IT IS NOW OR NEVER!
The new Intermediate Track comes into being on Sunday October 1st. It will capture a vast array of claims worth between £25,000 and £100,000 pounds.
The changes only apply to personal injury cases where the cause of action arose on or after that date. In all disease cases it is imperative to fire off a compliant letter of claim before the implementation date if one is to escape the changes.
For everything else , be it property damage, negligence involving say a surveyor, a debt or commercial dispute , the changes are retrospective. They will apply to a breach of contract claim going back to 2018 for instance. The only clear way out is to ensure proceedings are issued before the end of September. Having toured the country and spoken to hundreds of solicitors over the last 5 weeks , I heard that there are serious delays by the Court service in processing claims. Delays of 40 days are not uncommon. The reforms kick in 76 days from today (July 17th). It is not good enough to do everything in your power to get proceedings issued. They must have been formally commenced or else you will have missed the boat.
Make no mistake. Your costs recovery will surely be diminished as a result of the changes. The biggest hit will be in matters where much time has already been invested in an unissued case. Fixed costs are fixed. The clue is in the title. Issue in time and you will , in the event of settlement or success, be able to argue that you should recover for all of that time expended.
You have been warned !
Dominic Regan, Director of the Knowledge Hub, Frenkel Topping .
An advisor to Sir Rupert Jackson on fixed costs 2009-2018.