Wasted Costs Order
We would recommend everyone who receives an out of court settlement from their bank or credit card company to apply to the court for a wasted costs order.
You can do this even if you have accepted in full and final settlement - although it may be good practice to indicate to the bank that you will be seeking costs in view of their abuse of the court process.
Costs have been traditionally used by the court to express disapproval of a party who has not litigated reasonably.
The granting of a wasted costs order is an entirely proper use of the court's discretion and I can imagine that many of these applications will be successful.
This application can be made by letter without a fee and there is no risk involved.
To make a wasted costs order you must supply:-
1.Application letter
2.Draft order
3.Schedule of costs incurred and time spent
4.A list of settled cases
1. Application Letter
You can modify this letter to suit the circumstances.
If your defendant has supplied spurious part 18 requests or made part 36 offers even though your claim is clearly a small claim then tell the judge about it.
If your bank has used other tactics to impede or frustrate your litigation then include a brief account of it in this letter.
Such tactics by the banks are deceptive and calculated to frustrate justice.
The bank has wasted your time as well as that of the courts and you should require that your wasted costs be paid by the bank.
—
Your address
The Court Manager
xxxxxxx County Court
Court address
postcode
13th February 2007
Dear Sir/Madam
Case name and number
I wish to inform the court that the claim as detailed above, in which I am the Claimant, has now been settled. The Defendant paid the full amount claimed, namely £xxxxx.xx.
As such, no further action is necessary in respect of this claim.
However, I believe that the Defendant has behaved unreasonably in their approach to defending this claim, not least because I believe the Defendant had no intention of ever defending this claim at a hearing.
I also enclose a list of all cases of which I am aware in which XXthe bankXX was the Defendant. Every one of these cases was settled in full before a hearing despite a defence being entered by the Defendant.
Further, in relation to my claim, the Defendant failed to file any documents to the court, breaching the orders made by District Judge name of judge on dd mmmmm 200X . Again this is typical of the Defendant’s approach in other cases of which I am aware.
The Defendant’s unreasonable approach in defending a claim it always intended to settle has directly incurred myself unnecessary costs as outlined in the attached list of costs, and therefore I respectfully request that the Court consider awarding these costs, or such costs as it deems appropriate, as outlined in the Civil Procedure Rules 27.14(2)(g):
(2) The court may not order a party to pay a sum to another party in respect of that other party's costs, fees and expenses, including those relating to an appeal, except – (g) such further costs as the court may assess by the summary procedure and order to be paid by a party who has behaved unreasonably.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the waste of the courts valuable time spent processing and managing this claim. I do wish to inform the court however, that the decision to enter into this litigation was not taken lightly, and that ample opportunity was given to the Defendant to resolve this matter by way of negotiation before proceeding with this claim. Regretfully, all attempts at meaningful dialogue were either rebutted or ignored.
A copy of this letter, with attachments, has been sent to the Defendant.
Yours faithfully,
Your name and signature
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Red- fill in your own details
Blue - If the defendant failed to submit a bundle then insert this paragraph which helps to demonstrate the defendant's unreasonableness and lack of intent
2.Draft Order
—
Draft General Form of Judgment or Order
In the XXXXXXX County Court
Claim Number XXXXXXX
Between
Claimant’s name
And
Defendant’s name
Upon reading the claimant's letter dated dd mmmmmm 200x,
IT IS ORDERED THAT
1. Defendant to pay Claimant ' s costs , the Court being satisfied that the Defendant acted unreasonably in defending the claim without any intention of allowing the matter to trial.
2. Claimant' s costs summary assessed at £xx.xx , based on Claimant' s schedule and allowing xx hours preparation time.
3. Defendant to pay £xx.xx to Claimant by 4pm on dd mmmmm 200x.
4. NOTICE OF ORDER MADE WITHOUT A HEARING
Because this order has been made by the court without considering representations from the parties. the parties have a right to apply to have the order set aside. varied or stayed .
A party wishing to make an application must send or deliver the application to the court (together with any appropriate fee) to arrive to the court office within 7 days of receiving this order.
Dated dd mmmmm 200x
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3. Schedule of Costs
You should keep your estimate of the time which you have spent moderate and convincing.
You must lay out the work you have done and the expenses you have covered systematically in a spreadsheet.
Your costs can include:
- Time preparing letters @9.25ph
- Postage, Recorded and Special Delivery
- Faxes
- Time preparing claim, AQ, court bundle, hearings @9.25ph
- Copying
- Stationery
- Phone calls
4. List of Settled Cases
You can make a list for your bank taken from our litigation section (best entered into a spreadsheet)
Just list the claim number and the bank and amount settled.
