Module 4 · Chapter 9

Offers to Settle: Part 36 and Without Prejudice Offers

Either side can make a formal offer to settle that puts the risk of costs on the other. This chapter shows how such an offer works, and what happens at trial if it is refused.

≈ 7 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • How a Part 36 offer is made, and what happens if it is accepted
  • What each side offered, and how the counterclaim is counted
  • Who pays costs after a trial, depending on which offer the judgment beats

9.1Part 36 in one paragraph

Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules lets either side make a formal offer to settle. If the other side accepts it in time, the claim ends on those terms. If the other side refuses it and then does no better at trial, the court makes it pay for the refusal in costs and interest. So a well-judged offer makes the side that receives it carry the risk of going on.

Key point

A formal offer puts a price on saying no. Each side made one in this claim, and the judgment at trial would decide which offer bites.

Also in this chapter

  1. How a Part 36 offer works
  2. The two offers
  3. What happens at trial
  4. Other offers: without prejudice save as to costs
  5. Your job

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