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SECTION 8  
8.1   Forms of Request
  
(a)   There are four forms of request:
  
(i)   N258: request for detailed assessment hearing (general form).
(ii)   N258A: request for detailed assessment (legal aid/LSC only).
(iii)   N258B: request for detailed assessment (costs payable out of a fund other than the Community Legal Service Fund).
(iv)   N258C: request for detailed assessment hearing pursuant to an order under Part 3 of the Solicitors Act 1974Acts.
(b)   The request should be filed in the District Registry or County Court in which the case was being dealt with when the judgment or order for costs was made or when the event occurred which gave rise to the right to assessment, or to which it has subsequently been transferred; in all other cases the request must be filed in the SCCO (CPR 47.4). Special provisions apply to cases proceeding in the London County Courts: see para 8.2, below.
(c)   In cases in which Form N258 is appropriate, the request should be filed within six months after the judgment, order or event giving rise to the right to costs. In cases in which any of the other three forms of request is appropriate, the request should be filed within three months after the judgment, order or event giving rise to the right to costs. As to the making of agreements or applications for an extension of this time limit, see para 17.5, below.
8.2   Detailed Assessment by the SCCO of Costs of Civil Proceedings in London County Courts
   Where there is an order or judgment for costs in civil proceedings in the courts listed below, the receiving party must file the request for detailed assessment in the SCCO. All applications and requests must be made there. The relevant courts: Barnet, Bow, Brentford, Bromley, Central London, Clerkenwell, Croydon, Edmonton, Ilford, Lambeth, Mayors and City of London, Romford, Shoreditch, Uxbridge, Wandsworth, West London, Willesden and Woolwich.
8.3   Documents to Accompany the Request
  
(a)   Each form of request contains a series of tick boxes which give guidance as to the documents which should accompany the request. In cases of difficulty or uncertainty litigants and their representatives should also refer to the full list of documents which is set out in the Costs Practice Directionpdp-43 at para 40.2.
(b)   As to the fee which may be payable when filing a request, further details are given in Section 27, below.
8.4   Allocation to a Costs Officer or Costs Judge
  
(a)   As a general rule bills not exceeding £75,000 (excluding VAT) will be allocated to a costs officer. Larger bills will be allocated to a Costs Judge. Costs Judges also assess bills with a value below £75,000, excluding VAT, where they are linked to other bills which exceed that sum, involve complex legal argument, or involve an assessment under the Solicitors Act 1974.
(b)   On receipt of a form of request for a detailed assessment hearing, duly completed, the court clerk will enter the case on the computer, give it a reference number and then allocate the case by ballot to a particular costs officer or Costs Judge. The court clerk will then prepare an acknowledgement of the request which gives details of the reference number and the initials of the costs officer or Costs Judge to whom it has been assigned.
(c)   Where the parties are agreed that the detailed assessment should not be made by a costs officer the receiving party should so inform the court clerk when filing the request. The court clerk will then allocate the case to a Costs Judge.
(d)   If, after a case has been allocated to a costs officer, a party who objects to the detailed assessment being made by a costs officer must apply to a Costs Judge setting out the reasons for the objection. If sufficient reason is shown the court will direct that the bill should be assessed by a Costs Judge.
8.5   Obtaining the Date for the Hearing
  
(a)   On receipt of the request for a detailed assessment hearing the court will fix a date for the hearing, or, if the costs officer or Costs Judge so decides, will give directions or fix a date for a preliminary appointment.
(b)   The court will give at least 14 days notice of the time and place of the detailed assessment hearing to every person whose name and address appears on the statement of persons to whom notice should be given which accompanies the request
(c)   Cases assigned to a costs officer are usually given a date for hearing not more than 12 weeks later than the date the request for a hearing was filed. Cases assigned to a Costs Judge are usually given a date for hearing not more than six months later than the date upon which the request for a hearing was filed. When filing the request the receiving party should also file a note of any dates upon which, to his knowledge, a detailed assessment hearing would be inconvenient for any party likely to attend.
(d)   One or two cases every day will be listed before the Principal Costs Officer in Room 2.07 each day. The cases will be allocated on the day to a Costs Judge or costs officer who becomes available.
(e)   As to the making of an application to change the date for hearing once fixed, see para 17.6.
8.6   Application for an Interim Costs Certificate
  
(a)   At any time after the receiving party has filed the request for a detailed assessment hearing, the receiving party may apply for the issue of an interim costs certificate. Further details about making applications are given in Section 17, below. The application should be listed before the costs officer or Costs Judge to whom the case has been allocated. If the detailed assessment has been allocated to a Deputy Costs Judge the application will be heard by the Sitting Master (see para 1.3).
(b)   In determining what, if any, interim certificate to make, the court will consider, amongst other things, the bill of costs, points of dispute thereon and any reply thereto and the certificate in the bill as to any payments on account which have already been made.
(c)   The form of interim costs certificate, N257, specifies the amount which must be paid, the time within which payment must be made and specifies whether the payment should be made to the receiving party or into court to await the issue of a final costs certificate. Payment into court is made at The Court Office, Kingsway, WC2B 6LE (DX 44455 Strand). Cheques must be made payable to the "Accountant General of the Supreme Court". The general form is the Form 100 Requests for Lodgment which must be accompanied by the relevant request for lodgment and proof that court proceedings exist.
(d)   An application to amend, cancel or stay enforcement of an interim costs certificate may be made to a Costs Judge (but not to a costs officer) and applications to stay enforcement may also be made to any court which has jurisdiction to enforce the certificate. Proceedings for enforcement of an interim costs certificate may not be issued in the SCCO.
8.7   Lodging Papers in Support of the Bill
  
(a)   Unless the court otherwise directs the receiving party must file with the court the papers in support of the bill not less than seven days before the date for the detailed assessment hearing and not more than 14 days before that date.
(b)   Save as mentioned below the papers to be filed and the order in which they are to be arranged is as follows:
  
(i)   instructions and briefs to counsel arranged in chronological order together with all advices, opinions and drafts received and response to such instructions. Instructions are now frequently given by letter or email. These instructions should be separated or copied from the file if the original instructions sent to counsel are not available;
(ii)   reports and opinions of medical and other experts;
(iii)   any other relevant papers;
(iv)   a full set of any relevant pleadings to the extent that they have not already been filed in court;
(v)   correspondence, files and attendance notes;
(vi)   where the claim also includes a claim in respect of an additional liability (as to which, see Section 19, below) any papers relevant to the issues raised by the claim for additional liability.
(c)   Where a claim is in respect of an additional liability only, the papers to be filed are such of those papers listed at (b) above as are relevant to the issues raised by the claim for additional liability.
(d)   Further information about lodging documents and about orders for the production of documents is given in Section 10, below.
8.8   Obtaining Files From Other Courts
   Where a District Registry or a County Court has directed that the detailed assessment hearing shall be at the SCCO, the District Registry or County Court will send their court file to the SCCO. The receiving party is responsible for filing all other papers at the SCCO. If, in cases in which the order for costs was made in the Royal Courts of Justice, the parties consider that the court file is required for the assessment proceedings, they should so notify the SCCO in sufficient time to enable the SCCO to obtain it.