Points of Dispute and Replies: A Complete Guide

When a costs order has been made and a bill of costs served, the next step for the paying party is to challenge the items it disputes through Points of Dispute. For the receiving party, the task is to answer those challenges in Replies. How those documents are drafted, and how well they comply with CPR Part 47 and its Practice Direction, often determines the outcome of a detailed assessment as much as the underlying merits of the items in dispute.

What are Points of Dispute?

Points of Dispute are the formal written objections served by the paying party in detailed assessment proceedings. Once the receiving party has served a notice of commencement (Form N252) and a bill of costs, the paying party has the opportunity to identify the items it challenges and state its grounds. Items not challenged in Points of Dispute are treated as agreed: the paying party cannot resurrect them at a hearing.

Points of Dispute serve two functions. They define the scope of the assessment and let the receiving party know, in advance, exactly what it has to answer. A document that fails to do that is not just tactically weak; it may be struck out. The procedure is governed by CPR 47.9 and CPR Part 47 Practice Direction, paragraph 8.

When Points of Dispute must be served

Points of Dispute must be served within 21 days of service of the notice of commencement (CPR 47.9(2)). The parties can agree to extend or shorten that period, and the court can vary it on application. If the paying party is served outside England and Wales, the period is calculated by reference to the rules for service out of the jurisdiction in CPR Part 6 Section IV.

The 21-day deadline matters. If the period expires without any Points of Dispute being served, the receiving party can apply for a default costs certificate for the full amount of the bill (CPR 47.11). The court may set aside a default costs certificate, but only if the paying party satisfies the relief-from-sanctions test under Denton: an unpredictable exercise that is best avoided.

The format requirement: Precedent G

Points of Dispute must follow Precedent G of the Schedule of Costs Precedents (CPR 47 PD, para 8.1). Precedent G is a structured table in which the paying party identifies the phase, task, and individual items challenged by number, states the grounds of dispute concisely opposite the relevant item number, and sets out any preliminary (general) points before item-specific objections.

Any matters of principle that need to be decided before individual items are addressed should be raised as preliminary points. Once a point has been made, it should not be repeated, but the item numbers where it applies should be inserted in the relevant column. Points of Dispute must be short and to the point (CPR 47 PD, para 8.2). The document is not a narrative; it is a targeted challenge that tells the receiving party and the court precisely what is in dispute, and why.

The specificity rule: what Points of Dispute must say

This is where many Points of Dispute fail, sometimes fatally. The obligation to be specific is not a drafting preference; it is a CPR requirement enforced by the court.

CPR 47 PD, paragraph 8.2 requires that specific points must state concisely the nature and grounds of dispute. The Court of Appeal confirmed in Ainsworth v Stewarts Law LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 178 that Points of Dispute must enable the parties and the court to determine precisely what is in dispute and why. A general assertion that all items are disputed, or that time is excessive and/or unnecessary, without identifying which items are challenged and why, does not comply.

The consequences of non-compliance are serious. The court has power under CPR 3.4(2)(b) and (c) to strike out Points of Dispute that do not comply, or to disallow reliance on particular points. The Ainsworth line of authority has been consistently applied and extended in both the solicitor-client and inter partes contexts:

• In St Francis Group 1 Ltd v Kelly [2025] EWHC 125 (SCCO), the court struck out preliminary points that challenged time generically across hundreds of items without identifying specific entries or giving particularised reasons.
• In Ward v Rai [2025] EWHC 1681 (KB), Mrs Justice Hill (sitting with Costs Judge Leonard) struck out a point challenging 134.1 hours of document time across 418 bill entries where no specific items were identified and no particularised grounds were given.
• In Aareal Bank AG v Lumineau [2025] EWHC 3299 (SCCO), the same principles were applied again.

The test is binary: either Points of Dispute comply with paragraph 8.2 or they do not. Whether to strike them out or permit amendment is then an evaluative, discretionary question for the court.

Failing to serve Points of Dispute: the default costs certificate

If no Points of Dispute are served and the 21-day period has expired, the receiving party may apply for a default costs certificate for the full amount of the bill (CPR 47.11). This is a certificate in the sum of the bill, enforceable as a judgment.

The paying party can apply to set it aside, but the court applies the Denton relief-from-sanctions analysis. In the case reported at CPR 47.12 | Setting Aside A Default Costs Certificate | Application Denied, Master Leonard refused to set aside a certificate where the paying party’s costs draftsmen had missed the extended agreed deadline due to pressures of the first COVID-19 lockdown. The default was serious and significant; the remaining circumstances did not justify set-aside.

What are Replies?

Replies are the receiving party’s written responses to the Points of Dispute, served after the Points of Dispute and before any assessment hearing. The purpose of Replies is to answer the paying party’s objections point by point: the receiving party concedes what it accepts and resists what it does not, with reasons.

Replies matter for several reasons. They fix the receiving party’s position before the hearing and prevent attempts to resile from concessions on the day. They set out why challenged items are properly recoverable, equipping the costs judge with the context needed to assess each item. They can also put the paying party on notice of procedural points, including non-compliance of the Points of Dispute themselves, giving the paying party the opportunity to amend and leaving it exposed to strike-out at the hearing if it does not. A receiving party who has served full and reasoned Replies is in a materially stronger position for negotiation than one who has not.

When and how to serve Replies

Replies are optional under CPR 47.13: the receiving party “may” serve them. There is no obligation. But the decision not to serve Replies is often a tactical mistake, particularly in cases with significant document time challenges, hourly rate disputes, or preliminary point arguments.

If Replies are to be served, they must be served within 21 days of service of the Points of Dispute (CPR 47.13). The period can be agreed between the parties.

Replies must be limited to points of principle and concessions only. They must not contain general denials, specific denials, or standard-form responses (CPR 47 PD, para 12.1). Wherever practicable, Replies must be set out in the format of Precedent G (CPR 47 PD, para 12.2): the same structured table as the Points of Dispute, with the receiving party’s responses entered opposite the relevant items. Formulaic Replies that say “not agreed” against every disputed item, without engaging with the objection, do not satisfy the rule.

What gets disputed in Points of Dispute

The typical battlegrounds in Points of Dispute, and the corresponding Replies, are:

• Hourly rates. Whether the rates claimed are reasonable, tested against the Guideline Hourly Rates and the facts of the case. The paying party challenges; the receiving party justifies in Replies by reference to the fee earner’s grade, experience, and the complexity of the litigation.
• Time on documents. Document time is the most litigated category. The paying party’s challenge must identify specific items, not just assert that document time was excessive in general. This is where the Ainsworth line bites hardest.
• Counsel’s fees and experts’ fees. Whether disbursements are reasonable in amount and were reasonably incurred.
• Proportionality. A global proportionality challenge, if taken, goes to the overall level of the bill rather than individual items. It operates as a cross-check after individual assessment on the standard basis and can produce a further reduction even where individual items have survived item-by-item scrutiny.
• Additional liabilities. Where a CFA or ATE premium remains recoverable, the reasonableness and recoverability of the success fee or premium is a specialist dispute with its own case law.
• Preliminary points. A paying party may seek to argue a point of principle before item-by-item challenge. Preliminary points must themselves be specific and properly pleaded; vague or catch-all preliminary points are struck out under the Ainsworth principles.

The open offer

The paying party must, under CPR 47.9, serve an open letter with the Points of Dispute stating what sum, if any, it offers to pay in settlement of the total costs claimed. This is not optional. The open offer is on the record and can affect the costs of the assessment under CPR 47.20.

The paying party may also make a Part 36 offer in the assessment proceedings. If the receiving party fails to beat a valid Part 36 offer at assessment, the costs consequences can dramatically change the economics of the exercise for both sides: indemnity costs for the period after the offer expired, enhanced interest, and the additional amount under CPR 36.17.

Amending Points of Dispute

The permission of the court, or the agreement of all parties, is required to amend Points of Dispute after they have been served (CPR 47 PD, para 13.10). Late applications to amend are scrutinised carefully. Courts have been firm about refusing amendments that would require the receiving party to prepare its case on a different basis or would produce unfairness at the hearing.

Points of Dispute in solicitor-client assessments

The same specificity requirements apply where a client challenges a solicitor’s bill in a Solicitors Act 1974 assessment under CPR 46.9 and 46.10. Although CPR 47.9 (the default costs certificate rule) does not apply in solicitor-client proceedings, the obligation to serve Points of Dispute in Precedent G format and to comply with CPR 47 PD paragraph 8.2 does apply.

The Court of Appeal confirmed in Ainsworth v Stewarts Law LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 178 that the same particularisation requirements apply in solicitor-client assessments. A client cannot serve a global “all items disputed” document and expect the solicitor to identify the case against it. Both Ainsworth and O’Sullivan v Holmes and Hills LLP [2023] EWHC 508 (KB) have since been applied in the inter partes context, confirming that the principle is general.

Time limits at a glance

• Points of Dispute: within 21 days of service of the notice of commencement (CPR 47.9).
• Open offer: must be served with the Points of Dispute (CPR 47.9).
• Replies (optional): within 21 days of service of the Points of Dispute (CPR 47.13).
• No Points of Dispute served: on expiry of the period, the receiving party may apply for a default costs certificate (CPR 47.11).

This guide is for general information and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on a specific matter, please contact TMC Legal.