Challenging Legal Charges
In this section we will be setting out the general rules on challenging legal charges and recovering costs and also providing specific guidance on situations you may find yourself in.
Costs payable to an opponent will either be under a court order or by agreement. The only way that these can be dealt with is by assessment. Where you have a solicitor acting for you they would normally deal with this.
For all bills payable to your own solicitor you can apply to the court to assess the amount payable. With non-contentious agreements (where proceedings were not begun before the court or an arbitrator) the court can set the agreement aside if it is found to be unfair or unreasonable. With contentious agreements (where proceedings were begun) the court can assess the proper amount payable.
If you apply within 1 month of the bill you have an absolute entitlement to have the bill assessed. Applications after 1 month and within a year are discretionary provided the bill has not been paid. After a year or the bill has been paid the court will only assess the bill in special circumstances. The Guidance from the Senior Court Costs Office gives examples of special circumstances as follows:
- Justifiable delay;
- Payment under pressure;
- Payment under protest;and
- Gross overcharging by the solicitors
For non-contentious bills up to £50,000 you used to be able to apply to the Law Society for a remuneration certificate. However, those regulations were revoked for bills on or after 11th August 2009 and for the time being a challenge to a bill is now to be treated as a complaint by the solicitors involved. This means they are not entitled to charge for dealing with the issues.
If you wish to challenge a bill then there is no time to lose. Contact us for free initial advice on 01525 373322 or by e-mail.
We are here to help 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Either e-mail us anytime, call (01296) 662770 (Nick) or (01525) 373322 (Richard) during the normal working day or (07973) 424178 in an emergency.
