DJ Matharu, Manchester CC, 25th June 2013

 

The Claimant gave his 'known as' name and his then girlfriend's address at the scene of an accident. He then consulted with solicitors and they submitted a CNF with his legal name on and, having split up with his girlfriend, his parents address where he then lived.

 

On receipt of a CNF with a different name and address than that provided at the scene, the Defendant was naturally unwilling to simply admit liability. The Defendant sought confirmation from the Claimant of his identity, and in particular for photographic evidence of his identity. The Claimant delayed in providing this for several months, during which time the claim automatically timed out of the Portal.

 

The claim then went through Part 7 proceedings, and when it came to costs, the Defendant averred that the Claimant should be restricted to Portal costs, per CPR 45.36 (now CPR 45.35) because they had caused the claim to leave the Portal by their omission to supply the information reasonably sought, albeit not required by the Protocol.

 

The Claimant argued that the Portal rules were strict, and that there was no requirement to have provided the information sought. They maintained that as the Defendant had not admitted liability within Stage 1, irrespective of the identity position, then they were perfectly entitled to leave the Portal. The Defendant relied on Ilahi v Usman to show that doing something which had the automatic effect of causing a claim to leave the Portal was just the same as not doing something (in this case failing to confirm the Claimant's identity in time) which had the automatic consequence of making the claim leave the Portal.

 

The court found that the Claimant had failed to provide the information reasonably sought which had caused the claim to leave the Portal. The Claimant was restricted to no more than Portal costs.

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