Defendant fails to circumvent QOCS through set-off of costs against costs (Faulkner v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)

Article summary

Personal Injury analysis: A claimant in a personal injury case who had qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) protection discontinued their claim. The defendant could not therefore enforce their entitlement to costs. The defendant applied to reinstate the claim to allow an application to strike the claim out on the grounds specified by CPR 44.15. Had the application succeeded, the claimant would have lost QOCS protection. The application failed and the claimant was awarded their costs of the application. The defendant sought to set off the costs they were liable to pay against those they were entitled to recover. The court exercised its discretion against allowing the defendant to set-off the costs orders. However, practitioners should heed the clear warning that this case should not be treated as authority that a set off will not be permitted in any case under the QOCS regime. Each case will be...