QOCS -Traps for the Unwary

Course Overview

Qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) is where a successful defendant cannot recover their costs from the losing claimant, except in a limited set of very precise circumstances.

One such exception is fundamental dishonesty, a term first coined in the April 2013 amendments to the CPR. CPR r.44.16(1) provides that orders for costs against a claimant may be enforced, to the full extent of such orders with the permission of the court, where the claim is found on the balance of probabilities to be fundamentally dishonest.

This same term has since been adopted by s.57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015; Section 57(2) requires a court to dismiss a claim, where the claimant has been found entitled to damages for personal injury, if either that primary claim or a related claim is, on a balance of probabilities, fundamentally dishonest.

This 30-minute session is essential for PI practitioners and will ensure that you abreast of the fast-moving developments in respect of QOCS, and will cover the following topics:

• QOCS
  Effect
  Exceptions
  Practical Implications
  Part 36 – Effect

Consideration will also be given to the application of QOCS in claims against Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), with reference to the case of Howe v MIB [2017] EWCA Civ 932.