The pilot for the use of electronic bills, which began on 1 November 2022, has been successful. Currently, about 30-40% of Court of Protection bills received are in electronic form and the Costs Officers have efficiently assessed a sufficient number to enable us to conclude that the use of bills in this format should continue.
Accordingly, when the present pilot ends on 28 April 2023, professional deputies appointed by the Court of Protection, their legal representatives and other legal professionals involved in Court of Protection cases, may file their bills in respect of general management and other applications where the relevant authority has been obtained from the Court of Protection, in electronic spreadsheet form using the approved template.
This applies to new proceedings and also to existing matters which have a CE File reference number. Legal aid bills, bills with a legal aid element, and bills for work done in relation to applications to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority may not be filed in electronic form. When filing an electronic bill, please use the options beginning “COP-E”. The assessed bills will be returned by the court by electronic means only.
The approved template may be found on the judiciary website, under Guidance and Resources.
Based on experience gained during the pilot, minor changes will be made to the template and the guidance notes, and amended versions will be posted in due course on the judiciary website. It is essential that bills follow the template and guidance notes in force at the time, as any which do not will be rejected.
We strongly encourage legal representatives to file their documents in support of the bill (correspondence, attendance notes, orders and applications) electronically (as a single pdf with a chronological index showing the dates of the documents) via the Document Upload Centre. Requests for a link to upload files should be sent to: scco@justice.gov.uk
