The High Court ordered the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) to cover the costs of a defendant who was cleared of liability in a road crash case, as well as awarding the injured driver costs in both the Circuit Court and the appeal.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 11 July 2024, Mr Justice Mícheál P. O’Higgins dealt with costs following an appeal heard on 5 July. The court had found that an untraced driver in a silver car caused the emergency that led to the collision, while the plaintiff, Daniel Kazmierczak, was one-third responsible because he had not been driving at a speed and in a manner that allowed him to react sufficiently.
The court had assessed damages at €16,305, including €2,305 in agreed special damages. After reducing the award for contributory negligence, the net decree was €10,870. The judge said Kazmierczak had succeeded in setting aside the Circuit Court order and obtaining damages, and was entitled to costs in both hearings. The Circuit Court costs were limited to the District Court scale, with a certificate for one counsel; the High Court costs included a certificate for second counsel.
The judgment concerned two appeals: one against Vidimantas Gaizauskas and one against the MIBI. The judge had earlier found no case against Gaizauskas and allowed him to leave the proceedings. The costs dispute included Kazmierczak’s application for an “order over” requiring the MIBI to pay the costs he was liable to pay Gaizauskas.
The MIBI argued that Kazmierczak had chosen to sue Gaizauskas and should have reconsidered pursuing him after the Circuit Court hearing. It also said its role as an insurer of last resort and the practical difficulties of investigating an accident involving an untraced driver justified a cautious approach. The judge considered those arguments significant, but found that three other factors tipped the balance: a 2020 letter warning that both the MIBI and the other driver would be sued; the potential effect of the MIBI’s so-called “1% rule”; and a 2023 settlement offer that was not substantively answered. The court granted the order over for Gaizauskas’s costs in both courts.
The MIBI also sought a differential costs order, arguing that the net award fell within District Court jurisdiction. The judge refused. He found it had been reasonable to start in the Circuit Court because the damages before the contributory negligence reduction exceeded the District Court limit, and said the MIBI had not shown that it warned the plaintiff to move the case to a lower court. The judgment records that the plaintiff’s offer was for €5,000 and District Court costs; the appeal produced a higher award. The court made no differential costs order against him.