Part 36 Offer - Lokhova V Longmuir

Defendant given its costs on the indemnity basis where Part 36 offer accepted after the relevant period

Where a Part 36 offer is accepted after expiry of the relevant period, the usual position is that the defendant will pay the claimant's costs of the proceedings up to the expiry date of the relevant period and the offeree will pay the offeror's costs from the expiry date of the relevant period to the date of acceptance on the standard basis. In this case, the defendant's Part 36 offer was accepted after the end of the relevant period and the usual allocation of costs was accepted by the parties. However, the defendant argued that it was entitled to its costs on the indemnity basis. Warby J agreed. He noted that although it is generally desirable for claimants to have confidence that acceptance of an offer will bring a close to matters, on the usual terms, the court "should be willing to examine the conduct of those who first refuse and then accept a Part 36 offer".