Costs — Disputes Tribunal — indemnity costs — variation of charging order — costs for lay litigants — Robinson and Whangarei Heads Enterprises Limited [2017] NZHC 206. The applicant sought costs for a successful appearance in the Disputes Tribunal resulting in an order for $7,000 to be made in her favour. The applicant had difficulty getting the money from the respondent, having had to enforce the order, secure a charging order over the respondent's property and then apply for a contempt of enforcement proceedings. The applicant sough full indemnity costs and a variation of the charging order to cover the additional costs of her enforcement actions. However, the applicant was now self-represented, having had counsel for the previous charging order application, and lay litigants are not entitled to recover costs, but may be awarded reasonable disbursements at the Court's discretion. The principal bill at issue was an invoice from the applicant's lawyer for $3,337.88. The Judge held that this bill could not be claimed as it was difficult to apportion the time/costs into what could be considered reasonable disbursements and what would be effectively costs on costs. While the Judge sympathised with the applicant's position, the Judge could only allow for the $200 filing fee and $74.75 in Court related charges as reasonable disbursements. Judgment Date: 20 December 2018.