Civil Liability Act 2002

A claimant must comply with any reasonable request by the protected defendant to furnish specified information, or to produce specified documents or records, for the purpose of providing the protected defendant with sufficient information—

to be satisfied as to the validity of the claim and, in particular, to assess whether the claim or any part of the claim may be fraudulent, and

to be able to make an early assessment of liability, and

to be able to make an informed offer of settlement.

The reasonableness of a request under this section may be assessed having regard to criteria including the following—

the amount of time the claimant needs to comply with the request,

whether the information sought is cogent and relevant to a determination of liability or quantum of loss, having regard to the nature of the claim,

the amount of information that has already been supplied to or is available to the protected defendant to enable liability and quantum of loss to be assessed and an offer of settlement made,

how onerous it will be for the claimant to comply with the request,

whether the information is privileged,

whether the information sought is sufficiently specified,

the time of the request and whether the claimant will be delayed in commencing proceedings by complying with the request.

A claimant is not required to comply with a requirement under this section while the claimant is a vulnerable offender under section 26BC.

The duty under this section applies only until court proceedings are commenced.