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Costs Judge Master Whelan today handed down Judgment in the matter of PLK & Others which provides guidance to Costs Officers who assess the majority of Court of Protection Bills.
The Judgment states that Hourly Rates claimed that are up to 120% of the published 2010 Guideline Hourly Rates will prima facie be regarded as reasonable. The effect of the Judgment is that hourly rates increase as follows:
Bands (A,B,C,D)
London 1
£490
£355
£271
£165
London 2
£380
£290
£235
£151
London 3
£275-320
£206-275
£198
£145
National 1
£260
£230
£193
£142
National 2
£241
£212
£175
£133
Paragraph 35 of the Judgment is pertinent in relation to the immediate application of the revised rates:
"....This approach can be adopted immediately and is applicable to all outstanding bills, regardless of whether the period is to 2018, 2019, 2020 or subsequently. It goes without saying that this approach is subject ultimately to the recommendations of Mr Justice Stewart and his Hourly Rates Working Group and the Civil Justice Council. Ultimately the recommendations of the Working Group must be adopted in preference to my findings."
The full Judgment can be found here:
At SPH, we not only prepare your Bill of Costs but we also provide a full cradle to grave e-filing and assessment service.
Please contact our Alison Bradbury on 01772 435550 for any assistance or email her at ab@sphcosts.com