoverable?
13. Does Part 36 affect the costs?
14. Is there a credible CPR 45.9, 45.10 or 45.13 point?

Only once those are answered is the Table 15 calculation straightforward.

Worked examples

One defendant admits liability before issue

The first letter of claim was sent after 1 October 2023, Annex E applies, there is one qualifying defendant, liability is admitted and the claim settles before papers are prepared to start proceedings. The starting figure is stage 2A: £2,994, plus VAT where appropriate and recoverable disbursements.

Three defendants, liability disputed, claim issued

Annex E applies, damages are recovered against three active defendants, liability was disputed, papers were prepared, and the claim was issued but settles before allocation. The starting calculation is stage 3B (£5,988) plus L1 (£2,787): £8,775, before VAT and disbursements. If the defendants admitted or settled at different stages, CPR 45.54 still needs checking.

A £40,000 NIHL claim

The claim is outside Annex E because it is valued above £25,000. That does not automatically produce assessed costs: if it falls within the intermediate track, Section VII and Table 14 must be considered, with NIHL normally in complexity band 3.

An MoD hearing loss claim

A former serviceman brings a hearing loss claim arising from his service. The claim is excluded from Annex E, so Table 15 is not the starting point merely because the injury is NIHL. The analysis moves to transition, value, allocation or likely allocation, whether another part of Part 45 applies, the settlement wording, and the costs entitlement itself.

Do NIHL fixed costs make a costs draftsman unnecessary?

No. The work changes. On assessed costs, a costs draftsman’s work centres on hourly rates, time, proportionality and itemisation. On fixed costs, the disputes are about which regime applies, which table, which stage was reached, how many defendants count, whether the claim was excluded from Annex E, transition, track and complexity band, Part 36, disbursements, London weighting, exceptional circumstances, vulnerability and unreasonable behaviour. A mistake over the regime can be worth far more than an argument over a few units of time.

How DMD Costs can help with NIHL costs

DMD Costs works for claimant solicitor firms on NIHL costs, including MoD NIHL. We can review whether a matter falls within Annex E and Table 15, the EL/PL Protocol, the ordinary fast track or intermediate track fixed costs, or assessed costs, and then help with the fixed costs calculation, multiple defendant points, disbursements, Part 36 consequences, bills of costs where assessed costs apply, Points of Dispute, Replies and negotiation. The instructing solicitor retains conduct of the matter throughout.

Instructions come through the DMD Costs portal, where firms upload their papers and follow progress; it is also available as a mobile app. Our full range is on our costs drafting services page.

The practical point

NIHL fixed costs are not difficult to calculate once you know which regime applies. The hard part is identifying the regime. For a straightforward qualifying fast track claim under Annex E, Section VIII and Table 15 give the answer. But NIHL sits where several regimes meet: the EL/PL Protocol, ordinary fast track and intermediate track fixed costs, the military exclusion, protected parties, the other Annex E exclusions and assessed costs. Establish which protocol, track and Part 45 section apply, which stage was reached and which defendants count, and only then calculate the costs.

Sources: CPR Part 45, Practice Direction 45 Table 15, Annex E of the Pre-Action Protocol for Disease and Illness Claims and CPR 26.16, all checked on 4 October 2026.