If you are drafting a formal offer, the following is a standard, enforceable paragraph template you can include in your correspondence or legal document:
TAKE NOTICE THAT pursuant to Rule 9-1 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules, the [plaintiff/defendant], [Name], offers to settle the entirety of this claim on the following terms: [Insert clear, specific terms, e.g., the payment of $0.00 to the plaintiff, plus court-ordered interest and taxable costs]. This offer is open for acceptance until [Time] on [Date], after which it will expire.
Or as per Rule 9-1(c)(iii) you make sure your letter contain the following sentence:
Fill in the parties specific names of coarse."The ............[party(ies)]............, ............[name(s) of party(ies)]............, reserve(s) the right to bring this offer to the attention of the court for consideration in relation to costs after the court has pronounced judgment on all other issues in this proceeding."
Key Rules and ConsiderationsFormatting: An Offer to Settle must be in writing, specifically state that it is made under Rule 9-1, and be served to all relevant parties.
Cost Consequences: If the judgment awarded at trial is less favorable to the rejecting party than the formal offer, the court has the discretion to impose punitive cost penalties. This can include ordering the rejecting party to pay double the usual taxable costs from the date the offer was delivered.
Considerations: When deciding whether to apply penalties, the court reviews factors such as whether the offer was reasonable, the timing of the offer, and the relative financial circumstances of the parties.
Rule quoted in full below:
Part 9 — Pre-Trial Resolution Procedures
Rule 9-1 — Offers to Settle
Definition
(1)In this rule, "offer to settle" means
(a)an offer to settle made and delivered before July 2, 2008 under Rule 37 of the former Supreme Court Rules, as that rule read on the date of the offer to settle, and in relation to which no order was made under that rule,
(b)an offer of settlement made and delivered before July 2, 2008 under Rule 37A of the former Supreme Court Rules, as that rule read on the date of the offer of settlement, and in relation to which no order was made under that rule, or
(c)an offer to settle made after July 1, 2008 under Rule 37B of the former Supreme Court Rules, as that rule read on the date of the offer to settle, or made under this rule, that
(i)is made in writing by a party to a proceeding,
(ii)has been served on all parties of record, and
(iii)contains the following sentence: "The ............[party(ies)]............, ............[name(s) of party(ies)]............, reserve(s) the right to bring this offer to the attention of the court for consideration in relation to costs after the court has pronounced judgment on all other issues in this proceeding."
Offer not to be disclosed
(2)The fact that an offer to settle has been made must not be disclosed to the court or jury, or set out in any document used in the proceeding, until all issues in the proceeding, other than costs, have been determined.
Offer not an admission
(3)An offer to settle is not an admission.
Offer may be considered in relation to costs
(4)The court may consider an offer to settle when exercising the court's discretion in relation to costs.
Cost options
(5)In a proceeding in which an offer to settle has been made, the court may do one or more of the following:
(a)deprive a party of any or all of the costs, including any or all of the disbursements, to which the party would otherwise be entitled in respect of all or some of the steps taken in the proceeding after the date of delivery or service of the offer to settle;
(b)award double costs of all or some of the steps taken in the proceeding after the date of delivery or service of the offer to settle;
(c)award to a party, in respect of all or some of the steps taken in the proceeding after the date of delivery or service of the offer to settle, costs to which the party would have been entitled had the offer not been made;
(d)if the offer was made by a defendant and the judgment awarded to the plaintiff was no greater than the amount of the offer to settle, award to the defendant the defendant's costs in respect of all or some of the steps taken in the proceeding after the date of delivery or service of the offer to settle.
[am. B.C. Reg. 119/2010, Sch. A, s. 21.]
Considerations of court
(6)In making an order under subrule (5), the court may consider the following:
(a)whether the offer to settle was one that ought reasonably to have been accepted, either on the date that the offer to settle was delivered or served or on any later date;
(b)the relationship between the terms of settlement offered and the final judgment of the court;
(c)the relative financial circumstances of the parties;
(d)any other factor the court considers appropriate.
Costs for settlement in cases within small claims jurisdiction
(7)A plaintiff who accepts an offer to settle for a sum within the jurisdiction of the Provincial Court under the Small Claims Act is not entitled to costs, other than disbursements, unless the court finds that there was sufficient reason for bringing the proceeding in the Supreme Court and so orders.
Counter offer
(8)An offer to settle does not expire by reason that a counter offer is made.