Should pre action admissions be given some weight by the civil procedure rules?
We do not believe that a defendant should be allowed to withdraw an offer at any point, except where fraud can be proved. Defendants are currently making applications to court to withdraw admissions and these are being granted. This makes a mockery of the intention of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) to speed up cases and not bog the courts down dealing with unnecessary and unjustifiable applications. When a defendant insurer admits liability, the claimant solicitor will often stop investigating the claim, which prevents further costs being incurred. This is as intended by the CPR. Claimant solicitors are constantly criticised by defendants for ramping up costs. But our duty is to ensure that costs are reasonable, necessary and proportionate and this is why investigations will be stopped on an admission of liability. If the defendant changes their mind and withdraws an admission, investigations have to re-start and evidence may have gone cold. Much extra work tracing witnesses and emplo
