137Payment of interest

137 Payment of interest

137 Payment of interest

(cf s 73 MAA)

(1) Limited statutory entitlement A plaintiff has only such right to interest on damages payable in relation to a motor accident as is conferred by this section.

(2) Attendant care services No interest is payable on damages comprising compensation under section 141B. A court cannot order the payment of interest on such damages.

(3) Non-economic loss No interest is payable on damages awarded for non-economic loss. A court cannot order the payment of interest on such damages.

(4) Other heads of damages The following provisions apply to damages, other than damages to which subsection (2) or (3) applies, payable in relation to a motor accident—

(a) Interest is not payable (and a court cannot order the payment of interest) on such damages unless—

(i) information that would enable a proper assessment of the plaintiff’s claim has been given to the defendant and the defendant has had a reasonable opportunity to make an offer of settlement (where it would be appropriate to do so) in respect of the plaintiff’s full entitlement to all damages of any kind but has not made such an offer, or

(ii) the defendant has had a reasonable opportunity to make a revised offer of settlement (where it would be appropriate to do so) in the light of further information given by the plaintiff that would enable a proper assessment of the plaintiff’s full entitlement to all damages of any kind but has not made such an offer, or

(iii) if the defendant is insured under a third-party policy or is the Nominal Defendant, the insurer has failed to comply with its duty under section 83, or

(iv) if the defendant has made an offer of settlement, the amount of all damages of any kind awarded by the court (without the addition of any interest) is more than 20% higher than the highest amount offered by the defendant and the highest amount is unreasonable having regard to the information available to the defendant when the offer was made.

(b) The highest amount offered by the defendant is not unreasonable if, when the offer was made, the defendant was not able to make a reasonable assessment of the plaintiff’s full entitlement to all damages of any kind.

(c) For the purposes of this subsection, an offer of settlement must be in writing.