Tonkin v UK Insurance (No. 2)
Citation: EWHC 1185 (TCC) and [2006] Con LR 107
Nature of case:
The defendants succeeded in getting indemnity costs where the claimants had been awarded a sum less than the defendants’ payment into court and where the claimants had twice refused sensible offers of ADR and otherwise behaved unreasonably. The court made a number of findings on criteria for obtaining indemnity costs. Pursuit of a weak claim, rather than a hopeless one, would not be enough, nor would refusal of ADR automatically be so. Here, however, the claimants’ conduct fulfilled the requirements for indemnity costs, being unreasonable and, at times, reprehensible.
