Changes to budgeting coming on 6 April

The CPR is due to be amended as of 6 April 2016 to deal with changes to the costs budgeting regime. The changes apply to cases issued on or after 6 April 2016.

​It is important that practitioners are aware of the changes to the time limits for filing costs budgets. In lower value claims (claim value of under £50,000.00), the budget must be filed with the directions questionnaire and in other claims, the budget must be filed not later than 21 days before the first CMC.

​There is the requirement for a budget discussion report to be filed no later than 7 days before the CMC. This should be completed using the new precedent R that can be found on the Ministry of Justice website.

​CPR Practice Direction 3E is also being amended to include the following updates:

​1. The first page only will be required where the value of the claim is under £50,000.00 or the costs included in the budget come to less than £25,000.00.

​2. Cases involving children are to be excluded from the costs management process.

​3. Cases where the Claimant has limited or severely impaired life expectancy, costs management will 'ordinarily' be dispensed with.

​The familiar penalty of restriction to court fees only remains, so it is important that the new time limits are noted to avoid any costly errors.