Description
Provisions of CPR Part 29 concerning CMCs would not apply to a Part 8 claim until the claim was allocated to the multi-track.
The Appellant ('A') issued a Part 8 claim in the Taunton County Court prompting the Court to list a direction hearing. A served a costs budget prior to the directions hearing. The Respondent ('R') tried to serve a budget, although it was not received before the hearing. At the directions hearing, the DJ allocated the claim to the multi-track and transferred it to Rhyl County Court. At a subsequent costs case management hearing, the DJ ruled that the earlier directions hearing was not a CMC and so there had been no obligation to file a costs budget. A appealed.
The Judge dismissed the appeal holding that it was the actual allocation that triggered the procedural obligations attached to a CMC. The claim had not been allocated to the multi-track until it was specifically allocated at the directions hearing and so the directions hearing could not have been a CMC.
It should be noted that as of 22 April 2014, following amendment to the CPR, the costs management provisions will not automatically apply to a Part 8 claim and will only apply if the court makes a positive order that they should.
