---
title: "Explain Queensland mandatory final offer costs under the upper offer limit"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/set-out-the-costs-consequences-of-a-mandatory-final-offer/queensland"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A42-CS20261023-7-QLD"
practice_area: "Costs, billing & litigation funding"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["QLD"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Explain Queensland mandatory final offer costs under the upper offer limit

> From the offers and the award the lawyer marks, set out which section 56 consequence applies and draft the explanation. Do not send it, and do not use it as a filed submission.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/set-out-the-costs-consequences-of-a-mandatory-final-offer/queensland  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Costs, billing & litigation funding](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | From the offers and the award the lawyer marks, set out which section 56 consequence applies and draft the explanation. Do not send it, and do not use it as a filed submission. |
| What the lawyer must review | Apply section 56 only if the award is at or under the upper offer limit. Do not apply it to an appeal. Use the motor-accident dollar limits only on a motor accident claim. Settle the letter. The lawyer writes anything that is filed. |
| Written for | Queensland |
| Applies to | [Set out the costs consequences of a mandatory final offer](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/set-out-the-costs-consequences-of-a-mandatory-final-offer.md) |

## Checking plan

**Queensland offer costs**

The tool sets out the section 56 consequence. The lawyer settles the letter the client receives.

- What the AI does: From the offers and the award the lawyer marks, set out which section 56 consequence applies and draft the explanation. Do not send it, and do not use it as a filed submission.
- What the lawyer does: Decide which subsection applies and approve the letter before it is sent.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in this practice area
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Section 56 applies if the court awards an amount equal to the upper offer limit or less. It does not apply to an appellate proceeding.
2. At or under the lower offer limit: no costs between the offers; indemnity costs to the claimant from the day the proceeding started, and none before, if the award equals or exceeds the claimant's offer; standard costs to the respondent from that day, and none before, if the award equals or is below the respondent's offer.
3. Where the award is above the lower offer limit and at or under the upper offer limit, three rules apply. If the award is less than the claimant's mandatory final offer but more than the respondent's, the claimant's costs are on the standard basis up to the declared costs limit. If the award equals or exceeds the claimant's offer, costs up to the day the proceeding started are standard costs up to the declared costs limit, and costs on and after that day are indemnity costs. If the award equals or is less than the respondent's offer, costs up to that day are the claimant's standard costs up to the declared costs limit, and costs on and after that day are the respondent's standard costs.
4. Section 56(4) directs the court not to award costs for unnecessarily repetitive evidence. The example is two or more experts in the same area. Unless the award was affected by factors that were not reasonably foreseeable when the mandatory final offers were exchanged, section 56(5) directs the court not to award costs of investigations or gathering evidence after the compulsory conference, or after the exchange if the conference was dispensed with. If those factors exist, section 56(6) allows the court, where it is satisfied that it is just, to apply subsection (2) or (3) as if a later offer were the mandatory final offer. Party does not include a contributor.

## Notes

- For a motor accident injury from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, the Commission publishes $4,960, $59,300 and $98,890. Those figures are not used on a claim that is not a motor accident claim. The Civil Liability Indexation Notice 2026 was not opened.
- The Queensland Courts generative AI page names Supreme Court Practice Direction 5 of 2025 and District Court Practice Direction 12 of 2025. Those PDFs were not opened. The non-lawyer guideline is not the practitioner rule.
- Keep medical details in the firm's system. Apply the confidentiality duty and APP 11, and check whether a Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) breach is notifiable.

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: Queensland. Costs under section 56 of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002.

**Deliverable**: A letter to the client explaining the section 56 consequence, for the lawyer to settle.

**Inputs**

- Both mandatory final offers
- The award
- Whether the claim is a motor accident claim
- The injury year

**Example**: Illustrative example: The award sits between the offers and is under the lower offer limit. The draft claims indemnity costs. The lawyer changes it to no order as to costs.

**Stop and escalate when**

- The award is above the upper offer limit and section 56 is still applied.
- The 2026-27 motor-accident figures are used on a claim that is not a motor accident claim.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) s 56, costs and mandatory final offers](https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/qld/consol_act/pipa2002314/s56.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Motor Accident Insurance Commission, legislation and indexation](https://maic.qld.gov.au/about-us/governance/legislation/) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Queensland Courts, using generative AI](https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/going-to-court/prepare-for-court/representing-yourself/using-generative-ai) (checked 2026-10-23)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Mandatory final offer under the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/qld-pipa-mandatory-final-offer.md) | Notice | Yellow | The claimant's mandatory final offer under sections 39 and 40 of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld).… |
| [Mandatory final offer under the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/qld-motor-accident-mandatory-final-offer.md) | Notice | Yellow | The claimant's mandatory final offer under section 51C of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld). It stays open for 14 days. |
| [Written final offer for a Queensland WorkCover damages claim (s 292)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/qld-workcover-damages-written-final-offer.md) | Notice | Yellow | The claimant's written final offer under section 292 of the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld). It stays open for 10 business days. |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*