Costs
281.Paragraphs 3 and 4Paragraph 3 sets out the general principle that a claimant is entitled to recover by way of indemnity costs or expenses in relation to the matter only if they were reasonably incurred by him or her with the consent of the registrar. An insurer cannot be expected to settle a claim for costs incurred without his prior consent. That principle is not applied in three cases: (1) where the costs or expenses must be incurred urgently and it is not reasonably practicable to apply for consent in advance; (2) where the registrar subsequently consents to costs which have already been incurred; and (3) where the claimant incurs costs of going to court for a determination of their entitlement to indemnity or to determine the amount of indemnity due (in relation to court applications, see paragraph 7(2)). Even if indemnity is not awarded, the registrar can, for the first time, pay costs and expenses incurred with his consent. If his consent was not obtained in advance he may still award costs if those costs and expenses were incurred urgently (so that it was not possible to get his consent) or where the costs and expenses were subsequently approved by him. This new provision enables a person to recover their costs if there appears to have been a mistake by the registrar but after expending money on further investigations, this proves not to be the case.
