Following the Ministry of Justice Consultation in May 2022, the CPRC have duly changed the wording to Part 44.14. From 6 April, CPR 44.14 will allow costs against the claimant to be enforced without permission of the court up to any sum in money terms of any order or agreement to pay or settle a claim for damages, costs and interest made in favour of the claimant. An order for costs includes orders made in favour of or against the claimant. Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (QOCs) was introduced on 1 April 2013 following removal of claimant’s right to claim their CFA uplift and ATE premium from the Defendant.

The basic principle being that the unsuccessful claimant will not be liable for Defendant costs, unless the claim was struck out due to no cause of action, found to be fundamentally dishonest or pursued for the benefit of a third party. The scope of QOCS has since been challenged in a multitude of case law but Cartwright v Venduct Engineering (2018) established that this precluded enforcement against damages recovered via settlement (Consent or P36) and the Supreme Court in Ho v Adelekun limited recovery of QOCs to the sum ordered for damages and interest. The changes will essentially reverse the decisions in both Cartwright and Ho, creating a much more favourable costs regime for Defendants.

These changes will apply to claims where proceedings are issued on or after 6 April 2023.