2024 has undoubtedly been the busiest year on record for the Private Client Team at Paramount Legal Costs.
The year started positively with a long-awaited increase in the Guideline Hourly Rates, shortly followed on 1 April by an update to Practice Direction 19B. This brought significant increases across all categories of fixed costs that can be taken by professional deputies, which meant that deputies were able to take fixed costs on more cases, instead of having to submit their bills to the rather lengthy assessment process we are currently experiencing. However, it also led to an increase in the hardship threshold below which they are not permitted to apply for assessment of their costs, meaning that more cases will now fall into this category. It also brought greater flexibility in respect of interim payments, as deputies may now take interim payments at any time during the annual management period, provided that the cumulative sum does not exceed 75% of the work in progress, or 75% of the estimate provided to the Office of the Public Guardian, whichever is the lower.
Around the same time, the SCCO appeared to change their position in relation to general management costs incurred before the date of the Deputy’s appointment. Prior to this, deputies had not experienced any difficulty recovering such costs, but Senior Costs Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker directed that the usual deputyship order does not authorize the recovery of general management costs incurred before the order is issued, and this position was later confirmed as correct by HHJ Hilder. If urgent work is required before the order is issued, deputies must now apply for authority within the deputyship application, or a retrospective application may be made.
In May 2024, Costs Judge James and Costs Judge Whalan, following consultation with the Court of Protection, issued a note regarding costs following the death of P. The note stated that, since the Court of Protection’s jurisdiction ends with P’s death, the Court has no jurisdiction to make orders about costs incurred after P’s death, and therefore the SCCO has no jurisdiction to assess those costs. Again, this was in contrast to what had been allowed previously.
Fortunately, the second half of the year has been quieter in terms of developments in the Court of Protection costs world. HMCTS has recently confirmed that Guideline Hourly Rates will increase in line with Services Producer Price Inflation (SPPI) from 1 January 2025, although, at the time of writing, the new rates have yet to be published.
By the end of November, the Private Client Team had already received significantly more instructions than we did in the whole of 2023, and we have welcomed several new clients during the year, which is fantastic news and testament to the high-quality work produced by the team.
Away from our desks, the Private Client Team has also been busy attending conferences all over the country including the Women in Costs Conference, The Professional Deputies Forum Conference, CoPPA National Conference, Nellie Con, AvMA’s Court of Protection Conference, and HTF Legal Wills & Probate Conference. We’ve met up with existing clients and new clients, had varying degrees of success at the races, and delivered numerous training sessions.
We’ve also had some fun at our quarterly All Together Days, which have involved lots of photos, delicious meals, a trip on the Ullswater Steamer, bowling, crazy golf, and curling (plus a rather nasty injury for a very competitive Director)! We’ve seen some changes to the team during the year, but we have a very strong team in place heading into 2025 and what promises to be an exciting year!
