Claimants who beat their own Part 36 offer are entitled to more than just fixed costs, the Court of Appeal has ruled in a judgment likely to be welcomed by claimant lawyers. In two joined-up hearings both concerning low-level RTA claims, master of the rolls Lord Dyson (pictured) said assessed costs should trump fixed costs where claimants secure more than they had offered to settle for.
This must extend to costs in CPR 47.15 provisional assessment of costs proceedings. So the fixed sum in CPR 47.15 (5) must now be capable of being displaced by a successful Claimant Part 36 offer. It is also a logical extension of the decision in Cashman v Mid Essex HA. Never have the incentives to Claimants to make successful Part 36 offers been so strong.
