Page 18 - PIC Magazine-Issue-27-Autumn-Winter

COURT OF PROTECTION COSTS
COP COSTS ROUND-UP
COP COSTS ROUND-UP
AUTUMN 2026 Paul
AUTUMN 2026 Paul
Cruickshanks
Cruickshanks
From new SCCO fi ling expectations to lengthy assessment
delays and an uplift in mileage rates, there is plenty for
professional deputies and Court of Protection practitioners
to keep fi rmly on the radar this autumn.
Welcome back to my latest round-up of all things Court of
Protection costs. What began as an occasional update is, I am
pleased to say, becoming something of a regular slot, and there
is certainly no shortage of material to cover this time around.
his update is aimed at
professional deputies, those
assisting them day to day, and
practitioners working within the
Court of Protection who want
to keep costs recovery moving
as smoothly as possible. The issues
may appear procedural at fi rst glance,
but in practice they can make a very
real diff erence to how quickly a bill is
accepted, how easily a Costs Offi cer
can assess your bill, eff ectively using
the supporting papers, and ultimately
how effi ciently costs are recovered
from P’s estate.
In this edition, I look at the Senior
Courts Costs Offi ce guidance on
submitting supporting fi les, including
the use of the Document Upload
Centre for electronic bundles. I also
revisit the question I am often asked
by deputies: when should a bill be
submitted for assessment, particularly
against the background of ongoing
delays at the SCCO?
Finally, there is a practical update on
mileage claims, following the increase
to the approved rate for cars and vans
from 45p to 55p per mile for the fi rst
10,000 business miles, eff ective from
6 April 2026.
I do not intend to dwell unnecessarily
on the SCCO delays, because most
readers will already be well aware of
them. However, it is useful to pause
and take stock of the current position,
particularly for bills between £35,000
and £100,000 in profi t costs. These bills
are generally assessed by a Principal
Costs Offi cer, and the timescales are
not always captured in the SCCO’s
routine published updates.
18
www.pic.legal • Autumn/Winter 2026 Getting the fi le right: the SCCO’s updated approach
It has long been standard practice
to provide the SCCO with your fi le
of papers relied upon in support
of a bill. That remains the case.
What has changed is the practical
route by which those papers may
now reach the SCCO, particularly
where practitioners are working
electronically rather than with
paper fi les.
Paper fi les: Presentation
Still Matters
Where physical fi les are submitted,
they should be sent as soon as
possible after the SCCO confi rms
that the request for assessment
has been accepted. As a general
rule, practitioners should aim to
provide the fi le within 28 days of
that acceptance. The fi le should be
clearly marked with the SCCO case
reference, the protected party’s
surname, and the relevant general
management period or type of bill
being assessed. If the papers are
substantial and spread across several
boxes, each box should be clearly
labelled, for example “box 1 of 3”.
The simple discipline of ordering
documents chronologically can
make a signifi cant diff erence to the
outcome of the assessment. Annual
deputyship reports, estimates of
costs, client care documentation,
disbursement evidence and relevant
correspondence should all be easy
to locate. It is also sensible to include
the acceptance notice emailed by
the SCCO, so that the fi le can be
matched quickly to the assessment.
Electronic Files: The Document
Upload Centre
For electronic fi les, the key
development is the use of the
Document Upload Centre. The bill
itself, the request for assessment
and the relevant supporting court
order must still be fi led in the usual
way. The DUC is concerned with the
supporting papers. For existing cases,
where an SCCO reference already
exists because a previous bill has
been assessed, the supporting bundle
can now be uploaded at the same
time as the bill is lodged. That should
help to reduce one of the small but
frustrating delays that can arise at the
start of the process.
For a new case, where there is not
yet an SCCO reference number, you
will need to wait until confi rmation
of acceptance is received and the
reference number is available. The
supporting papers can then be
uploaded with the correct identifying
details. Files should be provided as
PDF bundles, preferably as a single
chronological bundle rather than
numerous separate documents or
sub-folders.
Practical Points For All Bundles
Whether the fi le is paper or
electronic, the same core principle
applies: make the Costs Offi cer’s task
as straightforward as possible. Emails
should display the date, time, sender
and recipient clearly. File notes should
identify who undertook the work and
the time claimed. Avoid duplication
where possible, especially lengthy
email chains repeated several times
in diff erent parts of the bundle.
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