Civil way: 15 November 2019

Interim costs pre-judgment

The court does have CPR 44.2 power to order interim costs where the only issue is on quantum, but before that issue is resolved and resolution is some time away. An order for detailed assessment on quantum was not a prerequisite. That was the conclusion of Judge Robinson in HI v Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust (Case no 3SE90091) in Sheffield on 25 February 2019. There has been no binding High Court authority to this effect, although leave to appeal in HI was refused by Irwin LJ. On the back of these events, interim applications have become commonplace in high-value clinical negligence and personal injury claims where there is likely to be a substantial delay before quantum can be determined.

Now comes the judgment on an interim costs application of Master Cook in RXK (a child proceeding by her mother and litigation friend GXK) v Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 2751 (QB),