Part 36: Costs control

• The importance of Part 36 offers for both claimants and defendants in fixed costs cases and the need for both parties to carefully consider and keep under review any Pt 36 offers which are on the table and therefore capable of acceptance.

The long awaited, and much talked about, extension of fixed recoverable costs (FRC) has come into force and will apply to most civil cases that are issued on or after 1 October 2023 (except for personal injury cases where it applies if the cause of action accrued on or after 1 October 2023 and for disease cases where it applies if the letter of claim was sent on or after 1 October 2023). There has already been plenty of debate about the amount of fixed costs that can be recovered under the FRC regime and whether this amount is likely to be less than the actual costs involved in bringing or defending