Civil Procedure Rules (CPR)
The aim of CPR is to reduce costs, delay and complexity in the handling of Personal Injury Claims and to prevent
litigation where possible. The early settlement of disputes is encouraged through the action of pre action
protocols and active case management by the courts together with cost penalties for parties who refuse
unreasonably to attempt negotiations or consider alternative dispute resolutions.
The three tracts in the court:-
1. Small Track
2. Fast Track
3. Multi Track
There are 8 pre action protocols which must be strictly timetables and penalties for noncompliance:-
a. Personal Injury
b. Clinical Negligence
c. Construction and Engineering
d. Defamation
e. Professional Negligence
f. Judicial Review.
g. Disease and Illness
i. Housing Disrepair
Each of the above contain different information but basic principles are the same and same letter templates. For example:-
1. A letter of claim from a third party solicitor must be accepted within 21 days of receipt.
2. A three-month period thereafter within which to investigate the claim and make a decision on liability.
Personal Injury Pre-action Protocol:
The above (The Protocol) in 1999 was, perhaps the most important reform to be introduce in English civil litigation in all time.
All Personal Injury Claims are managed by the Protocol. It sets out the rules that the parties must adhere to in order to
present and negotiate the claim prior to issuing court proceedings.
There is an additional Low Value Protocol in place for cases valued in the fast track ( up to £25,000). Currently,
a. Road Traffic Accident (RTA)
b. Employers Liability
c. Personal Injury Claims (a, b, and c) valued between £2,000 – £25,000
d. RTA claims from vulnerable road users between £1,000 and £25,000
e. Employers Liability, Public Liability and Personal Injury claims between £2,000 and £25,000 are managed by an electronic
(known as the claims portal or Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Portal) which controls submissions and negotiation of claims
between claimant and defendants.
f. Fixed costs apply to the various stages of the claim:-
1. Stage 1, 15 days for RTA, 40 days for PL, 3O days for EL, maximum negotiation period of 35 days.
2. Stage 2, agree to quantum
3. Stage 3, the court hearing process, where the court quickly decides on damages either at an oral or paper hearing.
g. The above has reduced the time to settle low value claims from 18 to 9 months.
h. For soft tissue injury RTA Claims, for low value protocol there is an accreditation process for doctors providing the medical report.
i. Claims which start in the low value protocol but , for a variety of reasons drop out will fall back to the main PI protocol , where legal
costs are also fixed for claims in the fast tract.
Small Claims Track :
Thousand of claims are handled annually by relatively informal procedures of the small claims track in the
courts. The small claims track is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR1998). The qualifying limit for
the small claims is £10,000 for property damage claims.
The starting point for commencing proceedings is the small claims track is the N1 money form, which is
submitted to the court with the fee. Under small claims track cases are exempt from formal procedures
that will burden the parties with undue formality.
Instead, it provides a speedy, effective and proportionate method of dealing with claims of low financial
values.
Finally, the Civil Civil Liability Act 2018, the aim was to revised the limit for some personal injury small claim to £5,000
(RTA claims benefit from this ACT). EL and PL claims remain unchanged. Should be effective from 2021.