In brief - Offers of compromise can now be expressed as
"plus costs as agreed or taxed"
From 7 June 2013, the NSW Uniform Civil Procedure Rules provide
certainty about the validity of offers of compromise.
Offers of compromise under NSW Uniform Civil Procedure
Rules
In NSW there has long existed confusion as to the proper meaning
of the requirement under r20.26 of the Uniform Civil Procedure
Rules (the Rules) that an offer of compromise be "exclusive of
costs".
The confusion is now over following two significant developments
in this area.
On 7 June 2013, amendments to the NSW Rules relating to offers
of compromise and the consequences as to costs in accepting and
rejecting such offers came into force. The changes will apply to
offers of compromise made after commencement and provide that
offers will be valid if expressed to be "plus costs as agreed
or taxed".
