Where costs are payable only out of the legal aid fund, the legally aided party’s legal representative may request a detailed assessment of costs within 3 months after the date upon which the right to detailed assessment arose. The request must be in Form N258A and must be accompanied by a copy of the bill of costs and the other documents listed in the Part 47 Practice Direction (para 13.2).

Where the legal representative has certified that the legally aided party has a financial interest and wishes to attend, the court will, on receipt of the request for detailed assessment, fix a date for the detailed assessment hearing.

Where the legal representative has certified that the legally aided party has no financial interest or does not wish to attend the detailed assessment, the court will provisionally assess the costs without the attendance of the solicitor, unless it considers that a hearing is necessary. After the court has provisionally assessed the bill, it will return it to the solicitor. If the legal representative informs the court within 14 days after he receives the provisionally assessed bill that he wants the court to hold a detailed assessment hearing, the court will fix a date for such hearing.

Excerpt from the Senior Courts Costs Office Guide 2021