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.