Settlement Offers
Subject to certain requirements it is possible to settle a claim at anytime.
The Courts actively encourage Claimants and Defendants to reach out of
Court settlements, and, in most cases, penalise parties who do not accept
reasonable offers of settlement. It is important to ensure that any offers of
settlement that you make are 'without prejudice' to your case - this means
that the other side cannot at a later stage use your offer of settlement to
undermine your case.
The normal procedure for making an offer is to make it subject to Part 36
of the Civil Procedure Rules for making such an offer. There are various
formalities to comply with but the general effect of making this offer is that
it is without prejudice to your case, while potentially exposing the other side
to increased liabilities for legal costs if the Judge later rules that they should
have accepted the offer. Careful thought needs to be given to making,
accepting or rejecting an offer of settlement because of these costs implications.
It is normally a good idea to make a settlement offer at an early stage in
proceedings although not before you have the information to enable you to
decide the type and level of offer you should make.