QOCS — Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting

How QOCS Works

Under the traditional English costs rule ("loser pays"), the unsuccessful party is ordered to pay the successful party's legal costs. This created a significant financial barrier for personal injury claimants — the risk of having to pay the defendant's (usually an insurer's) substantial legal costs if the case failed.

QOCS fundamentally changes this calculus for personal injury claims. Under CPR 44.14, orders for costs made against the claimant may be enforced only up to the aggregate amount of damages and interest awarded to the claimant. In practice, if the claimant recovers nothing (because they lose), the defendant's costs order cannot be enforced at all.

This creates a form of "one-way" costs shifting: the defendant remains liable for the claimant's costs if the defendant loses, but the claimant is largely protected from the defendant's costs if the claimant loses.

When QOCS Applies

QOCS applies to "proceedings which include a claim for damages for personal injuries" (CPR 44.13(1)). This covers:

• Road traffic accidents
• Employers' liability and workplace injuries
• Public liability (slips, trips, falls)
• Clinical and medical negligence
• Product liability
• Fatal accident claims (including dependency under Fatal Accidents Act 1976)
• Industrial disease (asbestosis, NIHL, HAVS)
• Abuse claims (physical and sexual)

When QOCS Protection Is Lost

QOCS protection is "qualified" — it can be lost in three circumstances:

QOCS and Part 36 Offers

If the defendant makes a Part 36 offer and the claimant fails to obtain a judgment more advantageous than the offer, the usual Part 36 costs consequences apply — the defendant is entitled to their costs from the date the relevant period expired. However, under QOCS, the defendant can only enforce those costs up to the amount of damages awarded. This means the defendant can effectively "offset" their costs against the claimant's damages, but cannot pursue the claimant for any shortfall.

QOCS and ATE Insurance

QOCS and ATE insurance are complementary, not duplicative. QOCS protects the claimant from the defendant's costs. ATE insurance protects the claimant from their owndisbursements (expert fees, court fees, counsel's fees). A claimant with QOCS protection but no ATE insurance who loses their case would still face potentially thousands of pounds in unrecovered disbursements. Most no win no fee solicitors arrange both CFA + ATE as a standard funding package.