Group litigation costs: common costs, individual costs and liability

A Group Litigation Order (GLO) under CPR Part 19 lets the court manage many claims that raise common or related issues of fact or law. Claims are entered on a group register, a lead solicitor is usually appointed and the court can decide common issues once, binding everyone on the register.

Group actions include product liability, environmental, data breach, employment and financial mis-selling claims. They can involve hundreds or thousands of claimants, so getting the costs structure right from the start is essential.

CPR 46.6 defines individual costs as costs incurred in relation to an individual claim on the group register, and common costs as costs incurred in relation to the GLO issues, costs incurred by a lead claimant on a test claim, and costs incurred by the lead solicitor in administering the group.

The distinction matters because the parties pay them differently. A claimant whose individual claim fails may still benefit from common issues decided in the group’s favour, and vice versa.

Unless the court orders otherwise, a group litigant who is ordered to pay common costs is severally liable for an equal proportion of them, alongside their own individual costs. Several liability means each claimant is responsible only for their own share, not for the whole group’s bill.

The court may also order that claimants who join the register later, or leave it early, bear a share of common costs incurred before they joined or up to the date they left. Orders dealing with these situations are often made in the GLO itself or in early case management.

Costs management in group litigation is demanding. Budgets usually need to separate common and individual phases, and the court may set a costs cap or require regular reporting. Funding arrangements such as conditional fee agreements, damages-based agreements, after-the-event insurance and third-party funding all interact with recoverability and should be mapped before the budget is prepared.

Defendants commonly seek security for costs or ask the court to manage costs closely given the scale. Clear records of how time is allocated between common and individual work are the foundation for both budgeting and later recovery.

At assessment, common costs and individual costs are normally presented separately. The receiving party should be ready to explain the allocation method, the work done for the group as a whole and why the time spent was proportionate to the value and importance of the litigation.

Paying parties will look closely at administration costs, client care communications across a large group, and any duplication between firms. A consistent allocation method agreed early is the best protection against lengthy argument at this stage.