At a glance
| Form or precedent | What it is for | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| N161 | Appeals in detailed assessment proceedings | CPR 47.21 and 47.22; PD 47 para 20.3 |
| N208 | Starting costs-only proceedings | CPR 46.14; CPR 45.64(3) |
| N244 | Applications, such as setting aside a default certificate | CPR 47.12; PD 47 para 11.2 |
| N252 | Starting detailed assessment | CPR 47.6 and 47.7; PD 47 para 5.2 |
| N253 | Legal aid and fund assessments only | PD 47 paras 17.3 and 18.6; CPR 47.15(3) |
| N254 | Asking for a default costs certificate | CPR 47.9 and 47.11; PD 47 para 10.1 |
| N255 | The certificate the court issues on default | CPR 47.11 and 47.12; PD 47 paras 10.2 and 10.7 |
| N256 and N257 | Certificates during and after assessment | CPR 47.16 and 47.17; PD 47 para 16.10 |
| N258 | Requesting the assessment | CPR 47.14 and 47.15; PD 47 paras 13.2 and 14 |
| N258A, N258B and N258C | Legal aid, fund and Solicitors Act assessments | PD 47 paras 17.2 and 18.3; CPR 46.10(5) |
| N260 | Costs schedule for summary assessment | PD 44 paras 9.2, 9.5 and 9.6 |
| Precedent A | Paper bill of costs (B to D are variants; E is a legal aid schedule) | PD 47 paras 5.1, 5.7 and 5.17 |
| Precedent F | Certificates to include in a bill of costs | PD 47 para 5.21 |
| Precedent G | Points of Dispute and Replies | PD 47 paras 8.2, 12.2 and 14.4; CPR 47.15 |
| Precedent H | Costs budget | CPR 3.13 and 3.15(5); PD 3D para 4 |
| Precedents J, K, L, M and P | Solicitor and client assessments | PD 47, Schedule of Costs Precedents |
| Precedent Q | Costs claimed per budget phase | PD 47 para 5.2(f) |
| Precedent R | Agreed and disputed budget figures | CPR 3.13(2); PD 3D para 11 |
| Precedent S | Electronic bill (spreadsheet) | PD 47 paras 5.1 and 5.A1 to 5.A4 |
| Precedent T | Varying a budget after a significant development | CPR 3.15A; PD 3D para 3 |
| Precedent U | Claiming fixed recoverable costs | CPR 45.63 and 45.64 |
Court forms
N161: Appellant’s notice
Form N161 is the appellant’s notice used for most civil appeals. In detailed assessment proceedings, an appeal against a decision of an authorised court officer lies to a costs judge or a District Judge of the High Court, and Practice Direction 47 says the appellant’s notice should be in Form N161.
N208: Part 8 claim form
Form N208 is the Part 8 claim form. In costs it starts costs-only proceedings under CPR 46.14, where no proceedings have been started and the parties have reached an agreement on all issues, including who pays the costs, made or confirmed in writing, but cannot agree the amount; the claim form must contain or be accompanied by the agreement or confirmation. Where no proceedings have started, an application for a fixed costs determination is also brought this way.
N244: Application notice
Form N244 is the court’s general application notice. In assessment proceedings it is used, for example, to apply to set aside or vary a default costs certificate. An application relying on some good reason under CPR 47.12(2) must be supported by evidence, and the court considers whether it was made promptly; as a general rule the certificate is set aside only if the applicant shows a good reason and files copies of the bill and the certificate and a draft of the proposed Points of Dispute.
N252: Notice of commencement of assessment of bill of costs
Form N252 is the notice of commencement that starts detailed assessment proceedings. The receiving party serves it on the paying party and any other relevant persons with a copy of the bill and the documents Practice Direction 47 requires, such as counsel’s and experts’ fee notes, written evidence of any other disbursement over £500 and, where a costs management order was made, a breakdown of the costs by phase unless an electronic bill already provides it in full. It must normally be served within three months of the judgment, order or other event giving the right to costs.
N253: Notice of amount allowed on provisional assessment
Form N253 is the notice the court sends with a provisionally assessed bill where the costs are payable out of legal aid or out of a fund, stating the amount it proposes to allow. If the provisional assessment is accepted, the receiving party’s representative completes the bill. It is not used for the provisional assessment of costs between the parties, which is requested on Form N258.
N254: Request for a default costs certificate
Form N254 is the receiving party’s request for a default costs certificate, available once the 21 days for serving Points of Dispute, or any agreed or ordered extension, have expired without any being served. It must be signed by the receiving party or its legal representative and filed with a copy of the document giving the right to detailed assessment. The court cannot issue the certificate if any party serves Points of Dispute before it is issued, even late.
N255: Default costs certificate
Form N255 is the default costs certificate the court issues on an N254 request (N255CC in the County Court, N255HC in the High Court). It includes an order to pay the costs, and unless the court orders otherwise the fixed costs it includes for the receiving party are £80 plus the court fee for issuing it. The court must set it aside if the receiving party was not entitled to it, and may set it aside or vary it if there is some good reason why the detailed assessment should continue.
N256 and N257: Final and interim costs certificates
Practice Direction 47 names Form N257 as the model interim costs certificate and Form N256 as the model final costs certificate (N256CC in the County Court, N256HC in the High Court). The court can issue an interim certificate, for such sum as it considers appropriate, at any time after a request for a detailed assessment hearing has been filed, and issues the final certificate once the completed bill has been filed after the assessment. Each includes an order to pay unless the court orders otherwise.
N258: Request for a provisional or detailed assessment
Form N258 is the receiving party’s request for a detailed assessment hearing, or for a provisional assessment where the costs claimed are £75,000 or less. Where Points of Dispute have been served, it must be filed within three months of the end of the period for commencing detailed assessment proceedings, with the documents Practice Direction 47 lists, including the notice of commencement, the bill, the annotated Points of Dispute, any Replies and the relevant orders.
N258A, N258B and N258C: Other requests for detailed assessment
Three variants of N258 cover other assessments: N258A requests a detailed assessment of costs payable out of legal aid, N258B of costs payable out of a fund other than legal aid, and N258C requests a hearing under an order for assessment made under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974, that is, a solicitor and client assessment.
N260: Statement of costs for summary assessment
Form N260 is the model statement of costs for summary assessment. A party intending to claim costs at a fast track trial, or at another hearing lasting no more than a day, files and serves one showing the hours, hourly rates, fee earner grades, disbursements, counsel’s fees and VAT claimed, signed by the party or its legal representative, as soon as possible and in any event at least 2 days before a fast track trial and at least 24 hours before any other hearing. A failure to do so without reasonable excuse is taken into account on costs.
Costs precedents
The costs precedents are model forms annexed to the practice directions: most to Practice Direction 47, the budgeting precedents H, R and T to Practice Direction 3D, and Precedent U to Practice Direction 45.
Precedent A: Model form of bill of costs
Precedent A is the model paper bill of costs for detailed assessment in the Schedule of Costs Precedents annexed to Practice Direction 47. Precedents B, C and D are variants (a bill for the detailed assessment of additional liability only, a bill for costs payable by a defendant and the LSC, and an alternative single-column form), and Precedent E is a legal aid schedule of costs. Where an electronic bill is required, it is used instead.
Precedent F: Certificates for inclusion in a bill of costs
Precedent F sets out the texts of the certificates a bill of costs must contain, as appropriate to the case. A certificate as to accuracy and a certificate as to interest and payments are required in every case. Where costs are claimed for work by a legal representative, the receiving party is not legally aided and the representative is not its own employee, the accuracy certificate confirms that the costs claimed do not exceed what it is required to pay, which reflects the indemnity principle. A further certificate is required where the receiving party is legally aided, and optional ones cover legal aid consent, disbursements of £500 or less and the recovery of VAT.
Precedent G: Points of Dispute and Replies
Precedent G is the model form for Points of Dispute and Replies. Points of Dispute must follow it so far as practicable, identifying general points or matters of principle before the specific items, and Replies must be set out in it whenever practicable. On a provisional assessment the court decides the costs from the bill, the supporting papers and the completed Precedent G, and returns it with its decisions noted on it.
Precedent H: Costs budget
Precedent H is the form for a costs budget, set out phase by phase and verified by a statement of truth signed by a senior legal representative. Where a party’s total costs, incurred and estimated, do not exceed £25,000, or the value of the claim stated on the claim form is less than £50,000, only its first page is used. Save in exceptional circumstances, the recoverable cost of first completing it is capped at the higher of £1,000 and 1% of the total of the incurred costs (as agreed or allowed on assessment) and the budgeted costs (agreed or approved).
Precedents J, K, L, M and P: Solicitors Act 1974 forms
Precedents J, K, L, M and P are for solicitor and client assessments under the Solicitors Act 1974: J is a Part 8 claim form under Part III of the Act, K an order for delivery of a bill, L and M orders for detailed assessment on the client’s and on the solicitor’s application, and P a breakdown of costs.
Precedent Q: Breakdown of costs claimed for each phase
Precedent Q is the model breakdown of the costs claimed for each phase of the proceedings. Where a costs management order has been made, the receiving party serves a breakdown like this with the notice of commencement, unless an electronic bill already provides the same information in full.
Precedent R: Budget discussion report
Precedent R is the model budget discussion report. Where a party has filed and exchanged a budget, all other parties except litigants in person must file an agreed report no later than 7 days before the first case management conference, setting out the figures agreed and not agreed for each phase with a brief summary of the grounds of dispute. Practice Direction 3D encourages the use of Precedent R.
Precedent S: Electronic bill of costs
Precedent S is the model electronic bill, a spreadsheet annexed to Practice Direction 47 (currently version 2.0.1) that records costs by phase, task and activity with summary totals. An electronic bill, in Precedent S or another compliant spreadsheet, is mandatory in Part 7 multi-track claims for costs recoverable between the parties for work done after 6 April 2018, except where fixed or scale costs apply, the receiving party is unrepresented or the court orders otherwise.
Precedent T: Budget variation
Precedent T is the form for varying a costs budget under CPR 3.15A when significant developments in the litigation warrant it. The revising party serves particulars of the variation, confined to the additional costs caused by the development and certified as not included in any previous budgeted costs or variation, and submits them promptly to the court with the last approved or agreed budget.
Precedent U: Fixed costs determination
Precedent U is the form for claiming fixed costs and disbursements under CPR Part 45. A party claiming them at a hearing must file and serve a completed Precedent U no later than 24 hours before the hearing. Where everything except the amount of costs has been agreed in an agreement made or confirmed in writing, an application for a fixed costs determination is supported by Precedent U; any response, completed on that form, is due within 21 days of service of the application (or, where no proceedings had started, of filing the acknowledgment of service), and the court usually decides without a hearing, noting its decision on the form.
Checked against GOV.UK and the Civil Procedure Rules on 18 October 2026. Forms and precedents are revised from time to time, so download the current version from the official page before you use one.