First instance County Court decision disallows medical agency cut of costs claimed in a medical report on the fixed costs regime - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers
17/06/21. First instance County Court decision disallows medical agency cut of costs claimed in a medical report on the fixed costs regime: Powles v Hemmings, 23 April 2021, as reported on Civil Litigation Brief. DDJ Akers decided that the markup made by a medical agency on the costs of a medical report was not recoverable. DDJ Akers took the view that the medical agency’s costs are already accounted for in the fixed costs regime.
Facts
The background facts to this case are irrelevant to the question before the court. The Claimant invoiced £750 excluding VAT for a psychological report that was obtained. The Defendant requested a breakdown of the invoice, which was before the Court. The breakdown stated that £350 represented the consultation fee, examination, and production of the report. The £400 were ‘agency costs’ such as issuing a consent form, issuing an instruction letter and supporting details to the expert, and quality checking the report before sending it to the Claimant’s solicitors. The question was whether the £400 was recoverable
The Defendant’s argument that the ‘agency costs’ are not recoverable
The Defendant made its argument on the basis of Aldred v Cham (incorrectly referred to as ‘Chan’ in the judgment). In this case, the cost of an advice on infant settlement were not recoverable because they were deemed to be within the fixed recoverable costs within table 6B of CPR 45.29C.
The Defendant submitted that Aldred v Cham was analogous to this case because the...
Image ©iStockphoto.com/catenarymedia
