Services
CCR has a comprehensive team of highly experienced costs draftsmen ready to look at your file and to take the necessary steps to getting the result you want. Read more about the services we offer below and feel free to contact us for a no obligation discussion.
Bill of Costs
Once we have received your file of papers our experienced Costs Draftsman will forensically examine the file and produce a formal Bill of Costs in accordance with the CPR, whether it be a 3 column Bill or an electronic Bill.
The Bill of Costs will consist of a detailed narrative to explain the background to the case and what work had to be undertaken in order to bring it to a conclusion. Given that a high number of Bills will come under £75k, thus subject to a Provisional Assessment, whereby the Court will assess the costs payable based upon limited information, a high quality Bill can significantly affect the end result. “Attention to Detail” is our company mantra – it’s important to you and therefore it’s important to us.
The Costs Draftsman will, where possible, make contact with any party/agency to double check that there are no outstanding invoices to ensure no disbursements are missed. Once completed the Bill will be electronically sent across for your approval and signing prior to service, together with a schedule of any disbursements claimed.
We aim to produce a formal Bill of Costs and send the completed document for approval within 10 working days from receiving the file.
Phased Bill of Costs (that are subject to a Costs Management Order) which also require a Precedent Q, are likely to take longer than 10 days but we shall keep you advised as to likely timescales.
Cost Budgeting
In the ever changing world of costs we produce and complete full Precedent H, Precedent R and Precedent T Forms and are happy to provide assistance with budget management as the case progresses.
We also:
- Provide a supporting document in order to aid the file handler from the point of the Costs Budget throughout the rest of the file’s life which will aid costs management. Thereby ensuring the handler is not going over budget and incurring costs which will not be recoverable inter partes.
- Negotiate on Costs Budgets aiming to agree the figures prior to any CCMC.
- Attend CCMC hearings on your behalf.
- Prepare updated Costs Budgets should the budget be exceeded, or indeed update the Costs Budget to determine whether budget revision is necessary.
- Prepare a fully phased Bill of Costs together with Precedent Q following settlement of the case.
- Costs Budgets will be prepared in sufficient time for service with the Directions Questionnaire, in readiness for the CMCC or in accordance with any Court Order.
- If you are acting on a CFA, we are prepared to defer payment of the budget preparation fee to the conclusion of the case to assist with your cash flow. Furthermore, if the case is ultimately lost, we will (save for in exceptional cases) write off our Budget preparation fee.
N260 Statement of Costs
Should you have an upcoming hearing and require your costs detailing so they may be summarily assessed by the Court, a N260 Form can be prepared on your behalf.
In relation to Infant Approval hearings you may wish to agree costs before the hearing which, we shall endeavour to do. However, should this not be possible a suitable N260 shall be provided if you are minded to have your costs summarily assessed.
Should you have a Joint Settlement meeting or perhaps mediation planned, we recommend a costs schedule be prepared in case costs are discussed as part of the settlement negotiations. Costs schedules can be time consuming, but a hastily prepared schedule may result in lost costs/disbursements. We are happy to prepare costs schedules for this purpose.
Negotiation
To allow you to concentrate on what you do best, our negotiation service will pursue the defendant for an offer in settlement of your costs.
Should no offers in settlement be forthcoming Part 8 proceedings will be issued (on non-litigated matters) and Points of Dispute obtained in order to push the matter on as quickly as possible.
In order to aid cash flow, we ensure interim payments are requested on your behalf at the earliest opportunity.
Once an offer in settlement is received this shall be analysed and reviewed against the formal Bill of Costs and the file itself. This offer shall be broken down to show the profit costs figure you would receive should the offer be acceptable. We will also provide advice as to the next steps and our recommendations as to the appropriate route to take.
Once Points of Dispute are received the same will be reviewed and Replies prepared, if necessary. Finally, should the Defendant still not forward an acceptable offer a Provisional/Detailed Assessment shall be requested, subject to your agreement.
File Handling
Getting your files to us couldn’t be simpler, we offer a free UPS service to collect and drop off your file of papers from office to office. We also provide our own boxes in order to protect your file during transit. Simply call or email us to confirm you have a file for collection, we’ll arrange the rest.
If your electronic case files are compatible with our systems we have the ability to import them via our Proclaim case management software. If not, we can always connect to your server and access your files electronically. Alternatively, we accept files in many electronic means and are adaptable to your requirements.
Enforcement & More
Enforcement
As and when settlement is achieved, we will chase the Defendant for the settlement cheque. If the Defendant is still not forthcoming with the monies due, enforcement proceedings can be commenced by ourselves should you wish us to do so.
Feedback
We are happy to provide feedback once the files have been drafted to all fee earners.
In-House Training
We provide free in-house training on the issue of costs to all fee earners.
Weekly Reporting
A weekly report is provided showing a full list of your outstanding files held by us, detailing the date, status of the file, and profit costs wrapped up in the individual files. The information contained in the reports can be adapted to your specific requirements.
Fixed Costs Recovery
Fixed costs in respect of RTA, EL and PL matters continue to be an area of disagreement. If the parties cannot agree the amount of fixed costs to be paid, it may be necessary for Part 8 proceedings to be issued for the recovery of these costs. We are happy to provide assistance in such cases.
Costs Advice
The partnerships we have with our clients are important to us. We understand there will be occasions when a fee earner may need costs advice or clarification on cost issues. Our staff are always happy to help with such queries – we’re just a phone call away.