Litigants in person

Two of the anomalies in the costs of litigants in person arise out of the provision that an LIP who has suffered financial loss is in a different category from one who has not. A litigant who ‘fails to prove financial loss’ (CPR 48.6(4)) may recover in respect of time spent reasonably doing the work at the rate specified in the Costs Practice Direction, at present £9.25 per hour. An LIP who can establish financial loss shall be allowed such costs which would have been allowed if the work had been done by a legal representative (r48.6(3)(a)), subject to a cap of two-thirds of the amount which would have been allowed if the work had been done by a legal representative (r48.6(2)). However the rules do not limit the amount recoverable to the LIP’s financial loss, and therefore any financial loss, however small, entitles the litigant in person to recover two-thirds of the costs of a legal representative. On 2 December, this is to change. The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2002 amend r48.6 so that from 2 December it will read: