HHJ Platts, Manchester CC, 29th November 2012

The Claimant withdrew all offers at the end of Stage 2, which caused the claim to automatically leave the Portal. The Claimant then argued that they could not be reduced to Portal costs because they had not elected to leave the Portal, it had happened automatically.

The Claimant won at first instance. However, on first tier appeal, HHJ Platts found that if a party elects to take a step which has the automatic consequence of leaving the Portal, then they have elected to leave the Portal. He restricted the Claimant to Portal costs only.

The Claimant sought permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. However, Jackson LJ refused permission on paper, noting he agreed with the reasoning given by HHJ Platts.