Civil Procedure Rules Update
The 50th update to the Civil Procedure Rules comes into force on 1 October 2009. In addition to the rules update there are also numerous amendments to the Practice Directions and Protocols and a number of points regarding costs arise from these amendments.
Previously, the Pre-Action Protocols recommended that information be given about additional liabilities (i.e. success fees and insurance premiums) prior to the issue of proceedings. The amendments no longer simply recommend notification before proceedings but rather they make notification a mandatory requirement. Information must be provided within 7 days of the funding arrangement being entered into save for when it is entered into before the letter of claim at which point the information must be provided in the letter of claim.
The rules have also been amended to provide sanction to this requirement to notify before as well as after proceedings have commenced, the sanction being that the additional liability will be disallowed, and relief would need to be sought from the Court if the sanction were applied. On all matters it is crucial that notice be given as soon as any Agreement is entered into or Insurance Premium is taken out.
The recommendation by the Court of Appeal in Rogers –v- Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council [2006] EWCA Civ 1134 in relation to stage premiums has now been made a formal requirement of the Practice Direction. The amendment provides that where a party enters into a staged premium (where differing amounts are payable depending on when the case settles) then in addition to advising the name and address of the insurer, policy number, date and scope of the premium, the party claiming a premium must now also advise whether the premiums are staged and if so the points at which the staged premiums are payable and also the level of cover provided by the premium.
It is therefore imperative that letters of claim are amended to provide this information. It is not clear whether or not an amended N251 is going to be issued as this does not appear either on the Ministry of Justice website or on the Court Service website, so after October 2009 until an updated N251 is released you will need to ensure that the information required by the amendments is provided with the N251.
Should you have any queries regarding the amendments, please do not hesitate to contact our technical manager, Mr Brian Dempsey on 01925 578 274.
- 1st September 2009