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Free Consent Order and Tomlin Order Template, with the Costs Clause

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 22 October 2026

Record a settlement the parties have already agreed, as a consent order or a Tomlin order: the court heading, your terms, a standard costs clause in the right place and the signature blocks, checked against CPR 40.6 and PD 40B. From DMD Costs, law costs draftsmen in Westhoughton, Bolton.

  • Free, with no sign-up
  • Word download
  • Standard costs wordings
  • Nothing leaves your browser

Record the settlement the parties have already agreed. The checks on the right update as you type, and the order downloads as a Word document, ready to check and sign.

The kind of order
The settlement is recorded as

A consent order puts the agreed terms in the court’s order itself, so each one can be enforced as an order.

The claim
Who signs, and approval
The agreed terms
Each line becomes an “UPON …” recital. Leave blank if there are none.
Numbers are added for you. Lines starting “(a)”, “(b)” stay as sub-paragraphs. The costs clause is chosen below.

What do these terms do? (CPR 40.6(3))

The costs clause

The builder records what was agreed about costs. It never suggests terms or puts a figure on costs; if the amount is not agreed, it is assessed.

Service
The order is served by

The builder applies CPR Parts 21, 40, 44, 45, 47, 58 and 59, Practice Directions 40B and 44, and the Chancery Guide, as they stood on 22 October 2026. It records terms the parties have agreed and does not suggest any. Check every term against the agreement before it is signed. It is a guide, not legal advice.

Key points

  • DMD Costs’ consent order and Tomlin order builder is a free online tool that records a settlement the parties have already agreed, as a consent order or a Tomlin order, with the costs clause chosen from a fixed list of standard wordings, and downloads it as a Word document.
  • It is completely free, with no sign-up or paywall, and runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to DMD Costs. It never suggests settlement terms and never puts a figure on costs.
  • A consent order must be drawn up in the terms agreed, be expressed as being “By Consent” and be signed by the legal representative for each party, or by a litigant in person (CPR 40.6(7)). A court officer may seal it if it is of a kind listed in CPR 40.6(3), no party acts in person and no approval is needed (CPR 40.6(2)); otherwise a party applies for an order in the agreed terms (CPR 40.6(5)).
  • A Tomlin order stays the claim on terms set out in a schedule or a separate agreement, with permission to apply to enforce them. The terms are a contract, not an order of the court (Community Care North East v Durham at [25]–[28]). PD 40B para 3.5 says any direction for payment of money out of court, or for the payment and assessment of costs, should be in the body of the order, not the schedule.
  • “Subject to detailed assessment if not agreed” means assessment under Part 47 on the standard basis unless the order says indemnity (CPR 44.3(4); Doyle v M&D Foundations at [44]), and, as a general rule, an order that does not mention costs leaves no party entitled to costs in relation to it (CPR 44.10(1)).
  • A settlement by or against a child or protected party is not valid without the court’s approval (CPR 21.10(1)), so the builder stops and points to the approval process.
  • The court fee for asking the court to make the order is £126 (fee 2.5(a)), or £63 (fee 2.5(b)) for an application by consent for payment out of money in court, on our reading of the Fees Order: an application by consent.

How to use the consent order builder

  1. Choose the kind of order. A consent order puts the agreed terms in the court’s order; a Tomlin order stays the claim on terms in a schedule or a separate agreement.
  2. Enter the claim. The court, the claim number and the parties, as on the claim form, and whether there is a counterclaim.
  3. Say who signs. Each party’s solicitors, or that a party acts in person, and whether a child or protected party is involved or the court must approve the order.
  4. Enter the agreed terms. In the parties’ own words, one paragraph a line, and tick what they do so the builder can say whether a court officer can seal the order.
  5. Choose the costs clause. Pick one standard wording from the fixed list: costs assessed on the standard or indemnity basis if not agreed, fixed costs, no order, each side its own, or costs dealt with in the Tomlin terms.
  6. Check and download. Read the checks, preview the order, download it as a Word document, and have it signed for each party before it is filed with the fee.

Both record a settlement and both are made “by consent”. The difference is where the agreed terms sit, and so how they are enforced. The parties choose: incorporate the terms in the body of the order, so they are part of the court’s order, or seek a stay of the claim on terms that they will comply with the agreement in the schedule, with liberty to apply to enforce it (Community Care North East v Durham at [25]).

Consent orderTomlin order
Where the terms areIn the order itselfIn a schedule, or a separate agreement; the order stays the claim
If a term is brokenEnforce the order directly, with no further proceedings (Vanden v Kras at [47])Apply in the same claim under the permission to apply; the court decides then on the terms (Zenith v Coury at [61])
Terms outside the claimThe relief must be within the relief claimed (Chancery Guide, para 16.34)Can include terms the court could not order (Zenith v Coury at [48]; Chancery Guide, para 16.35)
PrivacyA non-party can usually obtain a copy of the order (CPR 5.4C(1)(b))An attached schedule too (Zenith v Coury at [59]); a dated agreement referred to but not attached stays private (at [64]–[66])
Changing it laterThe parties’ agreement weighs heavily against any variation (Community Care North East at [27])The scheduled terms change only as a contract can, for example by rectification (Community Care North East at [28], [34]–[36])
CostsThe costs clause is part of the orderAny order for the payment and assessment of costs goes in the body, not the schedule (PD 40B para 3.5)

Calling an order a Tomlin order does not make it one: an order that stays the claim but contains the terms of settlement as orders is a consent order (Vanden v Kras at [47]–[48]), and a consent order to pay a sum in settlement of a claim is treated as a judgment, so satisfying it can bar a claim against another party liable for the same damage (at [49]–[50]). An undertaking to the court can be enforced without a further application, so an order containing one is a consent order too (Zenith v Coury at [70]).

What every consent order needs

Where all the parties agree the terms of a judgment or order (CPR 40.6(1)), the order (CPR 40.6(7); PD 40B para 3.4):

  • must be drawn up in the terms agreed;
  • must be expressed as being “By Consent”; and
  • must be signed by the legal representative acting for each of the parties to whom it relates or, where it goes to a judge, by a party who acts in person.

A consent order sealed by a court officer need not state the name of a judge (CPR 40.2(1)(c)), and the parties draw it up (CPR 40.3(1)(d)). Where the parties have agreed the amount of costs, the order for costs must state that it is by consent (PD 44 para 9.10). An order that requires an act other than paying money must say when it is to be done (PD 40B para 8.1).

Court officer or judge?

A court officer may enter and seal an agreed judgment or order if (CPR 40.6(2)):

  • it is listed in CPR 40.6(3): payment of money or delivery up of goods; dismissal of the proceedings; a stay of the proceedings on agreed terms disposing of them, whether the terms are in a schedule or elsewhere; a stay of enforcement, or payment by instalments; setting aside an unsatisfied default judgment under Part 13; payment out of money in court; discharge of a party from liability; and the payment, assessment or waiver of costs, or such other provision for costs as may be agreed;
  • none of the parties is a litigant in person; and
  • the court’s approval is not required by the rules, a practice direction or an enactment.

Otherwise, any party may apply for an order in the agreed terms (CPR 40.6(5)): file an application notice with the draft order, drawn so that the judge’s name and judicial title can be inserted (PD 40B para 3.3), using the free N244 builder if you wish. The court may deal with it without a hearing (CPR 40.6(6)), and a court officer who finds a consent order unclear or incorrect may refer it to a judge (PD 40B para 3.2). The builder tells you which applies; an order that also vacates a hearing is, on our reading, not on the list.

In the Commercial Court and the Circuit Commercial Courts, CPR 40.6 does not apply: an application for a consent order must include a draft of the proposed order signed on behalf of all the parties to whom it relates (CPR 58.15(2), (3); 59.12(2), (3)), and a judge deals with it. Tick the box in the builder and it says so.

The costs clause: the standard wordings

The builder offers only these wordings, with the parties and the scope filled in. It never puts a figure on costs: where the amount is not agreed, it is assessed. Each wording is read the way the free costs order decoder reads it.

  • One side pays the other’s costs, assessed on the standard basis if not agreed. “The Defendant shall pay the Claimant’s costs of the claim, to be subject to detailed assessment on the standard basis if not agreed.” Detailed assessment under Part 47 if the amount is not agreed, on the standard basis (CPR 44.3(2), 44.6(1)(c)).
  • One side pays the other’s costs, assessed on the indemnity basis if not agreed. “The Defendant shall pay the Claimant’s costs of the claim, to be subject to detailed assessment on the indemnity basis if not agreed.” As above, but doubts are resolved in the receiving party’s favour, and the proportionality test, which applies only on the standard basis, does not apply (CPR 44.3(2)(a), (3)).
  • One side pays the other’s fixed costs under Part 45. “The Defendant shall pay the Claimant’s costs of the claim, such costs to be the fixed costs and disbursements allowed by Part 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules, together with VAT where appropriate.” For a claim where Part 45 fixes the costs: says so expressly, so the order is not read as agreeing assessed costs (Doyle v M&D Foundations at [44], [55]). VAT may be recovered on top, where appropriate (CPR 45.2).
  • No order as to costs. “There shall be no order as to costs.” Each party bears its own costs (PD 44 para 4.2).
  • Each party bears its own costs. “Each party shall bear its own costs of the claim.” The same effect as no order as to costs (PD 44 para 4.2).
  • Costs are dealt with in the agreed terms (Tomlin only). “There shall be no order as to costs, the parties having agreed in the Schedule to this Order how the costs are to be dealt with.” No order for costs: the agreement deals with them as a contract term, not an order of the court (Community Care North East v Durham at [26], [28]). A direction for the payment and assessment of costs should be in the body of the order, not the agreed terms (PD 40B para 3.5(2)).

Two optional additions go with an order to pay costs: payment within 14 days of agreement or of the final costs certificate, which is a date the court specifies under CPR 44.7(1)(c), and a date from which interest on the costs runs, which the court can order under CPR 44.2(6)(g) and 40.8(2). The interest clause sets only the start date: interest then runs at the rate for judgment debts where one applies (Judgments Act 1838 s.17; in the County Court only on orders of £5,000 or more), and a different agreed rate goes in the terms in the parties’ own words (our reading). Without these additions, the costs are payable within 14 days of the certificate (CPR 44.7(1)(b)) and interest, where interest is payable on it at all, runs from the date of the order (CPR 40.8(1)). As a general rule, an order that does not mention costs leaves no party entitled to costs in relation to it (CPR 44.10(1)), so the builder always asks for a clause. A payment on account of costs (CPR 44.2(8)) needs a figure, so it is not on the menu: if the parties agreed one, record it in the agreed terms in their own words.

In a fixed recoverable costs claim, an agreed order for costs “subject to detailed assessment if not agreed” has been held to mean assessment under Part 47 on the standard basis, displacing fixed costs (Doyle v M&D Foundations at [44], [51], [56]), unless the context shows otherwise, as where the order records the acceptance of a Part 36 offer (at [53]–[56]); if the parties agreed fixed costs, the Part 45 wording says so, with VAT on top where appropriate (CPR 45.2), and if the amount is not agreed, the receiving party applies for a fixed costs determination on Precedent U, decided on paper (CPR 45.64). In a personal injury claim, an order for costs against the claimant is subject to qualified one-way costs shifting (CPR 44.14). Earlier orders matter too: costs reserved become costs in the case if nothing later deals with them (PD 44 para 4.2), so make sure the agreed terms say what happens to each.

Tomlin orders: what goes in the order itself

Where the parties draw up a consent order staying the proceedings on agreed terms recorded in a schedule, any direction for payment of money out of court, or for payment and assessment of costs, should be in the body of the order, not the schedule (PD 40B para 3.5). The builder puts the costs clause in the body and flags a schedule that tries to deal with assessment or money in court. The body also carries the two parts that do the work: the stay, and each party’s permission to apply to enforce the terms without a new claim (Zenith v Coury at [61]). On our reading, a Tomlin order should not also dismiss or discontinue the claim, because the stay is what keeps the claim alive for an application to enforce.

In the Chancery lists of the Business and Property Courts the Chancery Guide also asks that a Tomlin order be headed “Tomlin Order”, that confidential terms are not filed but identified by date and where they are held, that the order names the party who will serve it and ends with a service note (paras 16.21 to 16.23), and that a signed PDF and a clean Word version without the signature blocks are filed (Chancery Guide 2022, paras 16.36 to 16.42). The builder adds the service note when you tick the Chancery box. The court does not normally inspect the settlement terms and takes no responsibility for them (para 16.43).

Children and protected parties

Where a claim is made by or against a child or protected party, no settlement, compromise or payment, and no acceptance of money paid into court, is valid so far as it relates to that claim without the court’s approval (CPR 21.10(1)). The application must include a draft consent order, details of liability, the party’s age and occupation, the litigation friend’s approval, the expert evidence and, except in very clear cases, a legal opinion on the merits (CPR 21.10(3)). If the claim has not been issued, the approval claim is made under Part 8 (CPR 21.10(2)). The court directs how the money is dealt with (CPR 21.11), and costs payable by or out of the money of a child or protected party normally go to detailed assessment (CPR 46.4(2)). The builder stops when you tick that a child or protected party is involved. To fill in the certificate of suitability for a litigation friend, use the free N235 builder.

The court fee

Schedule 1 to the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008 does not name consent orders or Tomlin orders. A consent order is asked for by an application by consent, so on our reading the fee is £126 (fee 2.5(a)), the fee for an application by consent or without notice where no other fee is specified. An application by consent for a payment out of funds deposited in court is £63 (fee 2.5(b)); where the order also does other things, which fee applies is our reading. See them with every other fee by form and step in the free civil court fees calculator.

After the order: assessment and payment

Under an order to pay costs “to be assessed if not agreed”, either party can ask for a costs certificate in an agreed amount (CPR 47.10); if the costs are not agreed, detailed assessment proceedings are started within 3 months of the order (CPR 47.7) with a notice of commencement and the bill: fill in the notice with the free N252 builder, see every date with the detailed assessment deadline calculator, and work out the interest with the interest on costs calculator.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up, no paywall and no limit. It runs in your browser, the Word document is made there too, and nothing you type is sent to DMD Costs.
A consent order puts the agreed terms in the court’s order, so each term can be enforced as an order without further proceedings (Vanden Recycling v Kras at [47]). A Tomlin order stays the claim on terms set out in a schedule or a separate agreement, with permission to apply to enforce them; the court orders the stay but not the scheduled terms, which are a binding contract (Community Care North East v Durham at [25]–[28]). If a scheduled term is broken, a party applies in the same claim to enforce it, and the court decides then on its meaning and enforceability (Zenith Logistics v Coury at [61]).
In the body of the order, not the schedule. Practice Direction 40B para 3.5 says that where the terms of a stay on agreed terms are recorded in a schedule, any direction for the payment of money out of court, or for the payment and assessment of costs, should be contained in the body of the order and not in the schedule. The terms of the schedule are not an order made by the court (Community Care North East v Durham at [28]), so, on our reading, costs provided for only in the schedule cannot go to detailed assessment until a party first applies under the permission to apply for an order carrying that term into effect.
A court officer may enter and seal an agreed judgment or order if it is of a kind listed in CPR 40.6(3), such as payment of money, dismissal, a stay on agreed terms, payment out of court or provision for costs, none of the parties is a litigant in person, and no rule, practice direction or enactment requires the court’s approval (CPR 40.6(2)). Otherwise, a party applies for an order in the agreed terms, filing an application notice with the draft, drawn so the judge’s name can be inserted (CPR 40.6(5); PD 40B para 3.3), and the court may deal with it without a hearing (CPR 40.6(6)). In the Commercial Court and the Circuit Commercial Courts, CPR 40.6 does not apply: the application includes a draft signed on behalf of all the parties (CPR 58.15, 59.12).
It must be drawn up in the terms agreed, be expressed as being “By Consent”, and be signed by the legal representative acting for each party to whom it relates or, where the order goes to a judge, by a party acting in person (CPR 40.6(7); PD 40B para 3.4). Where the amount of costs has been agreed, the order for costs must state that it is by consent (PD 44 para 9.10).
Schedule 1 to the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008 names neither order. A consent order is asked for by an application by consent, so on our reading the fee is £126 (fee 2.5(a)), as for any application by consent where no other fee is specified. An application by consent for a payment out of funds deposited in court is £63 (fee 2.5(b)). The civil court fees calculator lists the fees by form and step.
If the parties cannot agree the amount, a costs judge or officer decides it by detailed assessment under Part 47, on the standard basis unless the order says indemnity (CPR 44.3(4), 44.6(1)(c)). The Court of Appeal has held that in an agreed order the phrase means exactly that, even in a fixed costs claim, so it takes the claim out of fixed costs (Doyle v M&D Foundations at [44], [56]), unless the context shows otherwise, as where the order records the acceptance of a Part 36 offer (Doyle v M&D Foundations at [53]–[56]). Detailed assessment proceedings are started within 3 months of the order (CPR 47.7), and the costs are payable within 14 days of the certificate (CPR 44.7(1)(b)).
Where the court makes an order that does not mention costs, the general rule is that no party is entitled to costs in relation to that order (CPR 44.10(1)). That is why the builder will not produce an order without a costs clause.
Not if it is attached. A schedule attached to the order is part of the sealed order, and a non-party can usually obtain a copy of an order (CPR 5.4C(1)(b); Zenith Logistics v Coury at [59]). To keep the terms private, the order can refer to a dated settlement agreement held by the solicitors instead of setting the terms out, which the High Court has held is not a departure from open justice (Zenith Logistics v Coury at [64]–[66]). The Chancery Guide says such terms should not be filed and the order must identify the agreement and where it is held (para 16.42).
Not without the court’s approval: no settlement, compromise or payment relating to a claim by or against a child or protected party is valid without it (CPR 21.10(1)). The application for approval includes a draft consent order and the documents in CPR 21.10(3); before proceedings start, it is made by a Part 8 claim (CPR 21.10(2)). The court then directs how the money is dealt with (CPR 21.11), and costs payable by or out of the money of a child or protected party normally go to detailed assessment (CPR 46.4(2)).
No. It records a settlement the parties have already agreed, in their own words. The costs clause comes only from a fixed list of standard wordings with no figures in them, and it does not draft offers or settlement letters or suggest what should be agreed.
A consent order is made in a claim that has been issued. Where the parties agreed everything, including who pays the costs, before proceedings started but cannot agree the amount of the costs, the route is costs-only proceedings under CPR 46.14, by a Part 8 claim.

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