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How to complete a Court of Protection e-bill in the Senior Courts Costs Office

Published 1 June 2026

Overview

This guide will help you to complete an e-bill of costs regarding a Court of Protection (COP) matter.

This is a summary guide. It should be read alongside the in-depth guidance, in the related content section of Electronic bills in Court of Protection cases on www.judiciary.uk.

If you are applying as a citizen (without a professional legal representative), you may want to consider consulting a costs practitioner to help you complete the e-bill. Or you can apply with a paper bill.

This guide includes some general information that also applies to a paper bill of costs – however, if you will be using a paper bill of costs, you should refer to the paper bill guidance .

Make sure you also read the guidance on how to submit a bill of costs for a Court of Protection matter at the Senior Courts Costs Office. This includes important information on:

• submitting your bill of costs with E-Filing
• how to submit supporting documents
• what happens next

You will find that the protected party is sometimes referred to as ‘P’.

You should have your e-bill open when using this guidance, so you can follow along with each tab as you read.

Your costs

You must have the necessary authority to claim your costs and for them to be assessed at the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO).

Further guidance is set out in the professional deputy costs guidance and the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) guide. Make sure you also apply the relevant case law.

Common claims that are not allowed include:

• time claimed for more than 3 minutes at Grade D for the making of a routine payment
• reconciliation of bank statements at higher than a Grade D
• routine updating of records
• routine incoming correspondence claimed separately
• routine internal communications
• disbursements for fees that are fixed and paid out of the protected party’s estate, for example Land Registry or court fees – these should be included in the accounts to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and not for assessment

Provide a clear and concise explanation of any work completed. This helps the costs officer to assess the reasonableness of the time claimed for the work undertaken.

When resubmitting for the final costs certificate, the e-bill will automatically update based on the costs officer’s amendments, so you do not need to recalculate.

Best practice

There are some examples of best practice that will assist the costs officer when completing their provisional assessment.

Make sure that you only enter information in the white boxes of the e-bill – you must not use the blue and purple boxes.

You must also not change the colour-coding or amend cell formulas in any way. Before filing the bill, if any cells are highlighted in yellow, that means something has been entered incorrectly – so check your bill and correct where necessary.

It would be helpful if you could also follow each of these points:

• avoid using repetitive, general statements throughout the bill which provide little information – for example ‘considering position or correspondence and deciding how to proceed’ or ‘perusing file and considering way forward’
• when recording payments in document time, include to whom or for what reason the payment is being made
• when claims are made for internal communications, make sure they clearly detail the fee earners involved and what is being discussed
• where an item in the bill refers to the drafting of documents, you must also include copies of the actual documents in the supporting papers
• counsel’s fees should always be included in the bill of costs as a disbursement, not in the OPG accounts
• make sure you apply the correct guideline hourly rates for the period– this is especially important on e-bills as any error will not be identified until the point of assessment and may then be returned for amendment
• make sure you have removed all filters from the spreadsheet before saving it
• make sure you file the latest version of the e-bill
• do not submit a PDF of an e-bill in place of the XLS or ODS version – PDF filings will be rejected
• do not protect or mark your bill as a ‘final copy’ as this makes the bill unworkable for any changes to be made on assessment

Tab 1: Front sheet

Make sure you complete each cell correctly on the front sheet. Several cells copy through to other tabs, so be careful to enter details into the correct outlined boxes.

SCCO reference

You only need to enter this in existing cases.

Enter the reference in the format ‘SC-[yyyy]-COP-[6-digit reference]’.

If you are taking the reference from previous bills assessed by us, you may see a forward slash and bill number at the end of the SCCO reference – for example SC-2000-COP-000001/4.

Do not include the bill number as these are specific to individual bills. We will add the correct bill number to the SCCO reference following acceptance of the filing.

Bill title

This is the section of the tab that begins with ‘Detailed bill of costs of…’.

This should clearly state the type of costs being claimed and the court order(s) being relied on that gives authority for the costs to be assessed by the SCCO. It must include the date the order was made and issued or entered.

For general management bills, you must provide both the start and end dates of the period. Do not replace dates with phrases such as ‘from inception’ or ‘to end of deputyship’.

Check that the dates are correct and do not overlap with any other bills.

Pay attention to instances where the deputyship has transferred within a firm and the dates of the general management period are being realigned with the date of the new order.

If the period the bill covers is less than one year, make sure you explain this in the background tab and in the filing comments on E-Filing. If the reason for a shorter period is because the deputyship has transferred within the same firm, the bill should still cover at least 6 months.

If you are claiming more than one type of costs and have more than one court order giving authority for assessment, you should make this clear in the title. You should also provide copies of all orders you are relying on when filing your bill.

Solicitor’s firm and address

Put the name of the firm in the ‘Solicitor’s firm’ cell. Do not repeat it in the address cell – the address cell should include only the relevant address of the firm.

Solicitor’s reference

This is the firm’s own internal reference and it is your choice whether you provide it. However, the information entered in this box will automatically be copied to the final costs certificate tab – so if no information is entered, there will be a blank box on the final costs certificate.

Email

You must provide an email address so the assessed bill can be returned. It is helpful if a shared email address is provided to avoid problems when returning a bill if individuals have left the firm.

VAT number

You must provide this if you are claiming VAT.

Tab 2: Background

Make sure you clearly include the OPG105 figure in the first outlined white box and the asset value in the second outlined white box. If you only include these details in the free text space below the outlined boxes, it will not be clear to the administrative staff that you have provided it.

OPG105 overall figure of estimated costs for this period – general management bills only

You should include this information for all general management years except the first. If the bill is for the first year, write ‘N/A – First year’. If your bill involves costs for general management from the second year onwards, but you do not have the OPG105 information, provide an explanation in the box rather than leaving it blank.

Where costs exceed the OPG105 estimate for the relevant period by 20% or more, explain this in the background free text space below the boxes.

Non welfare cases – value and breakdown of P’s assets

In non-welfare cases, you should include the protected party’s total net asset figure, if known, along with a breakdown to show, for example, the split between:

• properties
• bank accounts
• investments
• other assets

If you do not have this information, provide an explanation.

Summary of work carried out

In the space below the outlined boxes, provide a clear and concise history of the matter. It should set out the asset value and include information such as:

• why the protected party lacks capacity – for example, a dementia diagnosis, injury at birth or road traffic accident
• the protected party’s current living and care situation – for example, living at home or a care team employed
• the litigation position, if relevant – including details of the settlement and any periodical payments
• main events in the year, or details of the application or order if not general management
• any problems or issues that have arisen
• any applications made in the period and resulting orders
• who the main fee earner is dealing with the matter
• any other appropriate information for the costs officer

For bills other than appointment of a deputy and general management, you must also provide details of the application to which the costs relate, the parties involved and key issues and details of events that have occurred.

Tab 3: Chronology

For bills where there have been multiple hearings and orders, you must provide a statement of parties and timeline. Such cases include disputed deputyship applications and contested statutory will bills. You may not need to complete Tab 3 for other bills – such as for general management or uncontested applications.

Parties

State the party role, for example ‘Applicant’ or ‘First respondent’, under the ‘Party’ heading. Then provide the name of that party and who is representing them (if applicable) under the ‘Name and representative’ heading.

Timeline

You should set out the timeline by first stating the date of the event, followed by the details of what happened or the terms of the order made. There should be enough space for even the largest bills to include all events.

Tab 4: Fee earner and rates

Several cells in this tab copy through to other tabs, so be careful to enter details into the correct outlined boxes.

All columns in this tab should be completed except the columns highlighted in blue. Remember to only enter details in the white cells:

• FE – this is an abbreviation of fee earner and is an identifier that will be used in the costs assessments. Add the fee earner’s initials here. You can add a number to their initials if they feature more than once at different rates – for example, if their initials are AB, you can add them as AB1 in one row and AB2 in another
• FE name – the name of the fee earner
• FE status – for example, partner, associate or solicitor
• FE grade – the fee earner’s grade should be from A to D and mirror those set out in the solicitors’ guideline hourly rates
• Further relevant information – for example, the qualifying period or the fee earners role, such as deputy or costs lawyer
• FE rate claimed – adding the rate you are claiming will automatically update the hourly rate allowed column based on a built-in formula
• FE rate effective from – add the dates you are claiming from and to. They should reflect the guideline hourly rate that was applicable during the period of the bill. If more than one rate is applicable, enter each rate for each fee earner, as appropriate, on different rows

Tab 5: Parts

There should always be at least one part listed in this section to allow the VAT to be calculated.

You must always enter the relevant part ID from Tab 5 into column B on Tab 6. This makes sure the bill automatically calculates the correct VAT rate on each item. This then carries through to the summary tabs. If individual items are adjusted on assessment, the VAT will be recalculated automatically.

This tab is useful if you wish to separate types of work into different sections such as:

• general management
• OPG report
• work completed in different guideline hourly rates periods
• work for a separate application to the COP – for example, for a statutory will or permission to buy or sell property
• to separate work if different or no VAT rates were applicable

Tab 6: Bill detail

Several cells in this tab copy through to other cells and tabs, so be careful to enter details into the correct outlined boxes. Remember to only populate the white cells.

The assessing costs officer may make changes to the entries in the ‘allowed’ columns shown in blue. Once changes have been made, the cell will be highlighted in yellow. The bill produces its summaries and calculates the total of the bill as claimed and allowed from the figures in this tab. It is where most of the work is likely to be done on assessment.

Every entry must be given an item number, a part ID and either an activity or an expense code.

The remainder of this section covers the most important information to help you complete this tab successfully.

Description of work

You must complete the description of work column for every entry in this tab. This should be a brief but clear description of action that has been taken rather than a general statement.

The description of work should specify the number of letters or calls involved in the description.

Activity and expense codes

You must include either an activity code or expense code for each entry. This includes work by a costs draftsperson. This will vary depending on whether the costs are drafted in house or by an external costs draftsperson.

The code C03 for telephone calls is for untimed calls only where you are claiming a 6-minute unit per call. There is a separate activity code for timed calls.

The code C05 for ‘letters or emails out’ only applies to untimed letters and emails where you are claiming a 6-minute unit per letter or email. There are separate codes for timed letters and for enclosure letters, which should be used if appropriate.

You must use the codes for making payments – C10 (electronic) and C11 (cheque) – to claim at grade D in units of 3 minutes and state who the payment was made to.

You can find the list of codes in Tab 15: Ref – Activities and Tab 16: Ref – Expenses.

Grouping of entries

You must enter untimed letters or emails, untimed calls and enclosure letters collectively under each category (activity code) rather than individually. ‘Untimed’ items are claimed as 6-minute units.

For entries involving untimed letters or emails, untimed calls or enclosure letters, you should group together by:

• part ID
• description of work
• relevant external party name
• fee earner

Do not split these into one entry for the emails and another for letters. You can specify how many of the items are letters and how many are emails in the description column.

You should also make sure that all filters in Tab 6 have been removed to make sure that all summaries are an accurate reflection of the costs.

Tab 7: Main summary

This tab is a simple summary of the amounts claimed and allowed, with a box for the assessing officer to enter any necessary directions – for example, where a bill is provisionally assessed subject to service on interested parties or filing of documents.

You should claim the court fee for the assessment of the bill as part of your costs, enter this into the ‘Assessment fee’ cells provided. You can enter the fee in both the ‘Claimed’ and ‘Allowed’ columns.

Some of the bill’s summaries may not automatically change unless you actively refresh a worksheet. You can do this by selecting ‘Refresh All’ in the ‘Data’ menu of the toolbar or by right-clicking on any pivot table and selecting ‘Refresh’.

To see how the bill recalculates summaries when individual items change, take note of the summary of the total bill in Tab 7, then return to Tab 4 and change any of the hourly rates. Using the refresh function in the ‘Data’ menu will automatically update the ‘Allowed’ totals in Tab 7.

Tab 8: Activity summary

This tab provides a collective summary by fee earner grade of the cost of:

• communications
• overall travel and waiting times
• work done on documents
• preparing and checking the bill

This tab automatically takes information from elsewhere in the bill. Do not manually add or change any information in this tab.

Tab 9: Comms summary

This tab provides a breakdown of the total time spent on and cost of communications with each external party within the bill of costs.

This tab automatically takes information from elsewhere in the bill. Do not manually add or change any information in this tab.

Tab 10: FE grade summary

This tab provides a breakdown of all work claimed by each grade of fee earner and the time and costs allowed on assessment.

The summary automatically calculates from the main bill detail and so will include any new fee earner rates that have been applied by the assessing officer.

Tab 11: Certification

You need to complete this section both before submitting the bill for assessment and then after assessment, before submitting the request for the final costs certificate.

Do not change the format of Tab 11 – including removing boxes, altering the wording or deleting it entirely.

You must not leave it blank and provide the certificate of accuracy as a separate document.

Pre-assessment certificate

You must complete this section before submitting the bill to us.

You must set out any payments taken on account here.

The ‘Name’ box must contain the signature of an individual authorised to sign on behalf of the firm. It must be printed or typed to be clear enough for us to identify the person’s name.

Illegible handwritten signatures are not acceptable unless they are accompanied by a typed or printed name alongside.

The ‘Firm’ box must contain the name of the firm.

Post-assessment certificate

The second set of ‘Name’ and ‘Firm’ cells are for post-assessment. They should be present but blank when you first submit the bill.

You must only sign them once the assessment has happened, as the signature indicates acceptance of the amounts allowed.

The same rules regarding typed or printed signatures apply to post-assessment as in pre-assessment.

Tab 12: Cert summary

The certificate summary is designed to show what has been allowed on provisional assessment against what was originally claimed in the bill. Most details are automatically updated by the other tabs.

Where a costs officer has given directions in Tab 7: Main summary, you must say in row 17 whether you have complied with any directions given and, if not, why.

Where the direction is about service of the bill on interested parties, you must include the date of service in row 19.

You do not need to file a separate copy of this form when requesting the final costs certificate for a COP e-bill.

Tab 13: Final cert

This is the final costs certificate and is only valid where it carries the seal of the court. Most cells will be automatically updated from entries in other tabs.

When you have accepted the figures in the final cost certificate, you must then complete the blank sections in rows 16 and 18. The information you enter will depend on the type of bill it relates to.

You must date the certificate in column E before submitting it to the SCCO as a separate PDF of Tab 13.

To generate and submit the PDF:

1. Open Tab 13 on your screen
2. Go to File > Export > Create PDF/XPS
3. Save the PDF to your drive
4. Upload the PDF as part of the filing

The PDF certificate must match Tab 13 exactly. If you need to change the certificate, make the changes in Tab 13 and then generate a new PDF.

Tab 14: Bill detail (print)

This is a reduced version of the full bill detail at Tab 6. You can use this tab for printing or to convert to a PDF.

Tab 14 will automatically update on assessment and any changes will be highlighted in yellow. Reasons for the change will be set out in the ‘Finding text’ column.

The PDF copy can be printed and served on third parties, where appropriate – especially if they are unable to access or interpret the spreadsheet version.

Tabs 15 to 17

Tabs 15 and 16 are for reference only and include pre-set types of work activity (Tab 15) and expenses (Tab 16), each with its own code to be used when populating Tab 6 of the bill.

Tab 17 is used only by the costs officers. They may paste a sheet here at the time of assessment to allow autofill finding codes to be used.

Get help and support

If you have a query or need to provide an update, you can contact the SCCO by email.

This includes to update that the protected party has either died or regained capacity. Email the SCCO with the date of death or date the order was discharged. The SCCO office will let you know the next steps.

Email: scco@justice.gov.uk

We aim to respond within 5 working days.