Simcoe v Jacuzzi UK Group Plc [2012] EWCA Civ 137
Published on: 17/02/2012
Issues Covered:
Health and Safety
Article Authors
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Background
This was, on the face of it, a simple industrial injury claim. An employee, who assembled shower cubicles, made a civil claim through no-win no-fee solicitors for repetitive strain injuries. The case settled at court and the employer agreed to pay damages of £12,750 and costs to be assessed or agreed. The costs were later agreed at almost £75k and the outstanding issue on appeal was at which date should interest apply on the costs?The issue of principle can be expressed in general terms as follows: where the court orders one party to pay the other party's costs in a sum to be agreed or determined, does interest run (i) from the date of the order for costs as agreed or assessed, or (ii) from the date on which the sum is agreed between the parties or assessed by the court? Or, in the arcane language of the costs world, does interest run from the incipitur date or the allocatur date?Although the route by which the decision was reached is rather unusual, it was ultimately held that the incipitur rule rules and interest runs from the earlier date when the costs order is made. Further, the fact that a claim is funded by way of a Conditional Fee Agreement (“no win, no fee”) is not a good reason to depart from the normal rule.It is also worth mentioning the footnote in the Master of the Rolls‟ leading judgment:“I cannot end this judgment without referring back to the actual figures in this case. The claimant was seeking damages for significant, but relatively minor and straightforward, personal injury suffered while at work. The claim was presumably worth around £12,750, the agreed damages. The claimant's costs of pursuing that claim, which did not go to trial, were nearly £75,000. Unless this is an exceptional case, the fact that, without even incurring the cost of as trial, it cost the claimant nearly six times as much to pursue the claim as it was actually worth suggests that something is out of kilter in at least some parts of the civil justice system. Both my own experience in this court and the evidence contained in Sir Rupert Jackson's report on Civil Costs suggest that this is not a particularly exceptional case. It is therefore to be hoped that the changes which are in the process of being enacted and implemented in relation to civil costs and civil procedure will help ensure that costs become more proportionate. And that applies both to costs as between lawyer and client and to recoverable costs as between the parties to litigation.”http://bit.ly/zUgZir
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Disclaimer
The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article.
This article is correct at 17/02/2012
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