What is a Part 36 offer?

Part 36 offer explained

In the course of any personal injury claim, your solicitor will likely receive a Part 36 offer from the other side. This is a formal financial offer made to settle your claim without the need to go to court.

It is important that you know what a Part 36 offer is and how they should be handled, as the decision of whether to accept or reject such an offer is not always as simple as whether you personally believe it to be a fair sum. Rejecting a Part 36 offer can carry a significant financial penalty, so any communications must be handled carefully.

In this article, we discuss what a Part 36 offer is, how they are made, and what happens if you accept or reject an offer.

What is a Part 36 offer?

A Part 36 offer is a formal financial offer made under Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) that aims to settle a legal dispute. They are often used by a party as a legitimate way of putting the other side under pressure to settle a claim, as any rejection of a realistic or reasonable Part 36 offer can put the other side at risk of being financially penalised.

A Part 36 offer can be made at any time before court proceedings are issued. They do not apply for small claims (those valued under £10,000). Crucially, a Part 36 offer is made without any admission of liability (that is, without taking the blame of the incident).

What does Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules say?

Under the CPR, Part 36 offers must be treated as “without prejudice except as to costs”. This means, should a claim progress to court, that any settlement offers and communication cannot be disclosed to the court during the main trial.

Instead, the judge will see this information once the substantive issues have been resolved. They will then use this information to determine how legal costs should be split among the parties; if one side unreasonably rejects a ‘realistic’ award, they can then be liable to pay legal costs.

How is a Part 36 offer made?

The Civil Procedure Rules include explicit instructions on how a Part 36 offer must be made. They include:

• A Part 36 offer must be made in writing and must make it clear that the offer is being made under Part 36 of the CPR.
• It must state whether the offer relates to the whole claim or a part of it. If it relates to just a part of the claim, it must state explicitly which part.
• It must give the other side no less than 21 days to respond to the offer and must confirm whether it considers any counterclaim.

What happens after a Part 36 offer has been made?

This will depend on whether the Part 36 offer has been accepted or rejected.

If you have accepted a Part 36 offer within the relevant period (the time within which the offer letter stated you must respond), the other party will then need to pay the agreed settlement sum and your legal costs up to the date the offer was accepted.

If you accept the offer but are outside of the relevant period to do so, the parties will then need to agree who is liable for any legal costs incurred. This is usually decided by the courts.

If you reject a Part 36 offer, the claim will proceed to court. At this point, the judge overseeing your case will not be made aware of any offers previously made or any communications regarding them, until the substantive legal issues have been settled. They will then be given all information regarding previous offers made to inform any decisions around which party is liable to pay legal costs.

Speak to our personal injury experts

Knowing how to respond to a Part 36 offer takes specialist knowledge and dedicated experience in personal injury claims. Our award-winning solicitors have supported thousands of clients across the UK and have a wealth of experience spanning decades.

We work closely with you, providing tailored, expert legal advice and working hard to ensure you receive the best possible settlement in your case.

To find out more, or to speak to our personal injury team, call us today on 0330 041 5869 or get in touch online to request a call back.