“It’s a bit rude that the Defendant didn’t turn up” why Defendants aren’t appearing in Stage 3 MOJ hearings.

I walked into Court and sat down in front of the Judge. “Good afternoon Mr Hancock. I see you are for the Claimant. Nobody for the Defendant?”. This was something I was seeing more and more often.

In his judgment the Judge didn’t hold back in criticising the Defendant.  “I think it’s a bit rude to challenge damages and then not turn up”.

So why aren’t they turning up? It’s not every hearing but it’s not often than not.

I’ve not once been to an EL/PL MOJ hearing. I genuinely do not know anyone who has. Not that I know such a wide range of people in the personal injury sector, but there must be some. 

I always found EL/PL insurers, when it came to admitted cases, to make sensible offers.The difficult lies with the fact that Defendant motor insurers make such low ball offers which are easy to beat. 

My opponents quite regularly say “I am instructed to maintain the offer of £2,000 for this 6 month multi site soft tissue injury.. however if you are not with me ….” and make a suggestion that not only is more sensible, but it’s more appealing to a Judge than my slightly ambitious offer with the intention of beating my client’s Part B offer to get the compulsory Part 36 benefits.

I quite regularly discuss with my opponents and they always have the same view, the court will award more than the Defendant’s offer, but usually never enough to get Part 36 benefits.

The Defendant need only make a better,more realistic offer and it would put the Claimant at risk. Almost always the Defendant pays the Claimant’s Stage 3 costs (£600), the court issue fee and their own advocate’s cost. Is this why they are taking to not attending a stage 3 hearing? 

There is always a risk that the Claimant has more chance of beating its own Part B, but that is still dependent on Claimants putting forward a final reasonable offer before the end of the consideration period. 

A DDJ I’ve been before both in Truro and Plymouth makes the same remark, “why doesn’t the Claimant make a better offer after their initial offer? The parties’ initial offers become the Part A and the final offers become the Part B that become sealed so the court is not aware of them. The Part A is almost always the same as the Part B. 

Where a Claimant’s offer is unlikely to be beaten, but the Defendant’s is most likely to be beaten, it would be understandable why a Defendant may wonder if there is any point in spending money attend the hearing. 

I expect Stage 3 hearings will be few and far between as the introduction to the whiplash tariff will have significantly reduced the number of RTA claims that enter the RTA MOJ portal.

Information

Alec Hancock is a CILEX Advocate and Litigator in Civil Proceedings. He is regulated by CILEX Regulation (Membership No. 50132742) and can appear in open Court in all County Court matters save for family proceedings. Alec Hancock conducts his advocacy through AJH Advocacy Limited, a Limited Company which is regulated by the Bar Standards Boards (entity number 190758).