An offer of compromise under UCPR r 20.26 that includes any term dealing with costs — including 'costs as agreed or assessed' — is non-compliant with r 20.26(2) and cannot engage the indemnity costs regime in UCPR Pt 42 Div 3. A non-compliant r 20.26 offer will not automatically take effect as a Calderbank offer; the offeror must manifest an intention (whether in the offer itself, covering correspondence, or surrounding circumstances) that the offer is to be relied upon on the question of costs irrespective of its effectiveness under r 20.26. Practitioners drafting offers of compromise under r 20.26 must ensure the offer says nothing about costs.
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