High Court Ruling allows 3,000+ Military claims to be made on a single form

Thanks to a new High Court ruling, it is now possible for 3,000 or more ex-military service personnel to submit a claim against the Ministry of Defence on one single form.

Mr. Justice Andrew Baker and Lord Justice Dingemans upheld an Abbott v MoD appeal, stating that a single group claim was permissible subject to passing the convenience test.

This whole scenario came about as an initial rejection of a single group claim initiated a series of delays and subsequent fees, calling into question an approach that has been adopted throughout the profession for over twenty years.

It was ruled by Master Davison last summer that claims for Noise Induced Hearing Loss could not be disposed of in the same proceedings, adding that a single omnibus claim for was not permittable within the civil procedure rules.

This request meant that 3,449 cases were issued with requests for new claim forms, with appropriate fees to be payable within six months of submission. This led to 3,017 of those people being able to issue the requested forms, with an overwhelming effect on the court office, which led to long delays.

In excess of 100 claim forms placed with the court were still unissued three months after the imposed deadline.

Many claimants were entitled to a partial remission on fees, but were charged £10,000 fees regardless. This cost had to be picked up by the claimants’ solicitor, totaling roughly £400,000, which has yet to be reimbursed. It was submitted that the subsequent administrative burden and resulting fees had served no practical purpose.

In Judgment, Justice Baker said that master Davidson had been wrong to think that individual claims were needed, and that he had misjudged the amount of strain it would put on the court system for a significant amount of time afterwards.

Dingemans supported the ruling, stating that it had never been the practice for individual claimants to issue separate forms under group litigation orders.

It was held by the court that the real question was whether cohorts of claims had ‘sufficient commonality’ in relation to the issues to be determined – this determination being helpful to be made, which is then binding on the reminder of the cohort. If such issues could be disposed of in this manner, it would be justifiable to have a single set of proceedings.

Further reading

Military deafness claims – Oakwood Solicitors

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