MOTOR ACCIDENTS ACT 1988 - SECT 73
Payment of interest
MOTOR ACCIDENTS ACT 1988 - SECT 73
Payment of interest
73 Payment of interest
(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) Domestic services, nursing and attendance No interest is payable
on damages comprising compensation under section 72. A court cannot order the
payment of interest on such damages.
(3) Non-economic loss No interest is
payable on damages awarded under section 79 or 79A. 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
(iv) 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.
(5) Calculation of interest If a court is satisfied that interest is
payable under subsection (4) on damages:
(a) the amount of interest is to be
calculated for the period from when the loss to which the damages relate was
first incurred until the date on which the court determines the damages, and
(b) the amount of interest is to be calculated in accordance with the
principles ordinarily applied by the court for that purpose, subject to this
section.
(6) Rate of interest The rate of interest to be used in any such
calculation is three-quarters of the rate prescribed for the purposes of
section 101 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005for the period concerned.
(7)
Judgment debts Nothing in this section affects the payment of interest on a
debt under a judgment or order of a court.