Indemnity basis

In the context of recovery of costs in litigation, where, under Civil Procedure Rule 44.3(3), the amount of costs one party must pay to another is (or will be) assessed on the basis that the court will resolve any doubt which it may have as to whether costs claimed were reasonably incurred or were reasonable in amount in favour of the receiving party. There is no requirement for the costs sought to be proportionate (for more on proportionality in litigation, see Proportionality). This has the effect of putting the onus on the paying party to show that the costs claimed are unreasonable. It generally means that the receiving party is likely to obtain an order for a higher percentage of their costs claim on assessment than would be the case if costs were assessed on the standard basis. For further information, see Practice note, Detailed assessment: what it is and the basis of assessment and Practice note, Indemnity costs.