By Matthew Best, Director – ATE Partnerships, Head of Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence
(Estimated reading time: 1 minute 41 seconds)
Temple had already reported in December 2023 that the supplementary consultation on disbursements was taking place with a closing date of 22nd December 2023. As of today the results of the consultation have not been published and according to government website they are still being analysed.
Furthermore, the absence of the consultation results has prevented the Civil Procedure Rules Committee from discussing the implementation of the same and minutes from the December 2023 Committee meeting deferred to report on planned costs changes until February 2024. The minutes from the February 2024 meeting have not yet been published, but it seems unlikely that the costs extension for lower value clinical negligence claims could have been discussed in the absence of the consultation results, although there is no certainty in that regard.
Finally, it has been reported that there is now not enough time to implement changes with effect on 06/04/2024 as there is now not enough time for the Statutory Instrument to come into force as that would require a 40-day annulment period.
Therefore, the general consensus among practitioners seems to be that the new introduction date will likely be October 2024, however – in the absence of any further documents, minutes or reports – it is only a ‘best possible’ guess at the moment.
At the time of writing, the Civil Procedure Rules Committee published minutes of their 2nd February 2024 meeting and, as expected, there is only a very short comment from Senior Master Cook confirming that the progress was ongoing, and the issue has been provisionally programmed in for a further report during March 2024 meeting.
How we can help
At Temple, we are always happy to use our extensive experience to help our coverholders and partners with difficult costs queries, including those related to fixed costs. Furthermore, we will be hosting a webinar for our coverholders and business partners to give a final run through of the impending regime changes.
Please call Matthew Best on 01483 514804 or email matthew.best@temple-legal.co.uk with your observations on this topic or to discuss your ATE insurance requirements.
Matthew Best Cert CII
Head of Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence
01483 514804
Matthew Best Cert CII
Matt has an insurance background and joined Temple in 2011 having worked for 4 years in a leading insurance company where he was dealing with personal injury work. Matthew was promoted to Underwriting Manager and subsequently Senior Underwriting Manager taking on overall responsibility for Temple’s personal injury and clinical negligence underwriting department.
In 2022 Matt joined the board of directors as Director of ATE Partnerships. Matthew has cultivated fantastic relationships with our business partners for many years. His ability to build a clear understanding of their requirements and more importantly what is required to fulfil such requirements means he is ideally placed to support the strategic direction of the company.
Matt remains the head of the personal injury and clinical negligence department and is committed to all Temple’s business partners in order to deliver the highest level of service they expect. He is also responsible in making sure that Temple’s ATE and disbursement funding products remain competitive, but most importantly that they are fit for purpose for solicitors and their clients.
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