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Usually made by the paying party.

• The court must set the certificate aside if the receiving party was not entitled to it (CPR 47.12(1)); otherwise it may set it aside or vary it if there is some good reason why the detailed assessment proceedings should continue (CPR 47.12(2)).
• The application must be supported by evidence, and the court has regard to whether it was made promptly (PD 47 para 11.2(1) and (2)).
• As a general rule, file with it a copy of the bill, a copy of the default costs certificate and a draft of the points of dispute you would serve (PD 47 para 11.2(3)).
• The court may set the certificate aside on conditions, and may order a payment on account of the costs (PD 47 para 11.3).
• In a case at one of the London County Court hearing centres in PD 47 para 4.2, such as Central London, the application is issued and heard at that hearing centre, not the Costs Office (PD 47 para 4.2(2)(b)).
• The court fee is £152 (fee 5.5), not the general application fee.

Usually made by the receiving party.

• Available only after the receiving party has filed its request for a detailed assessment hearing (CPR 47.16(1)), by an application under Part 23 (PD 47 para 15).
• The certificate includes an order to pay the sum certified unless the court orders otherwise, and the court may order it paid into court instead (CPR 47.16(2) and (3)).
• Explain why at least the sum sought is likely to be allowed. Do not refer to any Part 36 offer: it must not be communicated to the judge before the detailed assessment is decided (CPR 36.16(2), as applied by CPR 47.20(4)).

Usually made by the paying party.

• Available once the receiving party has not started detailed assessment proceedings in time: usually 3 months from the judgment, direction, order, award or other determination giving the right to costs (CPR 47.7), or any other time the court set (CPR 47.8(1)).
• The court may direct that, unless the receiving party starts by the date it sets, all or part of its costs are disallowed (CPR 47.8(2)).
• Without this application, late commencement can cost the receiving party only interest on the costs, unless there is misconduct (CPR 47.8(3) and 44.11).

Usually made by the defendant.

• A defendant may apply for security for its costs of the proceedings, and the application must be supported by written evidence (CPR 25.26(1) and (2)).
• The court may order it only if it is just in all the circumstances and either an enactment permits it or a condition in CPR 25.27 applies: for example, the claimant is resident out of the jurisdiction, or is a company and there is reason to believe it will be unable to pay the defendant’s costs if ordered to.
• If it orders security, the court decides the amount, and how and when it is given (CPR 25.26(3)). The rules are now CPR 25.26 to 25.29, not the old 25.12 to 25.15.
• A costs judge has held that the court conducting a detailed assessment has no power under CPR 25 to order security for the costs of the assessment: Part 47 is a self-contained code whose interim measure is the interim costs certificate (Magomedov v Rabinovich [2026] EWHC 962 (SCCO) at [41] and [44], a first-instance decision). Security covering those costs can still be sought from the court dealing with the claim itself ([31] and [43]).

Usually made by any party.

• Apply on Form N244 or orally at a hearing (PD 46 para 5.4). Applications are generally best left until after the trial (PD 46 para 5.2).
• The application and any evidence must identify what the legal representative is alleged to have done or failed to do, and the costs it may be ordered to pay (PD 46 para 5.9).
• An order is appropriate only if the legal representative acted improperly, unreasonably or negligently, that caused a party unnecessary or wasted costs, and it is just to order compensation (PD 46 para 5.5); the legal representative must have a reasonable opportunity to make submissions (CPR 46.8(2)).

Usually made by the solicitor coming off the record.

• The application must be supported by evidence, and notice of it given to the party the solicitor acted for, unless the court directs otherwise (CPR 42.3(2)).
• The order must be served on every party and takes effect when served; anyone serving it other than the court files a certificate of service on Form N215 (CPR 42.3(3); PD 42 para 3.3).
• Until the order is served, or a notice of change is filed and served, the solicitor stays on the record (CPR 42.2(5)), detailed assessment included (HD v North Devon Healthcare Trust [2026] EWHC 2009 (SCCO)).

Usually made by either party.

• Check first whether you need the court: unless a rule, practice direction or order says otherwise, the parties can vary a time limit by written agreement (CPR 2.11), and the time for points of dispute can be extended that way (PD 47 para 8.1). But the parties cannot agree to move a date the court has fixed for a case management conference, pre-trial review, the pre-trial check list, the trial or the trial period, or any other date if that would mean moving one of those (CPR 28.3 and 29.5).
• Where a rule, practice direction or order sets the consequence of missing the deadline, the parties can extend it only by prior written agreement, by up to 28 days, and only if no hearing date is put at risk (CPR 3.8(3) and (4)).
• Otherwise the court may extend time, even after it has expired (CPR 3.1(2)(a)). Apply before it runs out if you can: an application made in time is decided as an extension, not as relief from sanctions, even if it is heard after the deadline (Hallam Estates Ltd v Baker [2014] EWCA Civ 661).

Usually made by the party in default.

• An application for relief must be supported by evidence (CPR 3.9(2)). Where the sanction is the payment of costs, the only route is to appeal the costs order (CPR 3.8(2)).
• The court considers all the circumstances, including the need for litigation to be conducted efficiently and at proportionate cost, and to enforce compliance with rules, practice directions and orders (CPR 3.9(1)).
• It asks three questions: how serious or significant the failure was, why it happened, and then all the circumstances (Denton v TH White Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 906). Apply promptly.

Usually made by the defendant.

• Where the claimant discontinued without needing permission, the defendant may apply to set the notice aside (CPR 38.4(1)), but not more than 28 days after it was served on the defendant (CPR 38.4(2)).
• Powerful reasons are needed: evidence of abuse of the court’s process or egregious conduct of a similar nature, whether or not qualified one-way costs shifting applies (Excalibur & Keswick Groundworks Ltd v McDonald [2023] EWCA Civ 18).
• If the notice stands, the claimant is liable for the defendant’s costs up to the date of service unless the court orders otherwise (CPR 38.6(1)).

Usually made by the defendant.

• The court must set aside a judgment that was wrongly entered (CPR 13.2).
• Otherwise it may set aside or vary the judgment if the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, or there is some other good reason; it must consider whether the application was made promptly (CPR 13.3).
• An application under CPR 13.3 must be supported by evidence (CPR 13.4(3)).