De Lima Santiago (appellant) v Motor Insurers’ Bureau (respondent)

Thursday 18 May 2023

The background is that on 1/8/22 DDJ Sneddon assessed the Claimant’s claim for costs in relation to a case which had commenced under the RTA protocol and then settled.

The DDJ following the dicta of Coulson LJ in the CA decision in Aldred v Cham {2019] EWCA Civ 1780 at paras 35-37, disallowed C’s claims to recover the costs of an interpreter as a disbursement under CPR 45.29I because linguistic ability was a characteristic of C and not a particular feature of the dispute.

The C is a Brazilian National who speaks Portuguese and has a poor grasp of English.

HHJ Hellman transferred to the Court of Appeal as the case raises an important point of principle, whether the said dicta in Aldred v Cham are correct.

View hearing:

Part 1

Part 2