Letter · Personal Injury & Compensation

Without-prejudice Calderbank letter (Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales)

A without-prejudice letter offering to settle a personal injury claim, with a statement that the plaintiff will rely on it on costs if the offer is not accepted. It is not a rules offer.

Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
Where it applies: Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales
AI use: Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
Law stated as at: 23 October 2026
Status: Maintained. Checked on 23 October 2026 against the 5 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.
Version: 1
Source: Written for this library

When to use it

Use when the plaintiff will make a written settlement offer that is not an offer of compromise under the Victorian rules, an offer to settle under the Queensland UCPR, or the New South Wales rules offer already in the library. The client approves the terms in writing. Delete the state paragraphs that do not apply.

Used for these tasks

Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.

How AI may be used

The tool may assemble the letter from the client's written instructions, and the lawyer fixes the terms and decides whether a rules offer should be served instead.

AI may

Fill the parties, the claim and the client-approved terms into the letter
Keep the without-prejudice heading and the costs paragraph, and delete the state paragraphs that do not apply
List, for a Victorian letter, the Hazeldene matters at [25] so the lawyer can see whether the letter deals with each of them
Point to the Victorian, Queensland or New South Wales rules offer when the lawyer is choosing between this letter and a rules offer

AI must not

Must not choose or change the amount, the costs term or the time for acceptance
Must not describe this letter as an offer served under Order 26, under UCPR r 353, or under the New South Wales rules offer
Must not treat the Hazeldene list as the Queensland or New South Wales test
Must not add a case, a rule or a costs consequence that is not in the instructions or in the sources checked for this letter

The lawyer checks

The client approved the terms in writing, and the letter is a genuine offer that the plaintiff can perform
The terms are clear, the time allowed is long enough for the other side to consider them, and the letter says that indemnity costs will be sought if it is rejected
In the Supreme Court of Victoria, a letter sent before the proceeding is open for a reasonable time if rule 26.08.1 is to be relied on. The County Court pre-litigation rule was not opened
In Victoria, Hazeldene [2005] VSCA 298 at [25] is the ordinary list. The discretion takes account of all relevant matters and the list is not exhaustive
In Queensland, a rules offer is the offer under r 353, with the costs consequence in r 360. A pre-court mandatory final offer under s 39 of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 is a third document. No Queensland Calderbank case was opened
In New South Wales, the formal offer of compromise is the library precedent a21-offer-of-compromise-personal-injury-nsw. The rules for that offer were not re-opened for this letter. No New South Wales Calderbank case was opened
If a party is a child or under a legal incapacity, the compromise is not binding until the required approval is obtained. The Victorian rule read for a rules offer is r 26.06. The Queensland sanction rule was not opened

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

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