Queensland Consolidated Acts

WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND REHABILITATION ACT 2003 - SECT 292

292 Parties to make written final offers if claim not settled at compulsory conference

(1) This section applies to the following (each a
"claim" )—

(a) a claim made by the claimant against another party;

(b) a contribution claim relating to the claim made by the claimant.

(2) If a claim is not settled at a compulsory conference, each party that has legal capacity to settle the claim must ensure that it makes a written final offer or written final offers at the conference to another or other parties at the conference that would dispose of the claim if the offer or offers were accepted.

(3) Any 2 or more parties may make a joint written final offer to another party.

(4) Before a joint written final offer is made, the parties making the offer must give the party to whom the offer is to be given sufficient notice of the fact that a joint written final offer will be made to enable the party to appropriately respond.

(5) Also, if more than 1 claim is the subject of the compulsory conference, a written final offer may be a consolidated written final offer for all the claims made by the claimant.

(6) A consolidated written final offer must cover all contribution claims relating to all the claims made by the claimant to the extent the party making the offer has legal capacity to settle the contribution claims.

(7) A consolidated written final offer must detail the portion of the offer applicable to each claim.

(8) A consolidated written final offer can only be accepted or rejected in full.

(9) A written final offer must remain open for 10 business days and proceedings must not be started while the offer remains open.

(10) If the claimant or insurer brings a proceeding in a court for a claim, the claimant or insurer must, at the start of the proceeding, file at the court a sealed envelope containing a copy of the claimant’s or insurer’s written final offer for the claim.

(11) A party to proceedings for a claim, other than the party who starts the proceedings, within 10 business days after being served with the legal process that starts the proceeding, must file at the court a sealed envelope containing a copy of the party’s written final offer for the claim.

(12) The court must not read an offer filed under subsection (10) or (11) until it has decided the claim relating to the offer.

(13) The court must have regard to the filed offer in making a decision about whether it should order that a party to whom an offer was given should pay all or part of—

(a) the costs of a party who made the offer; and

(b) if the claim is a contribution claim—any costs the party who was given the offer is liable to pay to the claimant.