PD51ZG3 will apply to Part 7 multi-track claims in the High Court District Registries at Manchester and Birmingham to which CPR 44.13 (Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting) applies. It is not intended to apply to County Court cases and there will be no financial limit on the value of the claims.

The commencement date of this pilot is the 6 April 2025 and it will run for 3 years (subject to Parliamentary approval), aligning with the Business and Property Court Pilot and the less than £1 million non-BPC/non-QOCS Pilot.

In terms of the new process, all parties (save for Litigants in Person) will file a Precedent Z 21 days before the first CMC. In most cases, the Defendant will then file a Precedent RZ, within a prescribed timescale.  The Claimant will not however be required do so because, apart from in a very small number of cases, they will have QOCS protections and will not be called on to pay the Defendant’s costs. The Claimant does not therefore generally need to comment on the Defendant’s budget.

QOCS protections means there is generally no need to costs manage the Defendant’s costs (because the Claimant will not be called on to pay the Defendant’s costs). The Court retains the power to manage the Defendant’s costs in appropriate cases. The CPRC sub-committee’s view is that this is most likely to happen if the Defendant has pleaded (or otherwise raised) a credible case that the claim (or Claimant) is fundamentally dishonest.

For information relating to the Pilot Schemes under PD51ZG1 and PD51ZG2 see: https://clarionlegalcosts.com/2025/02/10/costs-budgeting-light-pilot-schemes-179th-practice-direction-update/

The new Precedent Cost Forms for all 3 Costs budgeting “light” Pilot Schemes are available here: Precedent Cost Forms – Justice UK

Anna Lockyer is a Senior Associate in the Costs and Litigation Funding Department at Clarion Solicitors. You can contact the team at civilandcommercialcosts@clarionsolicitors.com.