Points of Dispute: Format, Deadlines and Tactics

Practice Guides — 2026-10-03

Points of Dispute in inter partes detailed assessment: the 21 day deadline, Precedent G, the required open settlement letter, default costs certificates, Replies and provisional assessment.

Points of Dispute are the paying party's formal challenge to a bill of costs in inter partes detailed assessment. Under CPR 47.14(6), only items specified in the Points of Dispute may be raised at the hearing unless the court gives permission. An omitted challenge may therefore require permission later; do not rely on being able to add it at the hearing.

This guide covers the deadline, the required format under Practice Direction 47, what happens if you serve late or not at all, and how both sides should approach the document. For the assessment process as a whole, see our Practical Guide to Detailed Assessment.

The Deadline: 21 Days

Under CPR 47.9(2), Points of Dispute must be served within 21 days after the date of service of the Notice of Commencement (Form N252). The notice itself states the date on which the period expires.

The parties can agree an extension in writing, and the court can order one. Ask early: a request made before expiry is far easier to grant, and to agree, than one made after.

Practical tip for receiving parties: calculate the date from the applicable service rules and verify the expiry date printed on the N252. Do not choose or alter the deadline merely to make it fall on a working day. Serving a document on another party is not necessarily subject to the same time-calculation provisions as filing a document at a closed court office.

Practical tip for paying parties: diarise the deadline from the date of service, not the date on the notice, and leave enough time for the bill to be reviewed properly. A 300 page bill cannot be dealt with in the final two days.

What Happens If You Miss It

Two consequences follow, and they escalate.

First, under CPR 47.9(3), a party who serves Points of Dispute late may not be heard further in the detailed assessment proceedings unless the court gives permission. Second, if no Points of Dispute have been served at all, the receiving party may file a request for a default costs certificate under CPR 47.11. A default costs certificate includes an order to pay the costs to which it relates: the full bill becomes payable, enforceable as a judgment, without any assessment.

If Points of Dispute are served before the certificate is issued, CPR 47.9(5) prevents its issue, although permission may still be needed for a party who served late to be heard further.

Under CPR 47.12(1), the court will set aside a certificate to which the receiving party was not entitled. In other cases, it may set aside or vary the certificate where there is some good reason for the assessment to continue. An application should be made promptly and supported by the evidence and documents required by Practice Direction 47. Do not treat setting aside as automatic merely because the bill is disputed.

The Required Format: Precedent G

Practice Direction 47, paragraph 8.2 requires Points of Dispute to be short and to the point, and to follow Precedent G of the Schedule of Costs Precedents as closely as practicable. They must:

identify any general points or matters of principle which require decision before the individual items in the bill are considered; and
identify specific points, stating concisely the nature and grounds of the dispute.

Once a point has been made it should not be repeated. List the item numbers to which it applies in the left-hand box, as shown in Precedent G, rather than repeating the same objection against each item.

Paragraph 8.3 requires an open letter accompanying the Points of Dispute stating what sum, if any, the paying party offers in settlement of the total costs claimed. A separate Part 36 offer may also be made, but it does not replace the required open letter. See our guide to Part 36 offers in detailed assessment.

General Points That Actually Work

The general points section is where assessments are won and lost. The recurring candidates:

Hourly rates. Compare the rates claimed against the guideline hourly rates for the correct band and the correct year, and say what rate should be allowed. See our 2026 guideline hourly rates guide.
Proportionality. Where the standard-basis test applies, explain why the costs bear no reasonable relationship to the factors in CPR 44.3(5). Proportionality is not a separate test on indemnity-basis assessment.
Grade of fee earner. Work suitable for a grade C or D fee earner charged at grade A rates is a rates point and a delegation point together.
The indemnity principle. Where there is genuine reason to doubt that the client is liable for the sums claimed, raise it. A speculative indemnity principle point with nothing behind it carries little weight.

Generic objections such as "excessive" or "unreasonable", without grounds and without a counter-figure, achieve nothing except to irritate the costs judge. The strongest Points of Dispute read like a working document for the hearing: point, ground, figure.

Plead Everything You Need

CPR 47.14(6) bears repeating: only items specified in the Points of Dispute may be raised at the hearing without permission. A challenge to the retainer, to a success fee, or to the status of a fee earner that first appears in a skeleton argument months after service will need the court's indulgence, and may not get it. If a point matters, it goes in the document.

Replies

The receiving party may serve a Reply within 21 days of service of the Points of Dispute (CPR 47.13). Replies are optional. Practice Direction 47, paragraph 12.1 limits them to points of principle and concessions, excluding general denials, specific denials and standard-form responses.

For a bill within the provisional-assessment limit, the court ordinarily decides the assessment on the papers. A permitted Reply should therefore explain material points of principle clearly and identify concessions. That does not remove the limits in paragraph 12.1 or justify a standard denial of every objection.

These deadlines concern inter partes assessment. Solicitor-client assessment under CPR 46.10 has a different timetable, subject to the court's order.

Provisional Assessment Changes the Economics

For proceedings that do not go beyond provisional assessment, CPR 47.15(5) limits the assessment costs awarded to any party to £1,500 plus VAT and court fees, excluding the costs of drafting the bill. This limits recovery from the opponent, not the amount a party may agree to pay its own representative.

A request for an oral hearing must ordinarily be filed and served within 21 days after receipt of the provisional-assessment notice and identify the items to be reviewed. Under CPR 47.15(10), the requesting party pays the costs of and incidental to that hearing unless it achieves an adjustment in its favour of at least 20% of the sum provisionally assessed, or the court otherwise orders. A small improvement on one item is not necessarily enough.

How We Can Help

Mackenzie Costs drafts and responds to Points of Dispute for solicitors and litigants across England and Wales, acting for receiving and paying parties. If you have been served with a Notice of Commencement, or need points drafted against a bill, contact us for a quote.

Sources

CPR Part 47, Practice Direction 47, CPR Part 44 and CPR Part 46.

Reviewed on 3 October 2026. This guide provides general information; review the costs order, service evidence and applicable procedure in each case.

Related Specialist Support

Costs Budgeting and Detailed Assessment: Precedent H, dispute documents, negotiations and assessment strategy.
Costs Lawyer Support: Direct help with costs procedure, strategy, drafting and advocacy.
Bills of Costs: Clear, defensible traditional and electronic bills prepared for recovery.