Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

HDL v Butt: Interim payments refused where medical evidence incomplete; court applies bound to award test for reasonable proportion of final judgment (England and Wales)

Published on: 18 February 2026

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

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Article summary

HDL (by his litigation friend RCK) v Butt and another [2025] EWHC 3410 (KB)

What are the practical implications of this case?

This judgment reaffirms the established test for securing an interim payment and should be on the reading list for anyone contemplating such bids. Put simply, at the interim payment hearing, the medical material advanced must be sufficiently robust to demonstrate, on the balance of probabilities, that the trial judge would be compelled to make a final award from which the interim sum sought represents no more than a reasonable proportion. Where the dispute hinges on expert opinion (medical or otherwise), it is commonplace for that evidence to remain incomplete until shortly before trial, which may make obtaining an early interim payment problematic, if not impossible. Advisers will therefore need to weigh the timing and evidential position with great care before issuing an application. This will largely be welcomed by insurers, who are less likely to encounter unexpected interim orders and can point to the risk of overpayment to resist them. Conversely, early interim funds can often diminish overall exposure, and the...

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