Updated costs guidance from the OPG and SCCO

On 29 May 2025, the OPG / SCCO updated their costs guidance, so we thought it would be useful for deputies, for us to highlight the main changes to the guidance for ease of reference. Please see below.

This article will be of interest to professional deputies and/or those assisting a professional deputy and those who work in the Court of Protection areas of law.

As ever, we remain busy at A & M Bacon in ensuring we maximise deputies’ costs recoveries. Should you have any queries following this article, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Our friendly, yet professional team is always happy to assist.

Bank Reconciliation

A new section has been introduced regarding the reconciliation of bank statements. The guidance is that this work “will only usually be allowed at Grade D.” As you are likely aware, this has been implemented throughout numerous assessments for some time now, however, has been made official in this guidance.

We are of the view that, in the ordinary course of events, you will likely recovery one or two units of time each month for undertaking these tasks.  If additional time is required, do be sure to document the reasons why on the attendance note.

It will also assist the SCCO to detail which account you are reconciling, in cases where more than one account is held.  Remember, it is incumbent upon us to fully justify all time claimed and if the SCCO is unsure as to which account is being reconciled, doubt might arise as to whether time is duplicative in nature.

It can also be worthwhile detailing any issues that might arise as a result of this review, which will not only help to justify and further time required (for example, in sorting out any identified issues) but will also help to ensure the review time is recovered, as this demonstrates the work is progressive.

Re ACC Judgment

A paragraph has been added under the above heading. It advises that for work that falls outside of the general authority of a deputy, further authority for the assessment of costs may need to be applied for. There is also a link provided for further information to the case ACC & Ors ( property and affairs deputy, recovering assets costs for legal proceedings).

We are increasingly seeing requests from the costs officers for orders/authority for various costs prior to them signing off and releasing the final costs certificate.  We will always seek to advise you ahead of time if we suspect that further authority may be required, to seek to mitigate any delays in finalising your costs.

Overheads

As you are aware, research, reading incoming routine correspondence, internal communication and supervision are taken to be included as the deputy’s overheads, except in exceptional circumstances. In the updated guidance the deputy is expected to have systems in place to monitor Assurance Visits and compliance with deputy standards. The guidance advises that any time associated with these obligations is considered by OPG and the SCCO to be part of a deputy’s overheads and will not be allowed at assessment.

We would always advise that use of the word “research” be avoided when you are creating your attendance note.  Better to merely emphasise the issues you are considering.  Further, whilst this may sound a little counterintuitive, we would advise you to avoid citing case law; again, just emphasise the issues you are considering and relate them back to your particular matter.

Limited Value Estates

In the previous guidance, where P’s net assets are below £16,000, a professional deputy was expected to act according to the directions given in Sections 9 and 11 of the Practice Direction 19B (PD19B). The new guidance has been updated to where P’s net assets are below £20,300, a professional deputy is expected to act according to the directions given in Sections 10 and 12 of PD19B.

We have heard talk that your order will detail the lower limit for limited value estates and a few clients have been in touch with us about this.  It might be worth discussing with the OPG prior to submitting a file for assessment, if you are unsure of the limit in place.

Post-Death

On P’s death, the deputyship is at an end. As such, the Court of Protection (COP) no longer has any authority, and the SCCO has no authority to assess a professional deputy’s bill, for any costs incurred post-death. Previously, the SCCO had no authority to assess a deputy’s bill or continue with an assessment that had partially been progressed without further authority from the COP. Under the new guidance, the SCCO can continue with an assessment that has partially progressed before P’s death, without requiring further authority from the COP, because the original deputyship order authorises a detailed assessment of the reasonable deputyship costs incurred during P’s lifetime. Further to this, where a deputy is also the executor for P’s estate, there is a potential conflict of interest, and the bill should be submitted to the SCCO for assessment. Previously, the SCCO required permission from the COP to carry out a final assessment however, in the new guidance the SCCO will NOT need permission from the COP to carry out a final assessment, for the same reasons explained above.

This serves to simplify the process, where the costs during P’s lifetime have been incurred.  There do remain, however, further question marks surrounding what happens to any costs that are incurred by the deputy after P’s death (for example, in handing over information to the executors and/or their solicitors), although it is suspected an application would be required for authority to have these paid, setting out the circumstances as to why it was necessary for the deputy to continue to input after P has passed.

Levels of contact

The guidance on deputy visits has remained pretty much the same apart from an additional party (the case manager) being added to the final paragraph regarding limiting excessive contact with all parties.

Again, the best advice we can provide here is to ensure your attendance note fully details the reasons for the meeting/contact with the party.  Additional details of any agreement reached (for example, with the family) as to the attendance of the deputy will go a long way to helping ensure the costs for the attendance are recovered.

We hope the above information has been helpful however, if you would like more information on any of the above, please do contact our team at A&M Bacon and we will be happy to answer any questions.

25.06.2025