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CCMS provider: managing live cases

CCMS Provider: Prior Authority

Submitting a prior authority amendment:

  • Please apply for your certificate’s share of costs, rather than the overall cost of the assessment: The ‘amount requested’ field on CCMS should be your client’s share of costs, exclusive of VAT and travel costs (excluding prior authority requests for travel costs themselves, of course).
  • Please do not type ‘Expert’ in the summary field, particularly when applying for multiple experts, instead insert the expert type, for example, paediatrician or psychologist.
  • You can add as many experts as required under one prior authority amendment by selecting ‘add prior authority’ and repeating the same steps as for the first expert (please see page 4 of the quick guide).
  • Please pay close attention to the annotations on the quick guide.

Required Documents:

Please provide the following documents on submission of every prior authority request for expert instruction:

  • A copy of the court order directing the instruction
  • A copy of the expert’s estimate confirming overall cost, hourly rate and breakdown of the fee
  • A copy of the ‘Letter of Instruction’:
    • This will not be required for translation, interpreters, or drug testing
  • The other parties’ certificate references (where applicable)

If an intermediary is to be instructed, please also provide:

  • A copy of the relevant psychological / psychiatric report on the client

If the prior authority relates to the instruction of an international law expert, please also provide:

  • A copy of the expert’s CV/Profile 

If prior authority is requested to cover the client’s travel costs, please provide:

  • A copy of the court order listing the hearing (should travel costs relate to attendance at said hearing)
  • A copy of any quotes obtained (an email or telephone attendance note will suffice)

If submitting password protected documents, please provide the password.

Processing:

  • Prior authority amendments are generally processed on a 1-2 working day turnaround.
  • Prior authority amendments that require a more urgent / same day response can be expedited by contacting the team at CivilPriorAuthorityRequests@justice.gov.uk
  • Prior authority decisions are completed based on the documentation provided.
    • Provide the requested documentation ensuring it is the most recent or up to date version of each document.
  • Please note, the team can only change the overall prior authority amount granted to your certificate.
  • The team cannot change the expert type where this is entered incorrectly on submission. However, we can note the correct expert type on CCMS for the attention of the finance team.
  • The prior authority team use the following guidance to process each prior authority request: Guidance on the Remuneration of Expert Witnessesv7.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk).
  • Prior authority amendments are considered on a case-by-case basis.
  • Another source of information is the civil finance electronic handbook, Civil Finance Electronic Handbook (publishing.service.gov.uk), in particular chapter 10 which deals with prior authority, allowable disbursements and provides the appropriate rates for hotel stays, subsistence etc. 

Application Fixer:

If you believe a mistake has been made on your application, such as a calculation error or incorrect apportionment of costs, you can contact ApplicationFixer@justice.gov.uk who will forward your concern to the prior authority team.

Enquiries:

Requesting a review:

  • You have the right to an informal review of every prior authority decision.
  • There is no right of appeal to an independent costs assessor.
  • To request an informal review of a prior authority decision, please submit a legal appeal request via CCMS.
  • Please note, we cannot accept requests to review via email.
  • Once submitted via CCMS as a legal appeal request, requests to review can be expedited by contacting the team via email (CivilPriorAuthorityRequests@justice.gov.uk).
  • Requests to review should be submitted by the lead solicitor: The provider who submitted the initial prior authority request.
  • If you received prior authority via provider ad-hoc notification, transferred from another certificate, we will not accept your request to review.
  • If the prior authority decision is overturned or amended on the lead certificate, a notification will be sent to all parties informing them of the change.  

Helpful reminders:

  • If your prior authority request is submitted after the court deadline for the filing of an expert report but that deadline has been missed, please confirm this on submission: Either write this in the reason for request text box or confirm via the document request when uploading documents on submission.
  • Where there is no codified rate for an expert or you are requesting in excess of the codified rate for an expert, please note it is standard practice to obtain a minimum of three quotes. The alternative quotes should be uploaded in support of your prior authority amendment along with the chosen quote. If the most reasonable quote is not chosen, you should explain why.
  • If the team have given a decision in principle for the instruction of an interpreter above the codified rate, further instruction of the same interpreter at the same hourly rate can be justified on assessment.
  • The same principle applies to the instruction of an advocate or an intermediary: Where the team have agreed the cost is reasonable, further instruction of the same advocate at the same hourly rate can be justified on assessment.
  • If an expert requests hours in excess of the guideline, please ensure you claim for the total number of hours and not just the hours in excess of the guideline. 
  • As of May 2022, independent social workers can claim £35.00 per hour. The guidance is due to be amended to reflect this change.
  • Travel costs will not be included in the authority for expert expenditure.  The expert should keep detailed records of their travel time and associated mileage or public transport costs and justify the same on assessment.

Prior authority guidance: