Christopher Sharp QC reports on Cobham Hire Services Ltd v Eeles: a year on
Part 25 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) makes provision for interim payments. This provision is frequently employed in personal injury claims, especially in claims for substantial damages arising out of catastrophic injuries, where immediate funding is required ahead of the final quantification of the claim for adapted housing, equipment, or expensive care regimes.
Frequently such provision is in the interests of both parties as early rehabilitation and the provision of appropriate housing, therapy and support will have a beneficial effect on the claimant’s recovery and may reduce the long-term cost of care. This is the principle which underlies the Rehabilitation Code and it makes sense for insurers and for claimants alike.
However, by virtue of the Damages Act 1996 s 2, a court awarding damages for future pecuniary loss in respect of personal injury, not only “may order that the damages are wholly or partly to take the form of periodical payment” but also “shall consider whether to make that Order”.
In almost all serious cases the overwhelming majority
