Orders for interim payments on account of costs are enforceable, English High Court confirms

Where a party is awarded its costs of a case, application or other matter to be assessed, the English court will usually order an interim payment to be made on account of those costs (pending assessment).

In a recent judgment, Patel and others v Awan and another [2024], Master Kaye confirmed that orders for interim payments on account of costs are enforceable (using domestic enforcement procedures) in the same way as any money judgment.

The defendants had argued that the liability to make an interim payment was a contingent liability on the basis that, until costs had been assessed, the amount due could not be properly ascertained. Their argument was that only limited forms of enforcement were available for interim orders (and did not include, for example, charging orders or third-party debt orders).

Due and payable

These arguments were unsuccessful. The court held that orders for an interim payment on account of costs payments were final and binding and that, accordingly, they become due and payable and enforceable in the same way as other judgments ordering a payment of money.

Osborne Clarke comment

This judgment provides helpful clarity on the enforceability interim costs orders. Judgment creditors can quickly enforce such orders to recover money from defendants, restocking their own coffers whilst putting pressure on defendants.