No Costs Entitlement Unless Proceedings Ended

Clark Goldring and Page Ltd v ANC Ltd (Ch D TLR 27 March)

The claimants having accepted a payment-in, claimed that they were entitled to their costs as of right under CPR rule 36.11 (1) which refers to the costs consequences of timely acceptance of a Part 36 offer set out in rule 36.13, which provide that a claimant in these circumstances is entitled to his costs as of right. But CPR rule 36.15(3) made it clear that where a payment which related only to part of a claim was accepted under Part 36, unless the parties agreed costs, liability for costs should be decided by the court. Although there appeared to be some internal conflict between rule 36.13 and 36.15, the overall intention of the rules was unmistakably clear: that the court should have a discretion except where the payment-in covered the whole of the proceedings and brought the proceedings to an end.