Most of the costs rules apply the same way everywhere in England and Wales. London is the exception. A contested detailed assessment in one of the London County Court hearing centres goes to the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO), but the default costs certificate stays local, and the SCCO has its own way of working. The rules also define “London” differently depending on the question. This guide sets out the London rules for claimant firms, with the paragraph behind each.
Which London cases go to the SCCO
The starting point is CPR 47.4: applications and requests in detailed assessment proceedings go to the “appropriate office”. Practice Direction 47 para 4.1 says that is the County Court hearing centre or district registry dealing with the case when the judgment or order was made, or when the event giving the right to assessment happened (such as acceptance of a Part 36 offer), or the one it was later transferred to. Where a tribunal or other body orders the assessment, it is a County Court hearing centre. In all other cases, including Court of Appeal cases, it is the SCCO, so a High Court case dealt with in London goes to the SCCO (para 4.1(c)). The court can also direct that the SCCO is the appropriate office (CPR 47.4(2)).
Paragraph 4.2 then changes the position for these London County Court hearing centres:
- Barnet, Brentford, Bromley, Central London and Clerkenwell and Shoreditch;
- Croydon, Edmonton, Kingston and Mayor’s and City of London;
- Romford, Uxbridge, Wandsworth and Willesden.
The paragraph also lists Ilford, although Ilford County Court was discontinued in 2012 (S.I. 2012/643). For the listed centres, the receiving party must file any request for a detailed assessment hearing in the SCCO, and the SCCO is treated as the appropriate office for everything in the assessment except default costs certificates.
| Step in a London County Court case | Where it goes | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of commencement (N252) and the bill | Served on the paying party, not filed | CPR 47.6 |
| Request for a default costs certificate (N254) | The local hearing centre | PD 47 para 4.2(2)(b) |
| Application to set aside a default costs certificate | The local hearing centre | PD 47 para 4.2(2)(b) |
| Request for a detailed assessment hearing or provisional assessment (N258) | The SCCO, on CE-File | PD 47 para 4.2(2)(a) |
| Appeal from a costs judge | With permission, the Designated Civil Judge for the London Group, or a judge they nominate, with the papers lodged at the County Court at Central London (which PD 47 still calls the Central London Civil Justice Centre), unless the court has directed under CPR 47.4(2) that the SCCO is the appropriate office | PD 47 para 4.2(2)(c); CPR 52.3 |
| Appeal from a costs officer | A costs judge or a District Judge of the High Court, by re-hearing; no permission needed; appellant’s notice (N161) within 21 days | CPR 47.21 to 47.24; PD 47 paras 20.2 to 20.4 |
Our free N258 builder works this out from the court named on the file and says where each form goes. The N254 builder and the N252 builder do the same for their steps.
A worked example
A housing disrepair claim against a London borough settles in the County Court at Wandsworth, with the costs to be assessed if not agreed. The claimant firm serves the notice of commencement and the bill on the borough’s solicitors. If no Points of Dispute arrive within 21 days of service, the firm files its N254 at Wandsworth. If they do arrive, and the costs still don’t settle, the firm files its N258 at the SCCO on CE-File within 3 months after the last day for starting the assessment (CPR 47.14(1)). The deadline calculator gives each date.
Working with the SCCO
The SCCO Guide 2025 sets out how the office works. The points claimant firms meet most often:
- CE-File. Legally represented parties must file in the SCCO through CE-File (Practice Direction 5C; SCCO Guide para 1.5.1). That includes the N258 and its enclosures.
- Electronic bills. Where the bill is a Precedent S spreadsheet, file the spreadsheet and a PDF of its print version (SCCO Guide section 9).
- Offers. In a provisional assessment, the offers go in with the N258 as a separate document, clearly described as offers but without saying who made them, so the costs officer or judge doesn’t look at them until the assessment is done (PD 47 para 14.3(d); SCCO Guide para 16.6). Where the bill goes to a hearing, Part 36 and other without-prejudice offers are not shown to the costs officer or judge until the costs of the assessment are decided (SCCO Guide para 16.5).
- Who assesses. Bills up to £50,000 (excluding VAT) usually go to a costs officer and larger ones to a costs judge (SCCO Guide para 12.4).
- Provisional assessment. Bills of £75,000 or less are assessed on paper (CPR 47.15), unless the court decides a bill is unsuitable, with a target of six weeks (PD 47 para 14.4). If the matter goes no further than the provisional assessment, the costs of the assessment, apart from drafting the bill, are capped at £1,500 plus VAT and court fees (CPR 47.15(5)).
- Hearing papers. The papers in support of the bill must be filed between 14 and 7 days before the hearing, unless the court directs otherwise (PD 47 para 13.11). A core bundle goes on CE-File as a single bookmarked, text-searchable PDF; the rest can go on CE-File, through the HMCTS document upload centre with the court’s permission, on a file-sharing platform if the court agrees, or on paper (SCCO Guide paras 14.2 to 14.4).
The SCCO is at the Thomas More Building, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL. Our glossary entry on the Senior Courts Costs Office explains its role in brief.
The four “Londons” in the costs rules
“London” does not mean the same thing across the costs rules. Each rule below has its own list, so check the one that applies to the question.
| Rule | What it decides | Which places count |
|---|---|---|
| PD 47 para 4.2 | Where a detailed assessment runs | The hearing centres listed above, Kingston and Ilford included |
| CPR 45.3 and PD 45, Section II | The 12.5% London weighting on fixed costs | The areas served by Barnet, Brentford, Central London, Clerkenwell and Shoreditch, Edmonton, Ilford, Mayor’s and City of London, Romford, Wandsworth and Willesden, and outside London, Bromley, Croydon, Dartford and Uxbridge |
| Guideline hourly rates, London 2 | City and central London rates | EC1 to EC4, W1, WC1, WC2 and SW1 |
| Guideline hourly rates, London 3 | Outer London rates | All other London boroughs, plus Dartford and Gravesend |
London weighting needs both halves of CPR 45.3: the receiving party lives, works or carries on business in one of those areas, and instructs a legal representative with conduct of the litigation who practises in one of them. It applies only to the fixed costs in Sections IV, VI, VII and VIII of Part 45, excluding disbursements, so it matters in fixed costs NIHL claims, and not in housing disrepair, which CPR 45.1(4) keeps out of the fast track and intermediate track fixed costs.
London rates
The 2026 guideline hourly rates have three London bands. London 1 is for very heavy commercial and corporate work by centrally based London firms. London 2 covers the City and central London postcodes, and London 3 the rest of London plus Dartford and Gravesend. Outside central London the premium is small: at Grade A, London 3 is £319 an hour, against £295 for National 1.
The band follows the office the fee earner is, or is mainly, attached to, not the court or the client (Guide to the Summary Assessment of Costs 2021, para 31). A Liverpool firm suing a London borough claims Liverpool’s National 1 rates. The other way round, a client who unreasonably instructs London solicitors for a case with no obvious London connection, and which needs no expertise found only there, may recover only the rates where the work should have been done (Wraith v Sheffield Forgemasters [1998] 1 WLR 132; Guide, para 30). Our guide to the 2026 guideline hourly rates has the full table and the bands outside London.
Budgets at Central London
For Part 7 multi-track claims issued from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2028 that are costs managed, valued under £1 million and proceeding in the County Court at Central London or the Leeds or Bristol district registries, a pilot uses simplified budgets (Precedents Z, RZ and TZ) in place of Precedent H (PD 51ZG2). Each represented party files and serves its Precedent Z no later than 21 days before the first case management conference, even where the claim form states a value under £50,000, and a budget discussion report (Precedent RZ) no later than 7 days before it. The pilot excludes claims to which QOCS applies, so a clinical negligence claim at Central London stays on Precedent H. The separate QOCS pilot (PD 51ZG3) runs only in the Manchester and Birmingham district registries.
How we work with London firms
We work for claimant firms across England and Wales, including a firm in London. Files, papers and bills are exchanged electronically, so where your firm is based makes no difference to the work. We prepare electronic bills with their print-version PDF, Points of Dispute or Replies, and the hearing papers, ready for your firm to file. Where a hearing needs an advocate, that is your own solicitor, a Costs Lawyer or counsel; we brief whoever attends. The fee is agreed before we start.
For the rest of the process, from the retainer to getting paid, see our legal costs help page.
Sources
- CPR Part 47: Procedure for Assessment of Costs and Default Provisions (rules 47.4, 47.6, 47.14, 47.15 and 47.21 to 47.24)
- Practice Direction 47 (paras 4.1, 4.2, 13.11, 14.3, 14.4 and 20.2 to 20.4)
- The Senior Courts Costs Office Guide 2025
- Practice Direction 5C: CE-File
- S.I. 2012/643 (discontinuance of Ilford County Court)
- CPR 45.3 (London weighting) and Practice Direction 45 (Section II)
- CPR 45.1 (para 4: housing disrepair claims are outside the fast track and intermediate track fixed costs)
- GOV.UK: Solicitors’ guideline hourly rates
- Guide to the Summary Assessment of Costs 2021 (paras 30 and 31)
- CPR Part 52: Appeals (rule 52.3, permission)
- Practice Direction 51ZG2 and Practice Direction 51ZG3