How to fill in Form N260 with the builder
- Enter the hearing. Add the court, case reference, case title and whose statement it is, then choose the type of hearing and its date (and time, for a hearing other than a fast track trial). The filing deadline appears straight away.
- Add the fee earners. Enter up to four fee earners with their grade (A to D) and the hourly rate claimed. Choose your guideline rate band to see the 2026 rate beside each one.
- Enter the time. Enter hours, or 6-minute units, for attendances on the client, opponents and others, site inspections, the hearing and travel and waiting. Each line is costed as you type.
- Schedule the work on documents. Add up to 30 one-line items of work on documents with the time each fee earner spent; the builder totals every item.
- Add counsel and other expenses. Enter counsel’s name, year of call and fees, court fees and any other expenses, net of VAT, ticking which expenses carry VAT.
- Set the VAT. Claim VAT in full, in part or not at all (PD 44 para 2.3), and add your firm’s VAT registration number when VAT is claimed.
- Check, download and sign. Fix anything the checks mark as an error, download the filled N260, then sign and date it before filing and serving.
What the builder does
- Fills in the court’s own form: the official N260, ready to sign. To change a figure, change it in the builder and download again.
- Works out each line as hours times rate, the schedule of work on documents, the sub total, VAT (in full or in part) and the grand total, to the penny.
- Shows the 2026 guideline hourly rate for each fee earner’s grade and band, and flags a rate above it.
- Gives the last day, and where it matters the time, to file and serve the statement, allowing for weekends, bank holidays, court closure days and the email cut-offs.
- Strikes through “interim application” or “fast track trial”, and whichever of counsel’s “advice/conference/documents” does not apply, and prints the VAT number at the head of the statement when VAT is claimed.
- Offers to put each fee earner in the row for their grade, so the schedule’s (A) to (D) columns cannot be misread.
- Remembers drafts, recent statements and, if you ask, your firm’s details, fee earners and rates, in your browser only, with one button to clear the lot.
- Exports the figures as a spreadsheet, and saves a statement to a file you can reopen or pass to a colleague.
What a statement of costs must show
Each party who intends to claim costs at a fast track trial or at a hearing lasting not more than a day must prepare a written statement showing separately, in the form of a schedule (PD 44 para 9.5(2)):
- the number of hours claimed;
- the hourly rate claimed;
- the grade of fee earner;
- the amount and nature of any disbursement, other than counsel’s fee for appearing at the hearing;
- the legal representative’s costs of attending or appearing at the hearing;
- counsel’s fees; and
- any VAT claimed on those amounts.
The statement should follow Form N260 as closely as possible and must be signed by the party or its legal representative (PD 44 para 9.5(3)). The certificate at its end confirms that the costs claimed do not exceed what the party is liable to pay in respect of the work it covers. For more on preparing one, see our guide to the N260 and summary assessment.
When to file and serve it
The statement must be filed at court and served on any party against whom a costs order will be sought as soon as possible, and in any event not less than 2 days before a fast track trial, or not less than 24 hours before the time fixed for any other hearing (PD 44 para 9.5(4)). The 2 days are clear days, and Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays, Christmas Day and Good Friday do not count (CPR 2.8(4)). Where the last moment falls on a day the court office is closed, the builder gives the working day before.
Email has its own cut-offs. An email that reaches the court at or after 4pm is treated as filed on the next day the court office is open (PD 5B para 4.2; PD 5B does not apply to proceedings in the Business and Property Courts at the Rolls Building). Email service after 4.30pm, or on a day that is not a business day, takes effect on the next business day (CPR 6.26), and serving by email needs the other side’s prior written agreement to accept it, such as an email address on its solicitors’ writing paper stated to be for service (PD 6A para 4.1). A failure to file and serve in time without reasonable excuse is taken into account when the court decides costs (PD 44 para 9.6). For the detailed assessment timetable after a case settles, use our detailed assessment deadline calculator.
When the court will not assess costs summarily
The court will not make a summary assessment of the costs of a receiving party who is legally aided: an assisted person, an LSC funded client or a person receiving civil legal services under Part 1 of LASPO (PD 44 para 9.8). Nor will it summarily assess the costs of a receiving party who is a child or protected party, unless the legal representative has waived the right to further costs (PD 44 para 9.9(1)); costs payable by a child or protected party can still be assessed summarily (para 9.9(2)). A legally aided party, or one represented by its own employee, need not include the certificate at the end of the N260 (PD 44 para 9.5(3)).
Grades and the 2026 guideline hourly rates
The form’s four grades and the guideline hourly rates in effect from 1 January 2026, which the court uses as a starting point on summary assessment:
| Grade | London 1 | London 2 | London 3 | National 1 | National 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: Solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives with over eight years' post-qualification experience, including at least eight years' litigation experience | £579 | £422 | £319 | £295 | £288 |
| B: Solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives with over four years' post-qualification experience, including at least four years' litigation experience | £393 | £327 | £262 | £247 | £247 |
| C: Other solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives and fee earners of equivalent experience | £305 | £276 | £209 | £201 | £200 |
| D: Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners | £210 | £157 | £146 | £142 | £142 |
Guideline rates are not automatic, and they are not a ceiling, but a rate above them needs a clear and compelling justification (Samsung v LG Display [2022] EWCA Civ 466). The band follows the location of the office doing the work; our 2026 guideline hourly rates guide explains which band applies and how to justify a departure.
VAT on a statement of costs
VAT is not included where the receiving party can recover it as input tax; where it can recover only part, only the part it cannot recover is claimed (PD 44 para 2.3), and the builder can claim a share, which it notes under the VAT number. Where VAT is claimed, the VAT registration number must appear in a prominent place at the head of the statement (PD 44 para 2.2). Court fees carry no VAT, and counsel’s fees carry it only where counsel is registered. Whether VAT goes on other payments to third parties depends on whether they are disbursements for VAT purposes: a solicitor’s own travel takes VAT, a court fee does not (PD 44 para 2.11).
Rolls Building courts: the Excel N260
From 14 April 2026, in the Chancery Division, the Technology and Construction Court, the Commercial Court and the London Circuit Commercial Court within the Rolls Building, parties should file and serve an Excel version of the N260 for summary assessments, in addition to a signed read-only PDF, using the judiciary’s Excel template; the PDF may be a signed print of the Excel. Elsewhere, the statement is the form this builder fills, and printing it to PDF once it is signed gives a read-only copy. The spreadsheet export here is a convenience copy of your figures, not the Rolls Building template.
For the other forms in costs proceedings, see our costs forms and precedents guide; the terms are defined in the legal costs glossary.
Sources
- Practice Direction 44: General rules about costs (paras 2.2, 2.3, 2.11 and 9.5 to 9.9)
- Form N260: statement of costs for summary assessment (GOV.UK)
- Solicitors’ guideline hourly rates (GOV.UK)
- Rolls Building Practice Note: summary assessments (2026)
- CPR Part 2 (rule 2.8, counting time)
- CPR Part 6 (rule 6.26, deemed service) and Practice Direction 6A (para 4.1, service by email)
- Practice Direction 5B: communication and filing of documents by email (paras 1.2 and 4.2)
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd v LG Display Co Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 466 (rates above the guideline)
- Open Government Licence v3.0