Court of Appeal confirms uplift in General damages is obligatory

On assessing damages where the Claimant had been legally aided throughout, a Circuit Court Judge refused to apply the Simmons v Castle & Ors [2012] EWCA Civ 1288 uplift of 10% in damages.

The twist in Simmons, however, was the implication that only claimants who instructed solicitors before 1 April 2013 and who did not use a Conditional Fee Agreement would be deemed eligible to recover the uplift.

The architect behind the civil litigation reform himself, Lord Justice Jackson, granted the Claimant permission to appeal. On appeal, Lord Justice Davis clarified that the general damages increase of ten percent also apply to non-CFA cases concluded after 1 April 2013, Summers v Bundy [2016] EWCA Civ 126. For the avoidance of all doubt he also stated that judges have no discretion to depart from the uplift which we consider serves as a very helpful reminder!