What is qualified one way cost shifting?

Summary. Qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) applies to personal injury claims commenced after 1 April 2013. It provides that a bona fide, losing claimant will not have to bear the Defendant’s costs, save for in a small set of circumstances.

What cases does QOCS apply to?

Qualified one way costs shifting (QOCS) is where a successful defendant cannot recover their costs from the losing claimant, expect in a selection of very precise circumstances. It applies to all personal injury cases post April 2013, unless the Claimant has /had a pre-April 2013 CFA/ATE in place.

What is a QOCS case?

The QOCS regime limits a losing claimant’s liability to pay costs and provides for circumstances where a defendant’s costs can be fully enforced with or without court permission. Recent QOCS cases are somewhat fact-specific, however, the trend is to permit set-off of costs pursuant to CPR 44.12.

Does QOCS apply to pre action disclosure?

Does QOCS apply to pre-action disclosure applications? No – CPR 44.13(1) expressly excludes such applications from QOCS.

Does QOCS apply if you discontinue?

Whilst the timing of a discontinuance can be frustrating, this is not grounds to seek to disapply QOCS, which will apply unless there are good reasons for it not to, for example due to significant procedural irregularities or evidence of fundamental dishonesty as discussed below.

Does QOCS apply to professional negligence claims?

“… if a lawyer is pursuing a personal injury case and through negligence loses the cases or under-settles QOCS does not cover any resulting professional negligence case.

Does QOCS apply to discontinuance?

Does QOCS apply if claimant discontinued?

As the claimants had discontinued there were no damages, none of the exceptions to QOCS in CPR 44.15 or 44.16 applied, and therefore CPR 44.14(1) applied. The claimants would have incurred costs in bringing unsuccessful claims, but would have no further liability. Thus, the QOCS regime would have operated as intended.

Should I accept Part 36 offer?

Part 36 is a provision in the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) designed to encourage parties to settle disputes without going to trial. If a party does not accept an offer made under Part 36 (a “Part 36 offer”), it risks being made liable to pay more in interest and/or costs on a judgment than if no offer had been made.

Can a Part 36 offer include costs?

Part 36 offers cannot be made inclusive of costs. A defendant will therefore not want to make a Part 36 offer in circumstances where it wants to know in advance how much it has to pay.

Can a claimant withdraw a claim?

For whatever reason you do not want to continue with your Court claim you should inform the Court, in writing, as soon as possible. This procedure is called “discontinuance”. Only the claimant can discontinue a claim using this procedure. You should write to the Court asking them to “discontinue” your claim.

When did qualified one way costs shifting start?

“Qualified one-way costs shifting” was introduced for personal injury claims from 1 April 2013. This means that defendants will generally be ordered to pay the costs of successful claimants but, subject to certain exceptions, will not recover their own costs if they successfully defend the claim.

When do one way costs shifting come into force in Scotland?

On 30 June 2021 new rules will come into force which change the ability of Defenders to recover expenses from Pursuers in personal injury actions in Scotland. The rules allow for what is known as qualified one way costs shifting (QOCS).

How are expenses awarded in Scotland under qocs?

Currently expenses are awarded at the discretion of the Court and the normal rule is that expenses are awarded to the successful party. The introduction of QOCS will change that approach. The overarching aim of this change is to widen access to justice for those bringing personal injury actions in Scotland.

Can a defendant be ordered to pay costs by qocs?

Although qocs restricts enforcement against a claimant, no such restriction would apply if another party is ordered to pay costs. This could be another defendant, the claimant solicitors following a wasted costs order or indeed any party aside from the claimant.