At a glance, the costs of a professional Deputy may seem expensive. However, the level of knowledge and work undertaken by a Deputy justifies these costs, especially in a case where the award was of substantial value. Once broken down, the costs of a Deputy are reasonable and can be justified.

Case summary

The Protected Party is a 24-year old with severe cerebral palsy. He suffered intracranial haemorrhage and brain injury following a traumatic premature birth and during a breech delivery. His litigation friend brought a clinical negligence claim on his behalf, arguing that the Protected Party’s injuries could have been avoided by a caesarean delivery. The Defendant accepted liability as the brain injury could have been avoided.

At the settlement hearing, some heads of loss had been agreed, but the costs of the professional deputy remained in dispute.

All parties accepted that the Protected Party lacked capacity to look after his own financial affairs, and predicted that this would be the case for the remainder of his life time. Therefore, a Professional Deputy was to be appointed; the cost of which continued to be argued.

It was deemed that although the Protected Party’s parents were supportive, it was not appropriate for them to administrate the Protected Party’s financial and property affairs. They had stated that they wanted to work alongside the Deputy, not against them. The Protected Party had some level of understanding and communication, so the Deputy was obliged to liaise directly with him.

What is considered reasonable for Deputyship costs?

For annual management

Year	Claimant Costs	Defendant Costs	Award
1	30,605 plus cost of 2 visits	14,000 inclusive of 2 visits	30,000 inclusive of visits
2	21,492 plus cost of 2 visits	9,000 inclusive of 2 visits	20,000 inclusive of visits
3	17,040 plus cost of 1 visit	8,000 inclusive of 1 visit	15,000 inclusive of visits
4	17,040 plus cost of 1 visit	8,000 inclusive of 1 visit	15,000 inclusive of visits
5 onwards	11,232 plus cost of 1 visit	7,000 inclusive of 1 visit	10,000 inclusive of visits

The parties agreed that for extras such as transfers of Deputies, Wills, co-habitation or pre-nuptial agreements and “crisis payments”, a further £38,160.00 was reasonable.

The Judge allowed a total of £898,993.00.

This judgment can then be compared to the PNBA Facts & Figures 2017/18 (pages 258-288) whereby this outlines what could be classed as reasonable when awarding damages to cover the cost of the claimants Deputyship fees. Please refer to the table below.

Year and Expected Work to be Undertaken During the Deputyship Management	Estimated Costs
Deputyship Application	£6,638
1st Deputyship Year	£32,570
2nd Deputyship Year	£23,666
3rd Deputyship Year	£19,775
Thereafter annual costs of £15,959 x 21.28	£339,607
Applications for appointment of new Deputy (x2)	£7,588
Statutory Will Application	£14,538
Contingency for crises	£6,360
Preparation of tax returns £600 p.a x 24.28	£14,568
Winding up – single payment	£1,800
Total Costs	£467,110.00

Finally, it’s noteworthy that all Deputyship costs are assessed by the Senior Courts Cost Office and the fee earners are regularly limited to the SCCO Guideline Hourly Rates whilst costs are awarded for Deputyship work, this is further scrutinised on assessment based on what is reasonable, proportionate and necessary in the Protected Party’s best interests.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Georgia Clarke or the team at COPCosts@clarionsolicitors.com