The law has recently changed in respect of Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules from 1 October 2011.
The changes overrule the decision of Carver v BAA plc [2008], which ruled that because the Claimant had only just beaten a Part 36 offer, he had failed to obtain a judgment which was “more advantageous” within the meaning of CPR 36.14, and the Defendant was awarded its costs from the date the offer expired.
The rule change inserts a new paragraph 36.14(1A) into Part 36 of the CPR, which states,
“For the purposes of paragraph (1), in relation to any money claim or money element of a claim, “more advantageous” means better in money terms by any amount, however small, and “at least as advantageous” shall be construed accordingly”.
This therefore means that if a Part 36 offer is beaten by any amount, however small it is deemed as more advantageous, whereas prior to the change this was not always the case.
The law recently changed regarding Part 36 whereby previously if an offeror made a Part 36 offer to settle a claim this would remain open for a period of 21 days only. If the Part 36 offer was not accepted by the offeree within this time and was not beaten at a later date there would be cost implications to the offeree not accepting the offer whereby they would often be ordered to pay the costs of the offeror from the date the Part 36 offer expired and would be unable to seek recovery of their own legal fees from the date the Part 36 offer expired.
Since the recent change Part 36 offers are now open for acceptance by the offeree until such time as they are formally withdrawn by the offeror. For a Part 36 offer to be valid the same must be in writing and declared to have the consequences of Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules, it must also give a specific timeframe for acceptance of not less than 21 days and if limited, specify which part of the claim it relates to, i.e. it has to be open for at least 21 days and cannot be withdrawn within this time.
We at HilliersHRW are experts when it comes to personal injury law and our fee earners have many years experience and are members of APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) so you can be assured of an expert professional service.
If you have a potential personal injury claim and would wish to discuss the same with a member of our specialist team please contact either Mrs Julie McCallion or Mrs Selina Martin on 01234 858000 for a free no obligation chat.
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