Inquest costs: can they be recovered?

An inquest is a fact-finding inquiry under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, not a dispute between parties. There is no winner or loser, and a coroner has no power to order one interested person to pay another’s legal costs. Each family, organisation or individual represented at an inquest pays for its own representation, unless funding is available.

That can come as a shock to bereaved families, particularly where public bodies or companies attend with experienced legal teams.

Where a civil claim follows, for example for clinical negligence, a death in custody or a workplace fatality, part of the inquest costs may be recoverable as costs of that claim. The general principle is that costs of attending an inquest can be recoverable if they were incurred for the purpose of, and are relevant to, the civil proceedings, such as obtaining evidence on causation or liability.

In Roach v Home Office [2009] EWHC 312 (QB), the High Court considered this question and confirmed that inquest costs can be recovered to the extent they are proportionate and reasonably attributable to the civil claim, rather than to the family’s wider wish to understand what happened. The court will often allow some, but not all, of the inquest work.

Inquest work should be shown separately in the bill of costs, with a clear explanation of how it advanced the civil claim. Attendance at pre-inquest review hearings, review of disclosure, witness evidence and expert input are commonly claimed. Time spent on matters with no bearing on liability or quantum is harder to justify.

Paying parties typically challenge inquest costs on relevance, duplication with later civil work, the level of representation and counsel’s fees. A well-reasoned narrative in the bill, supported by the file, makes recovery more likely.

Legal aid for inquests is limited, but exceptional case funding may be available, particularly where the State may have been involved in the death and human rights obligations apply. Means testing may be waived in some cases. Where a civil claim is likely, a conditional fee agreement may also cover inquest work, subject to the recoverability points above.

Families should ask their solicitor early how inquest work will be funded and how much of it is likely to be recoverable if a civil claim succeeds.

Defendants sometimes agree to pay a fixed contribution to inquest costs as part of a settlement of the civil claim. Where that happens, the agreement should say clearly whether the figure covers all inquest costs, including counsel and experts, and whether VAT and interest are included.

Where no agreement is reached, the inquest costs are dealt with on detailed assessment alongside the rest of the bill.